Mike Elizalde (born 1960) is a Mexican-American special make-up effects artist. He was nominated at the

81st Academy Awards The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2008 and took place on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

in the category of Best Makeup for his work on the film '' Hellboy II: The Golden Army''. His nomination was shared with Thomas Floutz.

Early life

Born Winston Miguel Elizalde Torres in

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding '' municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip ...

, Sinaloa. His parents were Miguel Angel Elizalde and Paula Torres. He immigrated to the United States when he was five years old and grew up in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from "Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July 11 ...

. As a child, Elizalde was interested in movie monsters, drawing them using found materials and trying to recreate make-up designs on himself. While attending high school in Alhambra he spent time at the

magic store A magic store (also magic shop or magician's supply shop) is an establishment which sells materials for performing magic tricks. Magic shops often also sell practical joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, g ...

Owen Magic Supreme, where he learned to work with his hands while learning how to perform magic. Alan Zagorsky, the current owner of the store, was his first mentor.

Career

Elizalde taught himself to sculpt and create prosthetic makeup effects by following the work of Dick Smith, Stan Winston, and

Rick Baker Richard A. Baker (born December 8, 1950), known professionally as Rick Baker, is an American retired special make-up effects creator and actor. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker won the Academy Award for Best Make ...

. After serving for eight years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, during which time he became a

naturalized U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constit ...

, he returned to

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

to begin his career. Elizalde worked at several Hollywood

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

studios, including Rick Baker's Cinovation Studios and

Stan Winston Studio Stanley Winston (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008) was an American television and film special make-up effects creator, best known for his work in the ''Terminator'' series, the first three ''Jurassic Park'' films, ''Aliens'', '' The Thing'', th ...

, learning to become an animatronics designer, puppeteer, and

prosthetic makeup Prosthetic makeup also called special make-up effects and FX prosthesis) is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects. Prosthetic makeup goes back to the beginning of film maki ...

artist. In 1994, he and his wife Mary formed Spectral Motion, a design studio specializing in creature effects, prosthetic makeup,

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrate ...

, and animatronics. He has worked on over 100 film and television projects in his career, including

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesse ...

, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,

Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...

, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,

Bright Bright may refer to: Common meanings *Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness *Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence People * Bright (surname) * Bright (given name) *Bright, the stage na ...

, Birdman,

The Carbonaro Effect ''The Carbonaro Effect'' is an American hidden camera practical joke reality television series hosted by magician and prankster Michael Carbonaro, who performs tricks on people caught on hidden camera. It debuted on April 1, 2014, and is curren ...

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American time travel superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, who are also executive producers a ...

, and Stranger Things. Elizalde's company also collaborated with illusionist

David Copperfield (illusionist) David Seth Kotkin (born September 16, 1956), known professionally as David Copperfield, is an American magician, described by ''Forbes'' as the most commercially successful magician in history.

. In addition to his

nomination, Elizalde won a Saturn Award in 2004 for his work on

Saturn Award for Best Make-up The Saturn Award for Best Make-up is one of the annual awards given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The Saturn Awards, which are the oldest film-specialized awards to reward science fiction, fantasy, and horror achie ...

". Retrieved on 2020-2-01.

Affiliations

Elizalde is a Magician Member at The Academy of Magical Arts at the Hollywood

Magic Castle The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in t ...

and served as an officer (Secretary) on the Board of Directors from November 2016, through March 2018. He is also a member of

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

where he served on the Executive Committee for the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists branch for six years from 2009 until 2015. He is also a member of the

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

, Local 706, the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, and the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

References

External links

* 1960 births American make-up artists Mexican make-up artists Living people Mexican emigrants to the United States People from Sinaloa Special effects people {{Mexico-film-bio-stub