List of Rick Baker
Oscar nominations, wins
Updated: June 2025
List of Oscar nominations and wins for Rick Baker. Rick Baker has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards (11 for Best Makeup, 1 for Best Visual Effects) and won 7. He won the Oscar for Best Makeup in the category’s inaugural year, the 1982 Oscars (for films of 1981). Previously, 2 honorary Oscars for makeup were awarded in 1964 to William Tuttle (7 Faces of Dr. Lao) and in 1968 to John Chambers (Planet of the Apes), per Oscars.org. Starting with the 2019 Oscars, the Best Makeup category includes 5 nominees annually, per Oscars.org. Rick Baker nominations below are for Best Makeup, except where noted (1998). Year indicates year/period for which films were released, not year of ceremony. Sources: Oscars.org, Internet Movie Database.
Many Oscar winners deliver gracious and eloquent speeches. Rick Baker’s are among the finest.
WON: 2010: The Wolfman (shared with Dave Elsey) — Other nominees: Barney’s Version (Adrien Morot), The Way Back (Edouard F. Henriques, Greg Funk, Yolanda Toussieng)
2007: Norbit (shared with Kazu Hiro) — lost to La Vie En Rose (Didier Lavergne, Jan Archibald). Other nominee: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Ve Neill, Martin Samuel)
WON: 2000: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (shared with Gail Rowell-Ryan) — Other nominees: The Cell (Michèle Burke, Edouard F. Henriques), Shadow of the Vampire (Ann Buchanan, Amber Sibley)
1999: Life — lost to Topsy-Turvy (Christine Blundell, Trefor Proud). Other nominees: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (Michèle Burke, Mike Smithson), Bicentennial Man (Greg Cannom)
1998: Mighty Joe Young (Best Visual Effects) (shared with Hoyt Yeatman, Allen Hall, Jim Mitchell) — lost to What Dreams May Come (Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson, Kevin Scott Mack). Other nominee: Armageddon (Richard R. Hoover, Pat McClung, John Frazier)
WON: 1997: Men in Black (shared with David LeRoy Anderson) — Other nominees: Titanic (Tina Earnshaw, Greg Cannom, Simon Thompson), Mrs. Brown (Lisa Westcott, Veronica McAleer, Beverley Binda)
WON: 1996: The Nutty Professor (shared with David LeRoy Anderson) — Other nominees: Ghosts of Mississippi (Matthew W. Mungle, Deborah La Mia Denaver), Star Trek: First Contact (Michael Westmore, Scott Wheeler, Jake Garber)
WON: 1994: Ed Wood (shared with Ve Neill, Yolanda Toussieng) — Other nominees: Forrest Gump (Daniel C. Striepeke, Hallie D’Amore, Judith A. Cory), Frankenstein (Daniel Parker, Paul Engelen, Carol Hemming)
1988: Coming to America — lost to Beetlejuice (Ve Neill, Steve LaPorte, Robert Short). Other nominee: Scrooged (Thomas R. Burman, Bari Dreiband-Burman)
WON: 1987: Harry and the Hendersons — Other nominee: Happy New Year (Robert Laden)
1984: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (shared with Paul Engelen) — lost to Amadeus (Paul LeBlanc, Dick Smith). Other nominee: 2010: The Year We Make Contact (Michael Westmore)
WON: 1981: An American Werewolf in London — Other nominee: Heartbeeps (Stan Winston)