From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

This biography of a living person needs
additional citations for verification. Please help by
adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living
persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed
immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful.
Find sources: "Tom Savini" –
news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2012) (Learn how
and when to remove this template message)

Tom Savini

Savini at Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend 2014, held in

Orlando, Florida.

Born Thomas Vincent Savini

November 3, 1946 (age 72)

Monessen, Pennsylvania, United States

 Actor
Occupation
 prosthetic makeup artist

 film director
 film producer

 stunt performer
 Website http://www.savini.com/

Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American actor, stunt performer,
film director, and prosthetic makeup artist. He is known for his makeup and special
effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including Martin, Dawn of the
Dead, Day of the Dead, Creepshow and Monkey Shines; he also created the special
effects and makeup for many cult classics like Friday the 13th (parts I and
IV), Maniac, The Burning, The Prowler and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
Savini directed Night of the Living Dead, the 1990 remake of Romero's 1968 Night of the
Living Dead;[1] his other directing work include three episodes of the TV show Tales from
the Darkside and one segment in The Theatre Bizarre. As an actor and stuntman, he has
appeared in films such as Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Knightriders, From Dusk till
Dawn, Planet Terror, Machete, Django Unchained and Machete Kills.

Contents

 1Early life
 2Career
 3FX education
 4Filmography
o 4.1As actor
o 4.2As make-up artist/special effects technician
o 4.3As director
 5Bibliography
 6References
 7External links

Early life[edit]
Savini was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is of Italian descent.[2] He was
raised Catholic and graduated from Central Catholic High School. As a boy, his
inspiration was actor Lon Chaney, Sr., and Savini attributes his earliest desires to create
makeup effects to Chaney and the film Man of a Thousand Faces.[3] Experimenting with
whatever medium he could find, the young Savini practiced creating makeup effects on
himself, later convincing his friends to let him practice his craft on them. He also
discovered another passion, acting. Combining his makeup applications and homemade
costumes, he especially enjoyed scaring his friends. Savini attended Point Park
University for three years, before enlisting in the United States Army. After his tour in
Vietnam, he attended Carnegie-Mellon University,[4] as the first undergraduate to be
awarded a full fellowship in the acting and directing program. He appeared in stage
productions throughout college and continued on stage long after his tour of duty
in Vietnam.
Savini served as a combat photographer during the Vietnam War.[5] In a 2002 interview,
he told the Pittsburgh Post "When I was in Vietnam I was a combat photographer. My job
was to shoot images of damage to machines and to people. Through my lens, I saw
some hideous [stuff]. To cope with it, I guess I tried to think of it as special effects. Now,
as an artist, I just think of creating the effect within the limitations we have to deal
with."[5] He continued to practice with makeup in Vietnam, often frightening indigenous
peasants by appearing to suddenly transform into a "monster". Using the lens of his
camera, Savini separated himself from the real life horrors of war;[6] however, all the
images still haunted his mind. Savini said his wartime experiences influenced his
eventual style of gory effects: "I hated that when I watched a war movie and someone
dies. Some people die with one eye open and one eye half-closed, sometimes people die
with smiles on their faces because the jaw is always slack. I incorporated the feeling of
the stuff I saw in Vietnam into my work."[7] In 1970, while on guard duty, a flare was
triggered in the jungle area Savini was watching. Against military protocol, Savini fired
into the bush without informing his superiors. Other soldiers likewise began firing until a
duck wandered from the bush completely unharmed. Due to his failure to follow orders,
Savini was taken off guard duty from his bunker on the following evening. That same
evening, the bunker came under attack and several soldiers were wounded or killed. As a
result of this incident, Savini earned the nickname "Duck Slayer" and to this day will not
eat duck.[8]
Among the many talents Savini achieved as a young man was the art of fencing, he is a
tournament fencer as well as an accomplished gymnast.[9] Much of his stunt work and
some of his characters reflect these graceful abilities; however, he is also accomplished
with a bull whip and can easily execute a motorcycle stunt. Many of his characters have
been bikers or madmen who are hardened and eerily evil.

