Coordinates	52°24′″N16°55′″N
birth date	March 15, 1963
birth place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
birth name	Gregory Nicotero
othername	Greg Nicotero
website	}}

Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1963) is an American special effects creator and actor. In 1988, along with Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger, he formed KNB Efx Group, a special effects studio which has gone on to work on over 400 film and television projects. KNB has won numerous awards, including an Emmy Award in 2001 for their work on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries ''Frank Herbert's Dune'' and they were awarded an Academy Award in 2006 for achievement in makeup for ''The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''.

Life and career

Nicotero claims he began taking an interest in special effects after viewing the film ''Jaws''. He explains, "[...] I kept thinking "How the fuck did they do that? How’d they build a big giant shark that could eat people?!" So, between that movie, ''The Exorcist'', ''Planet of the Apes'', and of course all of the Universal horror movies [...] I think ''Jaws'' and then later ''Dawn of the Dead'' were pretty much the two movies that did it for me." Nicotero began his career working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, learning the trade of special effects from Tom Savini, an award-winning special effects and makeup artist, and helping on films by director George A. Romero. While working on the 1985 Romero film ''Day of the Dead'', he met Howard Berger, who would become one of his partners at KNB EFX Group. Nicotero relocated to Hollywood and moved in with Berger and Bob Kurtzman. He worked as FX artist on the 2010 film Predators and created a classic predator figure for the film. He worked on the special effects for the upcoming TV series The Walking Dead and narrated the film on the San Diego Comic-Con International.

Filmography

''Mirrors'' (2008) (special makeup effects designer)

''The Mist'' (2007) (creature effects)

''Diary of the Dead'' (2007) (special effects makeup producer)

''Underdog'' (2007) (supervisor)

''Transformers'' (2007) (animatronics supervisor/puppeteer)

''Grindhouse'' (2007) (special makeup effects artist)

''Disturbia'' (2007) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Spider-Man 3'' (2007) (special effects makeup)

''The Reaping'' (2007) (supervisor: K.N.B. EFX Group, Inc.)

''Hostel: Part II'' (2007) (special makeup effects designer and creator)

''The Hills Have Eyes 2'' (2007) (special makeup effects designer)

''The Return'' (2006) (special effects makeup) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'' (2006) (special makeup supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Casino Royale'' (2006) (effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Desperation'' (2006) (TV) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Poseidon'' (2006) (makeup effects supervisor)

''The Hills Have Eyes'' (2006) (special makeup effects designer) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' (2005) (special makeup and creatures)

''Hostel'' (2005) (special makeup effects designer and creator)

''Serenity'' (2005) (special effects makeup supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Island'' (project supervisor)

''Land of the Dead'' (2005) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D'' (2005) (special makeup effects artist) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Amityville Horror'' (2005) (special makeup effects artist, designer and creator) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Sin City'' (2005) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Cursed'' (2005) (additional special makeup effects supervisor & additional werewolf effects creator) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Masters of Horror'' (2005) TV Series (special makeup effects artist)

''Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist'' (2005) (special makeup effects designer) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'' (2004) (special effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Ray'' (2004) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Riding the Bullet'' (2004) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Ginger Snaps: Unleashed'' (2004) (special makeup effects)

''Kill Bill: Vol. 2'' (2004) (special makeup supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Kill Bill: Vol. 1'' (2003) (special effects makeup supervisor)

''Once Upon a Time in Mexico'' (2003) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Identity'' (2003) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003) (special effects makeup)

''Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over'' (2003) (special effects makeup)

''Hulk'' (2003) (animatronics effects supervisor/puppeteer) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Cabin Fever'' (2003) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Bubba Ho-tep'' (2002) (special effects makeup supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Murder by Numbers'' (2002) (supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Rules of Attraction'' (2002) (special makeup effects artist)

''Vampires: Los Muertos'' (2002) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002) (character prosthetics supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero) (special makeup effects artist)

''Minority Report'' (2002) (special makeup effects artist) (uncredited)

''The Time Machine'' (2002) (supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Vanilla Sky'' (2001) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Thir13en Ghosts'' (2001) (special makeup effects artist & supervisor)

''Ghosts of Mars'' (2001) (special makeup effects artist)

