Nick Dudman

After turning Jack Nicholson into the Joker on the hugely successful 'Batman', Nick Dudman is one of the most respected special prosthetic make-up artists working today. After starting as a trainee make-up artist for Stuart Freeborn on 'The Empire Strikes Back' and Richard Lester's reshoots of 'Superman II', he then continued to work with the Salkinds on 'Supergirl'. His talent for prosthetics was quickly recognised when he made Supergirl actress Helen Slater appear bruised and bleeding during the Phantom Zone sequences. He also covered Peter Cook's Nigel in revolting warts. Directly after this experience, 'The Thing' make-up creator Rob Bottin asked Dudman to assist him as prosthetics applier on Ridley Scott's creature heavy 'Legend'. Bottin and Dudman's ultimate showstopper was Tim Currys appearance as a horned devil. George Lucas repaid Dudman for his 'Empire Strikes Back' contributions by appointing him special make-up designer on Ron Howard's 'Willow'. He subsequently designed the prosthetics for Neil Jordan's doomed haunted house comedy 'High Spirits', which particularly impressed production designer Anton Furst. When Furst was then asked to design a Tim Burton interpretation of 'Batman', he recommended Dudman to the director.

After interviewing Jack Nicholson for input into the make-up design, Dudman decided that the actor could get the better performance by wearing two prosthetic pieces glued to his cheeks, putting the actor in a permanent, manic grin. The result has become one of the most recognised images of cinema history, and is a stand-out piece of make-up creation in the 'Batman' movie series. Indeed, even such acclaimed and powerful make-up legends as Stan Winston and Rick Baker performed less than adequate Penguin and Two-Face character prosthetics for the later films. Like Stuart Freeborn, Nick Dudman's name does not hold a candle to the popularity of his peers, yet in the public eye his work has made us believe the impossible without questioning.

More recently Nick Dudman reunited with his old collaborator George Lucas, designing the creatures and make-up for 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace' and designed the make up for 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy Returns'. For 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace', Dudman had the task of creating a younger, less wrinkled Yoda puppet. To modify the character's appearance yet remain true to the original look, Dudman chose to sacrifice the material that Stuart Freeborn had used for the original puppet: foam rubber latex. As a replacement, Dudman instead used the recently developed silicone, the flexible material used for breast implants. The translucence of the new material gave a notably youthful texture to the Jedi master, as opposed to the rugged, aged look of rubber latex. Dudman also supervised and designed the fantasy make-up and creatures for 'Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone'.

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