Career[edit]
Savini is primarily known for his groundbreaking work in the field of special make-up
effects, also known as prosthetic makeup.[10] His signature style and techniques bring
vivid realism to genre films. Early in Savini's career, Dick Smith became an inspiration
and a guide, later becoming an associate at Savini's Special Make-up Effects Program.
Among other projects, Smith is known for his groundbreaking work in The Exorcist.
Savini got his breakthrough working with Pittsburgh filmmaker George A. Romero,
providing a convincing wrist-slashing effect in the opening scenes of Martin (1978). The
following year, working with a larger budget on Dawn of the Dead, Savini created his
signature palette of severed limbs and bite-marks. In the 1980 slasher film Friday the
13th, Savini expanded his repertoire of blood and gore. He continued to perfect those
techniques in another film that year, Maniac. Along with the 1981 films The
Burning and The Prowler, Savini earned the nickname "The Sultan of Splatter". In 1982,
he created more traditional horror effects in the film Creepshow directed by George A.
Romero and written by Stephen King. In 1984, he agreed to work on Friday the 13th: The
Final Chapter, where he killed his creation Jason Voorhees. Returning to the zombie
genre in 1985, Savini was nominated and won the 1985 Saturn Awardfor Best Makeup
Effects for his work on the Romero's Day of the Dead. In 1986, Savini worked with
director Tobe Hooper on the film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Savini has also
worked on films by Italian director Dario Argento, first in 1990 on the film Two Evil
Eyes and again on the 1993 film Trauma. In the 1991 film Heartstopper, he created
special effects for director John A. Russo. Although focusing more on his acting career in
recent years, Savini has continued to be active with special makeup effects and in 2011
supervised the effects for the Australian film Redd Inc.
As an actor, Savini has appeared in many of the same films he was creating effects for.
His first appearance was a relatively straight, innocuous character in Martin in 1978;
however, he played a menacing biker called Blades in his next film Dawn of the
Dead (1978), a role he reprised in zombie form with a cameo appearance in the 2005
continuation of the series, Land of the Dead. In the 1980 film Maniac, his brief role in the
film found him facing the maniac's shotgun and having his head blown off in a
spectacular display. Savini had a much more prominent role as biker and antagonist
Morgan, the Black Knight, in George A. Romero's Knightriders (1981). Continuing with
the biker theme, Savini played the universally recognized, whip-wielding, vampire-fighting
biker "Sex Machine" in the 1996 Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez film From Dusk till
Dawn. (This character was a riff on Blades from Dawn of the Deadreplete with the same
costume.)
Tom Savini in 2007