''Mulholland Drive'' (2001) (special makeup effects artist) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Animal'' (2001) (special makeup effects artist) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Spy Kids'' (2001) (makeup effects supervisor & creature effects) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Unbreakable'' (2000) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Cell'' (2000) (prosthetics & special makeup effects supervisor)

''Frank Herbert's Dune'' (2000) (mini) TV Series (lead special effects supervisor)

''Little Nicky'' (2000) (special makeup and creature effects supervisor)

''House on Haunted Hill'' (1999) (special makeup effects)

''The Haunting'' (1999) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Green Mile'' (1999) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Faculty'' (1998) (special makeup and creature effects)

''Very Bad Things'' (1998) (supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Vampires'' (1998) (special makeup effects)

''Scream 2 (1997) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Wishmaster'' (1997) (special makeup effects)

''Boogie Nights'' (1997) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Spawn'' (1997) (animatronic creature & special makeup effects)

''Scream'' (1996) (special makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''From Dusk till Dawn'' (1996) (makeup effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Eraser'' (1996) (animatronic crocodiles supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Lord of Illusions'' (1995) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''In the Mouth of Madness'' (1995) (special makeup effects)

''Vampire in Brooklyn'' (1995) (special makeup effects: puppeteer)

''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (1994) (special makeup effects)

''Pulp Fiction'' (1994) (special makeup supervisor) (uncredited)

''Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings'' (1994) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'' (1993) (effects supervisor & special makeup effects artist)

''Body Bags'' (1993) (TV) (special makeup effects) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Army of Darkness'' (1992) (special makeup effects)

''The People Under the Stairs'' (1991) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Dances with Wolves'' (1990) (buffalo effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Misery'' (1990) (special makeup effects artist) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Bride of Re-Animator'' (1990) (special makeup effects artist)

''Tales from the Darkside: The Movie'' (1990) (special makeup effects supervisor)

''Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III'' (1990) (makeup artist)

''Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers'' (1989) (special effects supervisor) (as Greg Nicotero)

''The Horror Show'' (1989) (special effects)

''Phantasm II'' (1988) (special effects crew)

''Monkey Shines'' (1988) (special makeup effects artist)

''Phantasm II'' (1988) (special makeup effects constructor)

''Evil Dead II'' (1987) (special makeup effects unit crew)

''Predator'' (1987) (creature effects crew) (uncredited)

''Creepshow 2'' (1987) (special effects)

''Invasion U.S.A.'' (1985) (additional special effects makeup) (as Greg Nicotero)

''Day of the Dead'' (1985) (special makeup effects artist)

Actor

''Diary of the Dead'' (2008) (as Greg Nicotero) .... Zombie Surgeon

''Cemetery Gates'' (2006) .... Stoner Dude Michael

''The Hills Have Eyes'' (2006) (as Greg Nicotero) .... Cyst

''Land of the Dead'' (2005) (as Greg Nicotero) .... Bridgekeeper Zombie

''Cursed'' (2005) (uncredited) .... Man pushing Dracula's coffin

''House on Haunted Hill'' (1999) (uncredited) .... Rollercoaster technician

''From Dusk till Dawn'' (1996) .... Sex Machine's Buddy

''Body Bags'' (1993) (TV) (as Greg Nicotero) .... Man with Dog

''Day of the Dead'' (1985) .... Pvt. Johnson

References

External links

Interview with Nicotero

FanGirl Magazine Interview Pt 1

FanGirl Magazine Interview Pt 2

HorrorHound Convention Report

Greg Nicotero at FEARnet

Category:1963 births Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American film actors Category:Living people Category:Special effects people Category:American make-up artists Category:Emmy Award winners

fr:Gregory Nicotero it:Greg Nicotero sv:Gregory Nicotero

Coordinates	52°24′″N16°55′″N
birth name	Kentotis Alvin Foree
birth date	February 29, 1948
birth place	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	1976—present
website	http://www.kenforee.com }}

Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree (born February 29, 1948) is an American actor probably most famous as the hero Peter in ''Dawn of the Dead'' and ''Kenan & Kel'' as Roger, Kenan's dad.

