John Chambers (makeup artist)

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John Chambers (born September 12, 1923 in Chicago , Illinois , † August 25, 2001 in Woodland Hills , California ) was an American makeup artist .

Life

During World War II he served as a dental technician in the US Army . There he had to take care of wounded soldiers without the usual medical training and replace severed limbs (e.g. ears and noses ) with prostheses .

Because of these skills, he got his first job as a makeup artist at NBC in 1953 . The first mention in the credits of a movie got Chambers, however, only three years later, in 1956, in Michael Anderson in 80 days around the world .

For the next thirty years, Chambers was responsible for many successful feature films and television series. So he created the mask of the Vulcan Spock in spaceship Enterprise and the gorilla-like appearance of the title hero in Planet of the Apes . In the second part of the saga, Return to the Planet of the Apes , he created the mutants' faces disfigured by nuclear war .

1979/1980 Chambers was involved in the CIA liberation campaign Canadian Caper , which is themed in Ben Affleck's film Argo . Here Chambers was portrayed by John Goodman . He was awarded the Intelligence Medal of Merit of the CIA for his commitment to the rescue operation.

Chambers' students included Michael Westmore and Maurice Stein , also science fiction make-up artists.

John Chambers died in 2001 of complications from his diabetes .

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Chambers has been nominated four times for an Emmy and once for a Saturn Award .

In 1969 he received his most important award, the Oscar of Honor for the best mask in "Planet of the Apes". It was not until 1981 that the Academy created the Oscar for “Best Mask” as a separate category.

In addition, John Chambers was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Chambers, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American makeup artist
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 2001
Place of death Woodland Hills , California