In 2007, Savini had a role in Planet Terror, one of two stories in the Grindhouse film,
directed by Robert Rodriguez. Savini plays Deputy Tolo, who fights to save his town from
an infestation of zombie-like creatures. In another Rodriguez film, Machete,[11] based on a
fake movie trailer played during the film Grindhouse, Savini played Osiris Amanpour,
hired to track and kill the main character, Machete. Savini reprised his role in the
sequel, Machete Kills. Throughout the years, Savini has appeared in movie roles from
cameos as the vampire David Van Etten in Lost Boys: The Tribe, as the sheriff in the
2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, or tongue in cheek characters, like Jesus Christ
in Zombiegeddon (2003). In 2006, Savini essayed the role of Prester John, the mythical
villain in the dreamlike Sea of Dust. That year also saw the release of Johannes
Roberts' Forest of the Damned, in which Savini played a mad hermit surrounded by
angels cast from heaven. In 2008, he made a brief appearance in Zack & Miri Make a
Porno as a thieving slumlord. He also appeared in The Dead Matter, along with Andrew
Divoff and Jim O'Rear. Savini voiced himself on The Simpsons episode "Worst Episode
Ever". While making an appearance at Android's Dungeon, Savini performs the
"Gutbuster" gag, covering the crowd in "blood and guts" and consequently humiliating
the Comic Book Guy. In 2012, Savini appeared as a shop teacher, Mr. Callahan, in the
Pittsburgh-set teen drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Logan Lerman.
Savini also appeared as one of the Trackers in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.
Future projects include Savini starring in the Nazi zombie film The 4th Reich directed by
Shaun Robert Smith, playing the role of SS-Standartenführer Oskar Dirlewanger.[12] As
a film director, Savini helmed episodes of the syndicated television series Tales from the
Darkside, the aforementioned 1990 color remake of Night of the Living Dead and, House
Call, the pilot of the proposed series The Chill Factor, which starred Pittsburgh actor
Bingo O'Malley. In 2011, he directed "Wet Dreams", one of six segments to the horror
film The Theatre Bizarre. In 2009, Savini announced his plan to direct a new film, Death
Island, with special make-up effects by his former protege Greg Nicotero.[13] On
September 1, 2013, Savini began a crowd funding project on Indiegogo for Death Island.
His plans are to begin filming by the end of 2013.[14]
In the 2008 novel Bad Moon Rising by Jonathan Maberry, Savini appears as one of the
real-world horror celebrities who are in the fictional town of Pine Deep when monsters
attack; other celebrities include James Gunn, Jim O'Rear, Brinke Stevens, Ken
Foree, Stephen Susco, Debbie Rochon, Joe Bob Briggs and blues man Mem
Shannon.[15][16][17][18][19]
Savini also briefly took part in Jerry Lawler's 2010 revival of the Memphis Wrestling pro
wrestling television show. His on-screen character sent horror-movie monsters (played
by wrestlers from the Memphis area) onto the show to get revenge for Savini who blamed
Lawler for the death of Savini's friend Andy Kaufman; the monsters' handler was
manager "Hollywood" Jimmy Blaylock.
In 2012, American filmmaker Jason Baker debuted a biography of Savini entitled Smoke
and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini.[20]
He stated during a Q&A with fans that the hardest movie he has ever worked on
was Creepshow because it was "5 movies in 1".[21]
On January 15 2018, Savini announce via his Instagram that he would be directing a
horror web series alongside several others, including Tina Romero, the late George A.
Romero's daughter. Special effects for the web series will be completed by Savini's
students at Pa Douglas Education Center.[22] The web series is currently in production.[23]

FX education[edit]
Main article: Tom Savini's Special Make-Up Effects Program
Savini runs the Tom Savini's Special Make-Up Effects Program[24] at the Douglas
Education Center in Monessen, Pennsylvania. Savini is happy to say that he refers offers
he receives for movie make-up effects projects to his students and graduates of his
school as well.[25]
Savini is the author of several books on special effects including Grande Illusions I and II
(1983, 1994) which detail the production and mechanical workings of many of his famous
film effects. In Horror F/X, a 1989 direct-to-video interview conducted by frequent
collaborator John A. Russo, Savini explains many of his effects techniques, illustrated by
film clips and behind-the-scenes video footage. He is also associated with other books in
the horror genre including Book of the Dead and Horror 101 for which he wrote the
foreword. Savini has also appeared in public demonstrating his effects, including two
memorable appearances in the 1980s on Late Night With David Letterman in which he
demonstrated such effects as "fire gel" and a gunshot to the head on Letterman himself.

Filmography[edit]
As actor[edit]

Year Film Role Notes

Martin Arthur First film with George A. Romero

Second film with George A.

1978 Dawn of the Dead Blades
Romero

Effects Nicky

1980 Maniac Disco boy

1981 Knightriders Morgan Third film with George A. Romero

Fourth film with George A.