Early life and career

Foree was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He began acting in the 1970s, appearing in the 1976 film ''The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings'' and the films ''The Wanderers'' and ''Dawn of the Dead''. He also had roles in the films ''The Dentist'' (1996), ''From Beyond'' (1986) and ''Knightriders'' (1981). In 2005, he played Charlie Altamont in the film ''The Devil's Rejects'', starring opposite Sid Haig and Bill Moseley, as the adopted brother of Haig's character. Foree also played the role of Roger Rockmore, Kenan and Kyra's father on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Kenan & Kel'' with Teal Marchande as his wife, Sheryl.

Foree's upcoming roles include ''Brotherhood of Blood'' and ''Brutal Massacre: A Comedy''. He appeared in director Rob Zombie's 2007 film, ''Halloween'', a remake of the 1978 horror film.

The horror film comedy ''Shaun of the Dead'', a parody of the zombie movie genre, has a subtle reference to him. The film's main character is an employee of "Foree Electronics".

Ken Foree appeared as himself in the 2008 novel ''Bad Moon Rising'' by Jonathan Maberry. Foree is one of several real-world horror celebrities who are in the fictional town of Pine Deep when monsters attack. Other celebrities include Tom Savini, Brinke Stevens, James Gunn, Stephen Susco, Debbie Rochon, Joe Bob Briggs and blues man Mem Shannon. He is the special guest of the Monsterpalooza 2010 in the Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Burbank, California on 11 April 2010.

Foree Fest

Ken has his own horror festival entitled "Foree Fest". Held in the U.K, the first event took place in 2007, and the second is scheduled for October 2009. Foree will be starring in the film D.C. Sniper a film about John Allen Muhammad and Charles Moose who is directed by Ulli Lommel.

Filmography

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Other notes
	''The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings''	Honey, Potter's Goon
	''Dawn of the Dead''	Peter Washington
		Black Sportsman
''The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh''	Pittsburgh Python player	uncredited
	''Knightriders''	Little John
		Buford 'Bubba' Brownlee
''Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling''	Big Joke
	''Terror Squad''	Deputy Brown
	''Death Spa''	Marvin
''Viper''	Harley Trueblood
	''True Blood''	Det. Charlie Gates
''Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge''	Acardi
	''Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III''	Benny
''Taking Care of Business''	J.B., Prisoner making demands
	Emcee (M.C.)
''Down the Drain''	Buckley
	''Night of the Warrior''	Oliver
''Diplomatic Immunity''	Del Roy Gaines
''Hangfire''	Billy
		Eddie Turner
	''Sleepstalker''	Detective Rolands
	''The Dentist''	Detective Gibbs
''Kenan and Kel'' (TV)	Roger Rockmore
	''Two Heads Are Better Than None''	Roger
		The Televangelist
''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''	Pedestrian
	''The Devil's Rejects''	Charlie Altamont
''Brotherhood of Blood''	Stanis
	''The Devil's Den''	Leonard
	''Splatter Disco''	Shank Chubb
	Big Joe Grizzley
''Black Santa's Revenge''	Black Santa
''Brutal Massacre: A Comedy''	Carl	post-production
	Max
	''Dead Bones''	The Bartender	filming
''Cut, Print''	Jack Stanley	Orlando Entertainment
	''Zone of the Dead''	Mortimer Reyes
''D.C. Sniper''	John Allen Muhammad	filming
''Bind''		filming
2011

References

External links

Ken Foree's official website

Ken Foree's U.K Foree Fest website

Audio interview at BBC Wiltshire

Interview at Homepage of the Dead

Ken Foree in ''Brotherhood of Blood'' at FEARnet

Category:1948 births Category:Actors from Indiana Category:African American film actors Category:African American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Indianapolis, Indiana

de:Ken Foree es:Ken Foree fr:Ken Foree nl:Ken Foree ja:ケン・フォリー pl:Ken Foree sr:Кен Фори fi:Ken Foree sv:Ken Foree tr:Ken Foree

Coordinates	52°24′″N16°55′″N
birth date	January 28, 1959
birth place	Montbéliard, France
othername	Frank A. Darabont
occupation	Film director Screenwriter Producer
yearsactive	1981–present
website	}}

Frank Darabont (born January 28, 1959) is a Hungarian-American film director, screenwriter and producer who has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe. He has directed the films ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ''The Green Mile'', and ''The Mist'', all based on stories by Stephen King. In 2010 he developed and executive produced the AMC network television series ''The Walking Dead''.

