Entered industry as chief lab assistant to celebrated makeup artist Dick Smith

Worked as a puppet designer for Clokey Studios

Special effects sculptor for TV commercials including "Block buster" for Vicks Sinex, "King Kong" for Volkswagen and "Cowardly Cat" for Purina

Feature debut as performer (in gorilla suit), "Schlock"; first collaboration with writer-director John Landis

Created special effects makeup for first film, "The Thing With Two Heads"

Appeared in costume in the title role of Dino De Laurentiis' production of "King Kong"

Acted in Landis' "Kentucky Fried Movie"

Credited for 2nd unit makeup on "Star Wars"; worked on the celebrated cantina sequence

Co-wrote (with Joe Camp) the story for the children's film "The Double McGuffin"

Hired by Steven Spielberg to design hostile aliens for an abortive film project entitled "Night Skies"; fired by Spielberg after a heated exchange over budgetary concerns

Utilized his "Night Skies" crew as the nucleus for his own London-based makeup effects company, EFX Inc.

Credited as "special makeup effects consultant" on "The Howling"

Did some of his most celebrated special makeup effects work on Landis' "An American Werewolf in London"

Credited for "costume design (primate)" for "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" (also did special makeup effects)

Credited as a chimpanzee consultant on Nagisa Oshima's "Max mon amour"

Designed the werewolf for the Fox series, "Werewolf"

Created the makeup for Ron Perlman's role of Vincent, the beast on the romance series "Beauty and the Beast"

Served as an associate producer on "Gorillas in the Mist" (also did special makeup effects)

Engineered Michael Jackson's facial transformation in the bestselling "Moonwalker" video

Served as co-producer and special effects supervisor for the Gremlins and Mogwai in Dante's "Gremlins 2: The New Batch"

Co-produced the TV movie, "Betrayed By Love"

Earned an Oscar for creating the makeup effects for the remake of "The Nutty Professor" starring Eddie Murphy

Designed the makeup effects for "Men in Black"; shared the Academy Award for Best Makeup

Garnered Oscar nomination for his makeup designs for "Life" co-starring Murphy

Reprised award-winning designs for the sequel "The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps"

Won oscar for the makeup effects he designed for the box-office smash, "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Reteamed with Tim Burton on the makeup effects for the remake of "Planet of the Apes"

Credited for alien makeup effects in "Men in Black II'

Created Ron Perlman's look for "Hellboy"

Credited as special makeup effects consultant for "X-Men: The Last Stand'

Again collaborated with Eddie Murphy for "Norbit"; earned his eleventh Academy Award nomination