1982 Creepshow Garbage Man #2
Romero (cameo)
1984 The Boy Who Loved Trolls Motorcyclist

Direct-to-video; shot in and around

1985 The Ripper Jack the Ripper
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Twisted Sister: Come Out and

1986 Teacher Cameo
Play

1987 Creepshow 2 The Creep

The Monomaniac
1990 Two Evil Eyes Fifth film with George A. Romero
(Uncredited)

1992 Innocent Blood News Photographer

1994 Heartstopper Lt. Ron Vargo

1995 The Demolitionist Roland

Mr. Stitch Chemical Weapons Engineer Television film

1996

From Dusk till Dawn Sex Machine

2000 Sheena Peter Reynolds Episode "Lost Boy"

The Monster Man Uncle Joe

Web of Darkness Rouge

2001

Children of the Living Dead Deputy Hughs

The Simpsons Himself Episode "Worst Episode Ever"

 Eyes Are Upon You Eddie Rao

2002

Ted Bundy Salt Lake City Detective

Blood Bath Stranger

2003
New York City Horror Film
Zombiegeddon Jesus Christ Festival Lifetime Achievement
Award

Vicious Kane

Remake of the 1978 film Dawn of

Dawn of the Dead The County Sheriff
the Dead

2004 Death 4 Told Man Cameo

Unearthed Victor Tonelli

Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Television Mini-

Himself
Moments Series documentary, Part 1: 100-81

Forest of the Damned Stephen

2005

Land of the Dead Blades (Zombie) Sixth film with George A. Romero

A Dream of Colour in Black

Caddy
and White

2006
Beyond the Wall of Sleep Sheriff

The Absence of Light The Higher Power

 Going to Pieces: The Rise and
Himself Documentary
Fall of the Slasher Film

Grindhouse Deputy Tolo Segment Planet Terror

2007

Loaded Dice The Bishop

Silent Vengeance Daniel Phillips

It's My Party and I'll Die If I

Uncle Tom
Want To

2008 Sequel to the 1987 film The Lost

Lost Boys: The Tribe David Van Etten
Boys

Zack and Miri Make a Porno Jenkins

Sea of Dust Prester John

Eldorado

2009
His Name Was Jason: 30
Himself - Host Television documentary
Years of Friday the 13th

The Dead Matter Sebed

Machete Osiris Amanpour

2010

Horrorween Killer

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Cop Episode: "One Hundred"

2012 The Theatre Bizarre Dr. Maurey

 Django Unchained Tracker Chaney

The Perks of Being a

Mr. Callahan
Wallflower

Machete Kills Osiris Amanpour

SS-Standartenführer Oskar
The 4th Reich
Dirlewanger[26]

2013
Holt Ryebach (live acting
LocoCycle Video game[27]
only)

Crystal Lake Memories: The

Himself - Special Make-Up
Complete History of Friday Video documentary
Effects
the 13th

2015 The Sadist The Sadist

From Dusk Till Dawn: The

2016 Series Burt

As make-up artist/special effects technician[edit]

Year Film Notes

1972 Deathdream

1974 Deranged

Martin

1978
Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Make-Up
Dawn of the Dead
Effects
 Friday the 13th

1980 Effects

Maniac

Eyes of a Stranger

The Burning

1981

The Prowler

Knightriders

Xiao sheng pa pa

Creepshow

1982

Alone in the Dark

Midnight

Friday the 13th: The Final

Jason Voorhees
Chapter
1984

Maria's Lovers

1985 Day of the Dead Saturn Award for Best Make-Up Effects

Twisted Sister: Come out and

1986
Play
 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

- Hellraiser
1987 Creepshow 2
movies

Tales From the Darkside Episode "Family Reunion"

1988 Monkey Shines

Red Scorpion

1990 Two Evil Eyes

Heartstopper

1991
Bloodsucking Pharaohs in
Pittsburgh

Killing Zoe

1993 Trauma

H.P. Lovecraft's: Necronomicon

1994 Backstreet Justice

1995 Ghostwriter Episode "Attack of the Slime Monster"

1996 Mr. Stitch Television film

1997 Cutting Moments

1999 Cold Hearts

2001 Web of Darkness

2002 Ted Bundy

2011 Death from Above

2012 Redd Inc

TBD Nightmare City

As director[edit]