Early life

Darabont was born in a refugee camp in 1959 in Montbéliard, Doubs, France. His parents fled Hungary after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. When he was still an infant, his family moved to the United States, settling in Chicago, Illinois. When Darabont was five the family moved to Los Angeles, California.

Career

Early films

By the age of 20, Darabont became involved in filmmaking. One of his first films was a short adaptation of Stephen King's ''The Woman in the Room'', which made the semi-finalist list for Academy Award consideration in 1983, and was shown in its entirety in the 1986 syndicated television special, ''Stephen King's World of Horror''. The short, a "Dollar Baby", led to a close association with King, who granted him the "handshake deal" rights to another one of his shorter works, ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'' from the collection ''Different Seasons''.

Prior to his directing career, Darabont was a successful screenwriter with work on genre films that included: ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'', ''The Blob'', ''The Fly II'' and an unproduced sequel to ''Commando''. Darabont made his feature length directorial debut with ''Buried Alive'', a TV movie with a $2,000,000 budget that aired on the USA Network in 1990. Darabont followed with an extended run as writer for George Lucas's short-lived television series ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles''.

Success

Darabont became famous after making good on the deal with Stephen King by writing and directing ''The Shawshank Redemption'', for which he was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay at the 1995 Academy Awards. The film was also nominated for six other Academy Awards including Best Picture.

After a five-year hiatus, Darabont returned to the screen with the well-received ''The Green Mile'', a film he directed, scripted and produced. Like ''The Shawshank Redemption'', this film is also based on a Stephen King work. The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture and Darabont was nominated for his second Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He followed this with ''The Majestic'' two years later in 2001 to considerably less fanfare. Following lukewarm reviews from critics, the film failed at the box-office, recouping only half of its $72 million budget internationally.

Darabont is known to have worked on the scripts of the Steven Spielberg films such as ''Saving Private Ryan''. In 2002, he penned an early draft of ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull''; while Spielberg reportedly loved it, George Lucas rejected it.

Darabont appeared in "First Class Jerk", the October 26, 2008, episode of ''Entourage'' in which he propositions Vincent Chase to star in a TV show he is executive producing. He appeared in a September 12, 2009, episode where he is now the director of the film about Enzo Ferrari, who Vince is portraying.

According to the ''Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion'' series by Titan Books, Darabont—a huge fan of the re-imagined series—was slated to direct "Islanded in a Stream of Stars", the penultimate episode of the show's final season. Due to scheduling conflicts, he was unable to take the job, which fell to series star (and previous helmer) Edward James Olmos.

Darabont directed the first season of ''The Walking Dead'', the AMC series based on Robert Kirkman's comic book of the same name, having written and directed the pilot. The series features a number of Darabont regulars, including Jeffrey DeMunn and Laurie Holden. In July 2011, Darabont was fired from his position as executive producer of the series.

In 2005, Cemetery Dance Publications published Darabont's novella ''Walpuski's Typewriter'' in a limited edition. The story, originally written in his early twenties, first appeared in Jessie Horsting's magazine ''Midnight Graffiti''.

Filmography

Feature films
! Year	! Film	! Other notes
1983	''The Woman in the Room''	short film
1987	''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors''	writer only
1988		writer only
1989	''The Fly II''	writer only
1990		TV movie, director only
	''The Shawshank Redemption''	Hochi Film Award for Best Foreign Language Film Humanitas Prize for Best Film Kinema Junpo Reader's Choice Award for Best Foreign Language Film USC Scripter Award (shared with Stephen King) Nominated - Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Golden Globe for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Directors Guild of America Best Director Nominated - Writers Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Writing
	writer onlyNominated - Saturn Award for Best Writing (shared with Steph Lady)
1999		Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated - Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Director Nominated - Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay Nominated - Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director Nominated - OFCS Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Nebula Award for Best Script Nominated - USC Scripter Award (shared with Stephen King)
2001
2007		Saturn Award for Best DVD Special Edition Release 2 disc Special Edition. Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Director Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Horror Film Nominated - Empire Award Best Horror
2010		TV series, writer, director of the pilot

Major Award Nominations

Frank Darabont has been nominated for 3 Academy Awards and 1 Golden Globe, although he did not win any of these. Over his film career he has won many small awards but has yet to win a major one.

