Christopher James Walas (born 1955) is an American special effects artist, make-up effects artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the film '' The Fly'' (1986), for which he won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and was nominated for two

British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

Biography

His main body of work is with special effects in a wide variety of films, from

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

to action-adventure. His work on '' The Fly'' led to his directorial debut on '' The Fly II''. He also won an Academy Award for Special Effects Make-up on ''The Fly'' and is well known for his creation of the

Gremlins ''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voic ...

. Walas was also partially responsible for creating the famous sequence in ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana ...

'' when the Nazis melt from the intense heat created by the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, was a religious storage chest and relic held to be the most sacred object by the Israelites. Religious tradition describes it as a wooden storage chest decorat ...

. Walas created false heads for

Ronald Lacey Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in ''Porridge'' (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy '' ...

Wolf Kahler Wolf Kahler (born 3 April 1940) is a German character actor in stage, film, television, and voice actor. Early life Kahler was born in Kiel in Germany. Career With blue eyes, sculpted jawbone, and height of , Kahler was often chosen to play ...

, and Paul Freeman.

Filmographies

Special effects

Makeup effects

Visual effects

Director

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chris Walas American make-up artists American special effects people 1955 births Living people Best Makeup Academy Award winners Film directors from Illinois American horror film directors Artists from Chicago