Making Faces Article
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Making Faces By Jess Cagle/Glendale recalls Baker, a horror-movie fan Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Driving through the town of who at the age of 10 scrapped his Christmas. Next year Baker creates Covina, Calif., circa 1960, you plan to become a doctor for the an entire simian society in a remake might have spotted seemingly dream of becoming a Hollywood of Planet of the Apes, with Mark healthy children in the distance makeup artist. "There was one guy I Wahlberg. Baker calls it "a film I playing on small lawns of modest made up with this horrible burn. He was born to do." homes. As you approached, you went home, and his father was At Cinovation, Baker's makeup- would have seen their wounds--the hysterical." effects company in Glendale, Calif., gashes in their faces and the bullet Four decades and five Oscars corpses dangle from the ceiling and holes in the sides of their heads. And later, Baker, 49, is still making the a towering grim reaper stands guard they would have kept on playing, impossible believable. In this week's outside his office, holding a sword. oblivious to your horror. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Baker is famously stubborn You would not have entered the Baker again transforms Eddie ("extremely committed to his artistic Twilight Zone. You would simply Murphy into the Klump clan. In belief system" is how Nutty II have caught young Rick Baker November he helps Jim Carrey give producer Brian Grazer puts it), having fun. "I liked people to a Bronx cheer to the holidays in Ron wears his hair in a ponytail and believe the makeup I did was real," Howard's live-action comedy Dr. absolutely loves apes. He wore his own monkey suits in The Incredible Shrinking Woman and the remakes of King Kong and Mighty Joe The Man Behind the Makeup Young. He designed the primates in A few of Bakerʼs more memorable Gorillas in the Mist and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the makeup moments Apes. SCHLOCK (1971): Baker’s half-man-half-ape monster Baker's convincing apes, in fact, was the big attraction in Landis’s super-cheapo are what distinguish him most in Hollywood's special-makeup-effects directorial debut. field (just try to discern which ones are real and which are Baker- AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981): generated in Gorillas in the Mist). Baker won the first Academy Award for Best He also has a knack for working in Achievement in Makeup for John Landis’s horror- comedy, which is rare among his comedy. peers and which has served him well in lighter fare, such as Harry and the THRILLER (1983): Teaming Hendersons, two Batman movies with John Landis for this music and his work with Murphy. He has video, Baker turned Michael other makeup skills beyond the Jackson into a zombie. dreams of Max Factor: old age (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman), space aliens (the first Star HOW THE GRINCH STOLE Wars and Men in Black), CHRISTMAS (2000): Besides lycanthropes (Wolf and An outfitting Jim Carrey in a foam- American Werewolf in London) and rubber canine face and green yak- dead movie stars. Using a chin cleft hair suit, Baker brought the and extended ears, he helped Martin citizens of Whoville to life. Landau turn into Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood. Both won Oscars. "Without Rick's makeup, I couldn't have done it," says Landau. Making Faces By Jess Cagle/Glendale Segal. Of 85 shooting days on the on his family. "I waited until I was Murphy, who worked with Baker sequel, about 75 required Murphy to older to have children," says Baker, on both Nutty films as well as play a Klump. (To give Murphy's who has two girls (Rebecca, 7, and Coming to America and last year's face time off from adhesives, a Veronica, 11) with wife Silvia, a Life--and who hates doing Klump-free day was scheduled each former movie hairstylist. "My work interviews for print--issued this Wednesday.) It took an average of was basically my life for so long, I statement to TIME: "Rick Baker is a four hours to sculpt Murphy into a wanted to get to a certain place in genius. He's the most innovative Klump--via foam-rubber facial my career before I made the makeup artist Hollywood has ever appliances that had to be replaced commitment to be a dad." known." each day and kept consistent Vacation plans were put aside Murphy's enthusiasm is through months of filming--then when he was offered Planet of the understandable. The success of his hours more for the end-of-day Apes. Which brings us back to 1996 The Nutty Professor had a lot Klump-ectomy. "The edges are so Covina, on that day in 1960 when to do with a dinner scene that thin and the glue is so strong, the Baker caused panic by covering a brought together five members of pieces get destroyed in the process," neighbor boy with a fake third- the hilariously obese Klump says Baker. "So if Eddie worked 50 degree burn. "I realized it was a family--all played by Murphy. It days as Sherman, you needed 50 pretty sick thing to do," he says. was Baker who put the lumps in the different sets of Sherman pieces." That's when little Rick turned his Klumps: the movie's 400-lb. hero Another memorable character in attention to primates. "Because of Sherman, brother Ernie, Mama, Nutty II was a rodent. Baker created King Kong, the gorilla was the Papa and Granny. Baker also an 8-ft.-tall hamster made perfect Hollywood monster. I really lobbied the cost-conscious monstrous by a bad batch of youth felt it was something that I could do. producers to shoot the scene, which formula. Special-effects supervisor So I started on this quest at a very added about $1 million to the budget Jon Farhat put the Klumps together early age." And that's how Rick but proved to be the film's comic onscreen through digital magic--the Baker ended up on his very own high point. The first Nutty grossed same magic that enables Baker's planet. $270 million worldwide, revived giant hamster to attack a group of Murphy's career and earned Oscars scientists with cannonball-size for Baker and his assistant, David pellets. LeRoy Anderson. While Nutty II was in All the Klumps have bigger roles production, Baker was also working in Nutty II. "The process was on Grinch, racing his golf cart algebraic from a scheduling between sets on the Universal lot. standpoint," says director Peter Finally, he was ready to lavish time HARRY AND THE THE KLUMPS: Eddie Murphy as Jim Carrey as THE GRINCH HENDERSONS: Baker the Klumps in The Grinch Who Stole fashioned Bigfoot and Christmas walked away with Oscar..