Michèle Burke, Oscar® and Emmy®-winning make-up artist best-known for her work on the Mission Impossible and Austin Powers series, and Joy Zapata, Emmy- winning hair stylist known for her work on A Star is Born, Wonder Woman 1984, and Star Trek: Nemesis, will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 9th Annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards, (MUAHS, IATSE Local 706), presented by HASK® Beauty. They will be honored at the MUAHS gala, returning to a live-in-person ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, February 19, 2022.
The Lifetime Achievement Awards honor an extraordinary spectrum of acclaimed work, exceptional contributions to the motion picture arts and sciences, and outstanding service to their union or the entertainment industry.
“We are thrilled to honor Joy and Michèle, both extremely deserving of this award. Their longevity of successes and achievements are inspiring to us all, and they have created a legacy of characters that are permanently embedded in our memories forever,” said Julie Socash, President of the Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild.
Two-time Oscar-winning makeup artist Michèle Burke earned recognition as a top master of special make-up effects with over 100 films and television projects to her credit. When you’re desperate for work, you’ll take on anything and in the case of make-up artist Burke, her passion and enthusiastic dedication to the art paid off. After sleeping on floors and working on three films without pay, she took on a film that nobody wanted. It was Quest for Fire, which ended up earning her an Oscar® and a place in movie history. She was the first woman to win the award for make-up artistry.
Two more films depicting Neanderthals (Iceman and Clan of the Cave Bear, with Michael Westmore), plus her skills and abilities to do her own lab work and proficiency with prosthetics, launched Michele. These films gave her a platform to pioneer gore and special make-up effects that are commonplace today. She was also one of the first women to have her own make-up lab.
Michèle Burke won her second Oscar® for Bram Stoker’s Dracula and has been nominated six more times (Interview with the Vampire, Austin Powers, The Cell, Rock of Ages, Vanilla Sky, Cyrano de Bergerac) and has been awarded with the BAFTA, Saturn Award, Hollywood Make-up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards, and an Emmy®. Even though she is credited often as the make-up designer for a film, Michèle is also very hands-on as the department head and normally does the make-up on principal actors and maintains the budget. Her roster of actors includes Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Renee Zellweger, Penelope Cruz, Sharon Stone, Kirsten Dunst, Beyonce and Kerry Russell.
As a long-time member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, Michèle was a diligent advocate for Hair Stylists to be among the crafts to receive Oscar recognition. She has been a mentor to make-up artists around the world including the AMPAS Gold. She has traveled the world as a lecturer and conducted workshops and was awarded an Honorary Professorship at the University of Shanghai. Click Here to see Video Interview with Michele Burke
Emmy-winning hair stylist Joy Zapata has accumulated an impressive list of credits and an equally impressive genre of box office successes in a career that spans television and film. She is the recipient of four Emmys and three nominations, among many other accolades.
Beginning her entertainment hair styling career at Disneyland, Joy broke away and learned the craft of film and television hair styling. She was immediately recognized as an artist who could accomplish and excel in every facet of developing outstanding characters for the screen. Her abilities to create fantastic characters from space and beyond led her to Galaxy Quest, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek: Next Generation, Westworld and Blade. She created some of the most memorable hair fashions: the 40 hairstyles worn by Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde used ponytails, updos and braids.
Proficient in all types of hair and wigs, Zapata went on to create memorable character visions over many different genres. Her work ranges from the gritty realism of westerns to period pieces (Under the Rainbow, The Artist, Masters of Sex, Good Night and Good Luck, Hunger Games) to present day realism (Southland Tales, Legion, Malignant, A Star is Born, Scream, Scream ll, Mojave, Magnum PI and Rain Man).
Joy spent many years as Jack Nicholson’s personal hair stylist on his films, including The Two Jakes, The Departed, The Bucket List, Anger Management, As Good as it Gets, Something’s Gotta Give, and Mars Attacks. Additionally, she’s worked with many other notable actors, including Ed Harris, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Tom Selleck, Jared Leto, Sir Patrick Stewart, Billy Crystal, Tom Cruise and Clint Eastwood.
In addition to her production talents, Joy has also served Local 706 which she joined as a Journeyman Hair Stylist in 1977. She is both an instructor who helped develop the CSATF Journeyman classes and is an Executive Board member. She is the recipient of two MUAHS Guild Awards and another nomination. Joy is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
MUAHS “Behind the Slate” panels of the 2022 Lifetime Achievement nominees are now available exploring the achievements, challenges, and creativity of the nominees. The panels are produced by Dan Evans, IngleDodd Media.
