Legendary special makeup effects artist Dick Smith, known as The Godfather of Makeup, remains one of the most influential and vital figures in cinematic history. The Academy Museum is celebrating accordingly with a limited screening series that showcases some of Smith’s greatest achievements in movie makeup magic.
The limited screening series, Dick Smith: The Godfather of Makeup, is especially noteworthy for horror fans, as the lineup is packed with special showings of classic horror that showcase Smith’s contributions to the genre. Even better is that many of these screenings include introductions by prominent SFX artists that include Rick Baker (The Wolfman, An American Werewolf in London), Craig Reardon (Thir13en Ghosts, Dick Tracy) and more.
Smith was the first makeup artist to receive an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, in 2011. He was 89 at the time. He also won an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for his work on Amadeus in 1985, developed a reputation for skillful aging makeups. The artist was a trailblazer that didn’t just create new techniques but taught them; Smith concentrated on teaching his methods to up-and-coming make-up artists in his later years. His protégée, Rick Baker, won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Makeup in 1982 for his groundbreaking work on An American Werewolf in London.
In other words, Smith’s imprint on cinema is reflected everywhere in horror, even sometimes where you least expect it.
The Academy Museum is revisiting some of his finest works, from the unsettling transformation of a possessed Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) to explosive telepathic duels in a David Cronenberg classic. Almost all screenings include special introductions from important voices in SFX. The screening series runs now through Aug 24, 2023.
The screening series launched yesterday with The Godfather. Upcoming screenings include:
The Exorcist on 7/27
Altered States 8/3
Scanners 8/10
The Hunger with House of Dark Shadows 8/17
Amadeus 8/24
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