For this Friday Favorites, we’re going to do something a little different. On this day in 1922, Richard Emerson Smith was born, in Larchmont, New York, and would grow up to become one of the greatest makeup artist of all time. When it comes to the horror genre, while he did work on a few, it was nowhere near as many as some of his contemporaries or the next generation of artists, such as Rick Baker, Stan Winston, or Tom Savini. But the ones he did work on, literally changed movie history. For the longest time, I thought 44-year old Max Von Sydow was a much older man because of the old age makeup Smith did on him for The Exorcist (1973). Not only did he do the character makeup for Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972), but also the realistic bullet hits as well.

The amazing thing about Smith was his generosity when it came to sharing his knowledge about the craft of makeup. Decades before, as makeup techniques, processes, as well as the actual materials, were being invented and discovered, they were all closely guarded secrets among the artists, because they didn’t want others to pass them up. But not Smith. He would not just share his knowledge, but would write it down and send it to anybody that asked for it. He was more concerned about helping others improving their own talent, as well as the art itself.

While he started going to school to become a dentist, he fell in love with makeup and decided that was the path he wanted to follow. Working for over a decade for the makeup department in television, he made the move to movies and started an incredible career.

While he did win a couple of Saturn Awards, the first one in 1975 for his work on The Exorcist, and then in 1981, tied with himself between two films, Scanners and Altered States (both 1981), and nominated for a few others. He won his first Oscar for his work on Amadeus (1984), once again creating such realistic old age makeup. He also took home Britain’s BAFTA award for Best Makeup Artist that same year for Amadeus. He was nominated a second time for his work on the film Dad (1990), but did not win. Then in 2012, he was given an Honorary Oscar for his work in the industry. Below is a clip of Rick Baker giving Smith the award, which is such a touching video, showing the gratitude that Smith still had for everyone and how much he enjoyed his life and career.

So for this Friday Favorites, let’s take a minute and remember this man and his incredible work and contribution to the film industry. Instead of an all time favorite, what was one of your fondest memories of Smith’s work? Was there a particular effect that just blew your mind? Gave you nightmares? Or just put you in awe. I know The Exorcist is going to mention quite a bit, and rightly so. I think we all know that the story and the acting was only part of why that movie was so effective. The rest was Dick Smith. He will always be remembered every time one of his movies is playing somewhere around the world. So Mr. Smith, for all the countless hours of entertainment, of awe and wonder you’ve put us in over the years, thank you.