Christopher Tucker

Christopher Tucker is a British make-up artist for theatre and film. He specializes in the creation of prosthetic make-up for horror films. Among his notable works are the make-up effects for The Elephant Man, The Company of Wolves and the stage musical The Phantom of the Opera.

Tucker was born in Hertford, attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and began experimenting with artificial noses when he was asked to perform in the opera Rigoletto. The results were well received, and in 1974 he abandoned a career in opera and became a full-time make-up artist. He works from an eighteenth-century manor house in Berkshire, and is assisted by his partner Sinikka Ikaheimo.

Tucker's earliest credited work is the make-up for the 1970 film of Julius Caesar, starring Charlton Heston and Sir John Gielgud. He was also responsible for aging the characters in the BBC series I, Claudius.

In 1980, Tucker was hired to create the prosthetics that would transform John Hurt into the hideously deformed Joseph Merrick in David Lynch's film The Elephant Man. According to his website, "The head had 15 different sections, some of them overlapping never done before [sic], made in foam and silicone rubber. It took seven hours to apply." An appreciation of the work involved led to the creation of the Best Make-up category at the Academy Awards run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which was first awarded in 1981.

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