In 1994, he was nominated for an ''Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay'', for The Shawshank Redemption. For that same film he was nominated for his ''Golden Globe for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture'' which he also lost. 5 years later, in 1999, he was nominated for the ''Academy Award for Best Film'', and also the ''Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay'', for his film ''The Green Mile''. Both of his nominated films are based on novels by author Stephen King.

Nominated: ''Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay'' (The Shawshank Redemption; 1994)

Nominated: ''Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture'' (The Shawshank Redemption; 1994)

Nominated: ''Academy Award for Best Film'' (The Green Mile; 1999)

Nominated: ''Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay'' (The Green Mile; 1999)

References

External links

Cemetery Dance Publications, publisher of Darabont's first book

EW

Frank Darabont at FEARnet

Lilja, Hans-Åke. Interview Lilja's Library - The World of Stephen King, February 6, 2007

Category:1959 births Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American screenwriters Category:American people of Hungarian descent Category:Living people Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Montbéliard

ar:فرانك دارابونت bn:ফ্র্যাংক ড্যারাবন্ট cs:Frank Darabont de:Frank Darabont et:Frank Darabont es:Frank Darabont fa:فرانک دارابونت fr:Frank Darabont ko:프랭크 다라본트 it:Frank Darabont he:פרנק דרבונט lv:Frenks Darabonts hu:Frank Darabont nl:Frank Darabont ja:フランク・ダラボン no:Frank Darabont pl:Frank Darabont pt:Frank Darabont ru:Дарабонт, Фрэнк fi:Frank Darabont sv:Frank Darabont tr:Frank Darabont uk:Френк Дарабонт zh:法蘭·達拉本特

Coordinates	52°24′″N16°55′″N
name	Tom Savini
birth name	Thomas Vincent Savini
birth date	November 03, 1946
birth place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
othername	The Godfather of Gore, The Sultan of Splatter
occupation	ActorMake-up artistDirectorProducerStunt performer
website	http://www.savini.com/
spouse	}}

Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the ''Living Dead'' films directed by George A. Romero, as well as ''Creepshow'', ''The Burning'', ''Friday the 13th'', ''The Prowler'', and ''Maniac''. He directed the 1990 remake of ''Night of the Living Dead''. Though officially retired from special effects, he has continued to direct, produce and star in several movies. Savini has been known to refer movie make-up effects projects to graduates of his school. He has appeared in films such as ''Dawn of the Dead'' (and its remake), ''From Dusk till Dawn'', ''Grindhouse'', and '' Machete''.

Early life

Savini was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was raised in the Catholic religion and graduated from Central Catholic High School, later attending Carnegie-Mellon University. Savini served in Vietnam as a combat photographer. Savini continued to practice with makeup in Vietnam, often frightening indigenous peasants by appearing to suddenly transform into a "monster".

In 1970, while Savini was on guard duty, a flare was triggered in the jungle area he was watching. Against military protocol, Savini fired into the bush without informing his superiors. Other soldiers likewise started firing until a duck wandered from the bush completely unharmed. Due to his failure to follow orders, Savini was taken off guard duty from his bunker the following evening. Later that same evening, the bunker came under attack and several soldiers were wounded or killed. As a result of this incident, Savini earned the nickname "Duck Slayer" and to this day will not eat duck. Savini said his wartime experiences informed his eventual style of gory effects; "I hated that when I watched a war movie and someone dies," explaining "Some people die with one eye open and one eye half-closed, sometimes people die with smiles on their faces because the jaw is always slack. I incorporated the feeling of the stuff I saw in Vietnam into my work."

Career

Savini is primarily known for his groundbreaking work in the field of special makeup effects. He got his breakthrough working with Pittsburgh filmmaker George A. Romero, providing a convincing wrist slashing effect in the opening scenes of ''Martin'' (1977). The following year, working with an expanded budget on ''Dawn of the Dead'', Savini created his signature palette of severed limbs and bite-marks.

Savini has also worked on films by Dario Argento (''Trauma'', ''Two Evil Eyes'') and Tobe Hooper (''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2''). His signature realism livens otherwise plodding genre films such as ''Maniac'' (1980). Perhaps Savini's most noteworthy special effects occurred in the zombie epic ''Day of the Dead''.

Savini has noted that most of the characters he has played are bikers. He played a relatively straight, innocuous character in ''Martin'' (1977), but played a menacing biker called 'Blades' in ''Dawn of the Dead'' (1978), a role he reprised with a brief cameo appearance in the 2005 continuation of the series, ''Land of the Dead''. He also had a cameo as a sheriff in the 2004 remake of ''Dawn''.

Savini did have a much more prominent role as biker/Renaissance fair participant Morgan in George Romero's ''Knightriders'' (1981), and had a small role as a biker in ''The Boy Who Loved Trolls'' in (1984). In 1985, he had a small part in Twisted Sister's video for their song Be Chrool to Your Scuel. He also played the whip-wielding, vampire-fighting biker 'Sex Machine' in the 1996 Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez film ''From Dusk till Dawn''. (This character was a riff on the "Blades" character Savini created for ''Dawn of the Dead'' replete with the same costume.)

As a director, Savini helmed episodes of the syndicated television series ''Tales from the Darkside'', the aforementioned 1990 color remake of ''Night of the Living Dead'' and, ''House Call'', the pilot of the proposed series ''The Chill Factor'', which starred Pittsburgh actor Bingo O'Malley.

In 2006, Savini essayed the role of Prester John, the mythical villain in the dreamlike ''Sea of Dust''. 2006 also saw the release of Johannes Roberts' ''Demonic'' (a.k.a. ''Forest of the Damned''), in which Savini played a mad hermit surrounded by angels cast from heaven. In 2007, Savini took on a role in ''Planet Terror'', one of two stories in the film ''Grindhouse''. "Planet Terror" was directed by Robert Rodriguez; the other story, ''Death Proof'' was directed by Quentin Tarantino. He plays Deputy Tolo, who tries to save his town from an infestation of zombies. In 2008, Savini played another vampire in the movie ''Lost Boys: The Tribe'' and he has completed the film ''The Dead Matter'', also featuring Andrew Divoff and Jim O'Rear.

He also voiced himself on the "Worst Episode Ever" episode of ''The Simpsons''. He was making an appearance at Android's Dungeon where he performed his "Gutbuster" gag in which he covered the crowd in "blood and guts" and humiliated the Comic Book Guy. He also made a brief appearance in ''Zack & Miri Make a Porno'' as a thieving slumlord.

On 18 September 2009, Savini announced his plan to direct a new film entitled ''Death Island'', with special make-up effects by his former protege Greg Nicotero.

Next spring Savini will be starring in the Nazi Zombie film ''The 4th Reich'' directed by Shaun Robert Smith. Tom will play the character Standartenfuhrer Oskar Direlewanger, an SS Nazi Officer.

Savini appears as a character in the 2008 novel ''Bad Moon Rising'' by Jonathan Maberry. Savini is one of several real-world horror celebrities who are in the fictional town of Pine Deep when monsters attack. Other celebrities include James Gunn, Brinke Stevens, Ken Foree, Stephen Susco, Debbie Rochon, Joe Bob Briggs and blues man Mem Shannon. He had a cameo in the 2010 film adaptation of the faux trailer ''Machete''. The american filmmaker Jason Baker filmed the life of him, in his documentary The Story of Tom Savini.

Savini also briefly took part in Jerry Lawler's 2010 revival of the ''Memphis Wrestling'' pro wrestling television show. His on-screen character sent horror-movie monsters (played by wrestlers from the Memphis area) onto the show to get revenge for Savini who blamed Lawler for the death of Savini's friend Andy Kaufman. The monsters' handler was manager "Hollywood" Jimmy Blaylock.

FX education

Savini runs the Special Effects Make-Up and Digital Film Programs at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, Pennsylvania and is the author of several books on special effects including ''Grande Illusions'' I and II (1983, 1994) which detail the production and mechanical workings of many of his famous film effects. He is also associated with other books in the horror genre including ''Book of the Dead'' and ''Horror 101'' for which he wrote the foreword. Savini is an associate of Dick Smith, who used to, but no longer, incorporates an advanced professional make-up seminar into the last semester of the program. Among other projects, Smith is known for his groundbreaking work in ''The Exorcist''.

