We’re sad to report that Oscar-winning makeup artist Greg Cannom, whose career spans over four decades as a prosthetics and SFX master, has passed away.
Fellow SFX legend Rick Baker shared a touching tribute on Instagram, honoring Cannom’s early career start working alongside him on films like The Incredible Melting Man and It Lives Again.
In Cannom’s impressive career, the legendary artist was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won four Oscars for his work on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Vice.
In 2005, Cannom and Wesley Wofford won a Technical Achievement Award for “the development of their special modified silicone material for makeup applications used in motion pictures,” a proprietary modified silicone makeup system that advanced makeup appliance techniques in film. The accolades didn’t stop there, either, as he was a 2019 recipient of the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Cannom has spent much of his career in the horror genre, delivering no shortage of memorable horror movie characters and monsters. Though he especially excelled at vampires, having worked on Vamp, The Lost Boys as Vampire Prosthetic Effects Designer, Fright Night Part 2, Subspecies, and Blade. Cannom also served on makeup effects teams for some of the best practical effects-heavy horror movies, including The Howling, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Exorcist III, Alien 3, Idle Hands, Hannibal (2001), Van Helsing, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
That’s only the briefest of highlights of Cannom’s immense contributions in makeup effects for both horror and cinema at large. Cannom leaves behind a tremendous legacy.
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting send our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the friends, family, and many fans of the legendary artist, Greg Cannom.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula