Pirates of the caribbean: at world's end - Disney

One of the most renowned makeup artists in motion pictures, VE NEILL (Key Makeup Artist and
Makeup Effects Designer) was nominated for her work, along with key hair stylist and designer Martin
Samuel, for a Best Makeup Academy Award ® for “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”
They also won a BAFTA Award for their work on that film. They returned to “Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man’s Chest,” which brought her and Samuel yet another nomination from the BAFTA Awards.
Over the course of her 30-year career, Neill has won three Academy Awards ® , two Emmy Awards ® , two
Saturn Awards, the BAFTA Award and Makeup Artist of the Year from the Foreign Press, with a total of
18 international nominations for her creative and innovative makeup.
From her early career as a rock ’n’ roll stylist, Neill began to develop her skills as a designer and
makeup artist. Specializing in concept, design and execution, Neill entered the film industry and
discovered a talent for extreme fantasy makeup. These unique skills put her at the forefront of the early
1980s film extravaganzas.
Neill created space travelers for the first “Star Trek” film and for the hit comedy “Galaxy Quest,” rock
and roll vampires for Joel Schumacher’s “The Lost Boys” and visions of the afterlife for Tim Burton’s
wacky comedy “Beetlejuice,” her first Oscar ® . In addition, she turned Robin Williams into a Scottish
nanny for “Mrs. Doubtfire” (Neill’s second Oscar ® win), Martin Landau into horror king Bela Lugosi for
Burton’s “Ed Wood” (her third Academy Award ® ) and brought to life an onslaught of villains, beauties and
superheroes for Burton’s “Batman Returns” and Schumacher’s “Batman Forever” and “Batman & Robin.”
She gave Patricia Arquette the “Stigmata,” transformed Christine Baranski into “The Grinch”’s sexy
girlfriend, aged Johnny Depp 60 years for the film “Blow” and turned Jude Law into the perfect Love
Robot for Steven Spielberg’s “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.” Some of her other credits have included
Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands,” Danny DeVito’s “Matilda” and “Hoffa,” and Spielberg’s “Amistad.”
Neill continued her illustrious career with an assortment of new characters ranging from a manic 100year-old
lady in “Duplex,” possessed beings in “Constantine” and a slew of dirty, drunken, barnacleencrusted
pirates that everyone adores for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. She is now in London
turning Johnny Depp into the infamous Demon Barber of Fleet Street for the film “Sweeney Todd.”
MARTIN SAMUEL (Chief Hair Designer), along with Ve Neill, was a recipient of an Academy
Award ® nomination and a BAFTA Award for his work on “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl” and a BAFTA Award nomination for “Dead Man’s Chest.” Samuel has worked as a hair
stylist in the entertainment industry for over 25 years and has headed the hair department on more than
20 feature films. His expertise in both period and contemporary designs has earned Samuel an
international following.
His resume includes such diverse films as “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “Little Buddha,” “Coal
Miner’s Daughter,” “Wild Wild West,” “Jane Eyre,” “Blow,” “Hollow Man,” “The Life of David Gale,”
“What A Girl Wants,” “Secret Window,” “Sahara,” “Bandidas,” “Domino” and “Chromophobia.” He was
nominated for British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards for “Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and his work with Madonna on Alan Parker’s “Evita,” and he
won Britain’s Best Screen Hairstylist of the Year Award for two years running for “Evita” and “Angels and
Insects.” He also won the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award for Best Character Hair
Styling for “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and received a second nomination for
Best Period Hair Styling.
Born and raised in London, Samuel and his wife, Mary, live in Los Angeles.
Information contained within as of May 10, 2007.
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