Filmography

As actor

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
1977		Arthur	First film with George A. Romero
1978	''Dawn of the Dead''	Blades	Second film with George A. Romero
		Disco boy
	Man The Knife Killer (uncredited)	First film with Sean S. Cunningham
	''Effects''	Nicky
''Knightriders''	Morgan	Third film with George A. Romero
1982	''Creepshow''	Garbage Man #2	Fourth film with George A. Romero, Cameo
1984	''The Boy Who Loved Trolls''	Motorcyclist
1985	''The Ripper''	Jack the Ripper
	''Twisted Sister: Come Out and Play''	Teacher	Cameo
''Maximum Overdrive''	Loman Face Stealer (uncredited)(scenes deleted)	First film with Stephen King
1990	''Two Evil Eyes''	The Monomaniac (Uncredited)	Fifth film with George A. Romero
1992		News Photographer
1994		Lt. Ron Vargo
1995	''The Demolitionist''	Roland
	''Mr. Stitch''	Chemical Weapons Engineer	Television movie
''From Dusk till Dawn''	Sex Machine
2000		Peter Reynolds	episode – ''Lost Boy''
	''The Monster Man''	Uncle Joe
''Web of Darkness''	Rouge
''Children of the Living Dead''	Deputy Hughs
''The Simpsons''	Himself	episode – ''Worst Episode Ever''
	''Eyes Are Upon You''	Eddie Rao
	Salt Lake City Detective
	''Blood Bath''	Stranger
''Zombiegeddon''	Jesus Christ	New York City Horror Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award
	''Vicious''	Kane
	The County Sheriff	Remake of the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead
''Death 4 Told''	Man	Cameo
''Unearthed''	Victor Tonelli
	''Forest of the Damned''	Stephen
''Land of the Dead''	Machete Zombie	Sixth film with George A. Romero
	''A Dream of Colour in Black and White''	Caddy
''Beyond the Wall of Sleep''	Sheriff
''The Absence of Light''	The Higher Power
		Deputy Tolo	Segment – ''Planet Terror''
''Loaded Dice''	The Bishop
	''Silent Vengeance''	Daniel Phillips
''It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To''	Uncle Tom
''Lost Boys: The Tribe''	David Van Etten	Sequel to the 1987 film – ''The Lost Boys''
	''Zack and Miri Make a Porno''	Jenkins
	Prester John
2009	''Eldorado''
	''The Dead Matter''	Sebed
	Osiris Amanpour
''Horrorween''	Killer
	Standartenfuhrer Oskar Dirlewanger
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''	Cop

As make-up artist/special effects technician

! Year	! Film	! Notes
	''Deathdream''
''Deranged''
1977
1978	''Dawn of the Dead''	Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Make-Up Effects
''Effects''
''Knightriders''
	''Xiao sheng pa pa''
''Creepshow''
''Midnight''
	''Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter''
''Maria's Lovers''
1985		Saturn Award for Best Make-Up Effects
	''Twisted Sister: Come out and Play''
''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2''
1987	''Creepshow 2''
	''Tales From the Darkside''	episode – Family Reunion
''Monkey Shines''
	''Red Scorpion''
1990	''Two Evil Eyes''
	''Heartstopper''
''Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh''
	''Killing Zoe''
''Trauma''
''H.P. Lovecraft's: Necronomicon''
1994	''Backstreet Justice''
1997	''Cutting Moments''
1999	''Cold Hearts''
2001	''Web of Darkness''
2002
2011
	''Redd Inc''
	Announced

As director

! Year	! Film	! Notes
1984–1988	''Tales from the Darkside''	TV, 3 episodes
1990		Remake of the 1968 film
2004	''Chill Factor: House Call''
2011	''The Theatre Bizarre''	1 segment

Bibliography

''Grande Illusions: A Learn-By-Example Guide to the Art and Technique of Special Make-Up Effects from the Films of Tom Savini'' ISBN 0911137009

''Grande Illusions II'' ISBN 0911137076

''Bizarro!'' (A reissue of ''Grande Illusions'', arbitrarily re-titled by its publisher) ISBN 0517553198

References

External links

Category:1946 births Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American make-up artists Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American stunt performers Category:Horror film directors Category:Living people Category:Special effects people

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