Lois Burwell

Board Member

Lois Burwell is an iconic Oscar-winning makeup artist, whose career includes Legend, The Princess Bride, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Fifth Element, Saving Private Ryan, The Last Samurai and Lincoln. In 1996, Burwell won the Academy Award for her phenomenal work on the historical war epic, Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Working alongside director Steven Spielberg, she was nominated for her work on Saving Private Ryan, a film that started a longtime collaboration between the two artists. They continued to work together on Catch Me if You Can, War of the Worlds, War Horse, Lincoln, The BFG, and Ready Player One. For Lincoln, Burwell designed the prosthetics transforming actor Daniel Day Lewis into the 16th President of the United States using paintings and photographs from the era to build the impressive look.

Off set, she was elected governor for the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Then, in 2017, she was elected the first Vice President of the Academy. Lois Burwell is also known for starring as a judge on the SyFy television series Face Off, replacing makeup artist Ve Neill in the show’s seventh season. As of 2022, she has worked on six films that have gone on to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

CREDITS

THE FIFTH ELEMENT (MAKEUP DEPARTMENT HEAD) (1997)
BRAVEHEART (MAKEUP ARTIST) (1995)
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (KEY MAKEUP ARTIST) (1998)
THE LAST SAMURAI (MAKEUP DEPARTMENT HEAD) (2003)

WAR OF THE WORLDS (MAKEUP DEPARTMENT HEAD) (2005)
READY PLAYER ONE (MAKEUP DESIGNER) (2018)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (CHIEF MAKEUP DESIGNER) (1996)
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (MAKEUP SUPERVISOR) (1987)