Year Film Notes

1984–1988 Tales from the Darkside TV, three episodes

1990 Night of the Living Dead Remake of the 1968 film

2004 Chill Factor: House Call

2011 The Theatre Bizarre Segment "Wet Dreams"

TBD Nightmare City Remake of Nightmare City (1980)

Bibliography[edit]
 Grande Illusions: A Learn-By-Example Guide to the Art and Technique of Special
Make-Up Effects from the Films of Tom Savini ISBN 0-911137-00-9
 Grande Illusions II ISBN 0-911137-07-6
 Bizarro! (A reissue of Grande Illusions, arbitrarily re-titled by its publisher) ISBN 0-
517-55319-8

References[edit]
1. ^ J.C. Maçek III (2012-06-15). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living
Dead". PopMatters.
2. ^ 3 Like1 Dislike0 Jan 27, 2012 by B. Alan Orange (2012-01-27). "Exclusive: Tom Savini
Talks The Theatre Bizarre". MovieWeb.com. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
3. ^ "Foreword by Tom Savini". Cult Reviews. 2011-12-15. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
4. ^ Savini News Archived February 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Hayes, John (October 11, 2002). "Savini's a Scream-Checking in with the
master of TerrorMania". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
6. ^ Interview in the documentary Scream Greats Volume I - Tom Savini Master of Horror
FX; Starlog Films/Paramount Home Video, 1985.
7. ^ Chris Hewitt, Adam Smith (March 2009). "Freddy V Jason". Empire. p. 97.
8. ^ Interview in the magazine Bizarre, February 2006.
9. ^ "Tom Savini Supanova Pop Culture Expo".
10. ^ Horror F/X hosted by John Russo; JTC Video Inc./Market Square Productions, 1989.
11. ^ "It's 'Machete' Madness!! Check Out Over 27 New Images!!!". BloodyDisgusting.
12. ^ "Early Concept Art for Nazi-Horror Tale 'The 4th Reich 3D'". BloodyDisgusting.
13. ^ "Tom Savini directs again on Death Island". Archived from the originalon 2009-09-23.
14. ^ "First Details on Tom Savini's Death Island".
15. ^ ILoz Zoc (2007-02-07). "BC Books Interviews Author Jonathan Maberry".
Blogcritics.org. Archived from the original on 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
16. ^ Maberry, Jonathan. "Bad Moon Rising". Pinnacle Press, 2005.
17. ^ Scythe, Ramius (2010-06-22). "Horror Chronicles Features Debbie Rochon".
Horrorchronicles.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
18. ^ "MTV Artist Focus On Tom Savini". Mtv.com. 1946-11-03. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
19. ^ Greg Petaloudis (2013-01-10). "Horror Unlimited Ingrid Pitt Award - Debbie Rochon".
Horrorunlimited.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
20. ^ "Filmmaker Jason Baker Talks Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini".
21. ^ "Tom Savini Q&A - Texas Frightmare Weekend 2012 - May 6th, 2012".
22. ^ "Instagram post by Tom Savini • Jan 16, 2018 at 12:46am UTC". Instagram.
Retrieved 2018-01-16.
23. ^ "[First Look] Tom Savini Directs in New Web Series, Currently Shooting! | Nightmare on
Film Street". Nightmare on Film Street. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
24. ^ "Tom Savini Special Make-Up Effects School". Dec.edu. Archived from the original on
2013-09-06. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
25. ^ "Tom Savini: A Real Sex Machine". Film Threat. 2003-10-14. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
26. ^ "The 4th Reich prepares for battle; filmmaker talks".
27. ^ "We Make Awesome". Twisted Pixel Games. Retrieved 2014-05-05.