Biography

Trailblazing make-up artist Greg Cannom learned the basics of his craft by reading monster magazines. In between studies at Cypress College in southern California, he also worked seasonally at Knott's Halloween Haunt theme park. His continuing interest in the horror genre eventually led to an ongoing collaboration with special make-up effects creator Rick Baker on films like The Incredible Melting Man (1977), The Fury (1978) and It Lives Again (1978), as well as on the iconic music video Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983). In the course of his distinguished career, Cannom transformed actors into aliens, werewolves, vampires and assorted monsters. He particularly excelled at old age make-up, best exemplified by Gary Oldman's famous desiccated appearance in Dracula (1992) and Robin Williams's ageing android in Bicentennial Man (1999). He created the green make-up and fake teeth for Jim Carrey in The Mask (1994), which took four hours to apply. Cannom also devised Danny DeVito's penguin hands for Batman Returns (1992), foam latex facial applications, fangs and glowing red contact lenses for The Lost Boys (1987), vampire make-up for Blade (1998) and the diverse prosthetics for Igor and other Dracula minions in Van Helsing (2004). He also made notable contributions to instalments of established franchises like Star Trek, Nightmare on Elm Street, Alien and Pirates of the Caribbean, plus stand-alone box-office hits like Hoffa (1992), Titanic (1997), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Cannom won the last of his five Academy Awards (including one for Technical Achievement in 2005) for his transformation of Christian Bale into Dick Cheney for Adam McKay's political satire Vice (2018).

Greg Cannom was featured on the premiere issue cover of Make-Up Artist Magazine. He had served as an instructor for Local 706, the Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild, who presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. Cannom passed away on May 9 2025 at the age of 73.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis

In 2005, Cannom 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.

Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe & Patricia Dehaney won the 2019 Academy Award in the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category for their work on Vice (2018).

As of 2022, he has contributed with the makeup department of seven films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Titanic (1997), The Insider (1999), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Vice (2018). Of those, Titanic (1997) and A Beautiful Mind (2001) are winners in the category.

In 2023, Variety reported that a GoFundMe had been set up for Cannom, who at the time was experiencing "major health issues," including a case of nerve damage from shingles and a partial amputation of one of his legs. The fundraiser did ultimately raise $100,000 for the artist, surpassing its initial goal of $75,000.

Greg Cannom was the recipient of several accolades, including five Academy Awards and two Saturn Awards, and has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and four BAFTA Awards.