Greg Cannom
As a young man, Greg Cannom was fascinated by makeup in the movies, especially John Chambers' Sixth Finger makeup for "The Outer Limits" and Dick Smith's old vampire in "House of Dark Shadows." However, it wasn't until Smith's work in "The Exorcist" caught Cannom's eye that the budding artist decided to pursue makeup professionally. Three years after that film, Cannom contacted Rick Baker, who by 1976 was a leading makeup artist and creature creator in Hollywood. Their friendship led to Cannom joining Baker's team, at one time called "Baker's Dozen" on several films.

When Baker left "The Howling" to work on "American Werewolf in London," Cannom stayed behind working with colleague Rob Bottin and contributing to Robert Picardo's werewolf makeups. He
helped with the gorilla effects in Baker's "The Incredible Shrinking Woman" and joined Baker in England for the filming of "Greystoke." Shortly thereafter, Cannom branched out on his own, getting the job of creating alien makeups for the sci-fi fantasy, "Cocoon."

Cannom created the grisly makeup effects for "Nightmare on Elm Street 3" then got the task of creating vampire makeups for "The Lost Boys." It was the look of the vampires that Cannom created on "Lost Boys" which has seemingly influenced many of the vampire films and TV shows that have come since. With his own shop, Greg Cannom Creations, Cannom stayed active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, working on many sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films, designing and executing the makeup effects.

Then Cannom got a dream job - creating creatures and makeups for Francis Ford Coppola's lavish take on "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Cannom created the memorable age makeup on Gary Oldman, then changed the actor into the striking wolf creature and bat creature, each an elaborate prosthetic design. For his efforts, Cannom won an Oscar for best makeup of 1992.

Cannom's string of successes continued when in the two years that followed, he created the title characters in the film's "Mrs. Doubtfire," which won him another Academy Award, and "The Mask," changing Jim Carrey into the delightfully zany green monster. By the mid-1990s, Cannom had also earned a reputation as a master old-age makeup specialist. In films ranging from "Forever Young," in which he aged Mel Gibson some 50 years, to "Roommates" where he believably aged Peter Falk, to "Titanic" where he made 86-year old Gloria Stuart into a woman over 100, Cannom's age work is second to none.

Into the late 1990s, Cannom continued to get choice assignments for his various fortés, including vampires in "Blade," old age makeups in "Bicentennial Man," and demons and gory effects in films including "Hannibal" and "Monkeybone." It would seem that Greg Cannom is a makeup artist who can tackle any assignment.

Kevin Yagher
For over fifteen years Kevin Yagher has been a forerunner in providing highend special makeup effects for the entertainment industry. Yagher started in professional makeup in the early 1980s,
later assisting Greg Cannom on films such as “Cocoon.” He started his own business in 1985, when the art of special makeup effects was still in its adolescent stage. Beginning with such characters as Freddy Krueger in “A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2” and Chucky in the “Child’s Play” films, Kevin established himself as one of the top makeup effects artists. In fact, for the various “Elm Street” sequels and special appearances, he applied Robert Englund’s Freddy
Krueger makeup over 200 times!

Shortly after his work on “Child’s Play,” Kevin was approached by the producers of HBO’s “Tales From the Crypt” to design and build the show’s host, the Crypt Keeper. Kevin also directed all of the show’s wraparounds, and several promotional spots, one of which earned him an Emmy. Kevin Yagher productions has worked on a variety of assignments, by developing and creating life-like creatures, aliens and humans with meticulous detail. In “Volcano,” his company created the lava bombs, and in Paul Verhoeven’s science-fiction film, “Starship Troopers” he created many realistic bodies and human gore effects.

For the Tim Burton hit “Sleepy Hollow,” Yagher was a screenwriter and producer while also creating the many memorable makeup effects. In John Woo’s “Face/Off,” Yagher provided numerous gruesome effects: the film includes an operation sequence in which the facial skins of John Travolta and Nicholas Cage are removed and then switched. Woo was so pleased with the face switching effects that he cancelled the scheduled computer effects touch-up work.

Yagher continues to work actively in makeup effects though his writing and directing talents take him in a more “above the line” direction. However, he has no plans to leave makeup completely. As one of his early influences, Dick Smith, recently said, “Kevin’s very skilled at his craft. His work is always very good.”

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