Rick Baker is an award-winning make-up artist responsible for creating some of the most memorable movie monsters and creatures of all film, from the zombies from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Bela Lugosi’s Dracula from Ed Wood to the dark fairy Maleficent and Men in Black’s main alien The Bug.

He was the makeup artist behind some of the best movies ever made, responsible for giving life to creatures like the Grinch, the apes in Planet of the Apes, or the giant gorilla for the 1976 film King Kong. He would often, as he puts it, rather be making monsters, and his house is packed with gorilla skull casts, monster sculptures, masks of gruesome victims, etc.

This passion is why he was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame, as well as seven Academy Awards for Best Makeup out of twelve nominations. While he has retired from the movie scene, he is still busy making monsters, and he says he is going to do it for as long as he can. In fact, one of the reasons he retired is because he has things he wants to make for himself.