Barney Burman

Barney Burman is a makeup artist specializing in special effects make-up on Hollywood films and television programs. His first known job for Hollywood was as a make-up effects lab technician in his father's shop, the Burman Studio, on. In addition to his make-up work in this film, Burman played an alien for the scene set in the San Francisco bar, but his shot was ultimately cut from the final product. Burman later did uncredited work in Ed French's make-up shop for.

More recently, Burman headed his own Proteus Make-up FX Team as Prosthetic Makeup Designer on, produced and directed by J.J. Abrams. Among his work on this film are the make-up of Douglas Tait, Leonard Nimoy's Vulcan ears, Jeff Chase, Kimberly Arland, Jim Nieb, Deep Roy, Kasia Kowalczyk's Alnschloss K'Bentayr, Zachary Quinto, and several other aliens which were cut from the final release. In 2010, Burman received an Academy Award for his work on Star Trek, which he shares with make-up department head Mindy Hall and prosthetic make-up supervisor Joel Harlow. The three also received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Make-Up on Star Trek. 

Family
Barney Burman is a third generation make-up effects artist. He is the son of Academy Award-nominated make-up artist Thomas R. Burman and the brother of fellow make-up artist Rob Burman. Barney and Rob Burman are the cousins of veteran Emmy Award-winning Trek makeup artist Ellis Burman, Jr.

Barney and Rob Burman worked together in their father's make-up shop on Star Trek III and later collaborated on Star Trek VI. Rob Burman was also part of his brother's Proteus FX team on 2009's Star Trek. Together, the Burman brothers are the owners of Burman Industries, formed in 1989 by their mother, Sandra. In addition to their work on Trek, have have collaborated on such films as Brain Dead (1990) and Jackass: The Movie (2002). The also both headed the prosthetic make-up department on the 1990 film Bethune: The Making of a Hero.

Barney Burman is married to Shielu Bharwani-Burman, who serves as the Managing Director of Proteus FX. Their son, Anton Burman, appeared in Star Trek as a Vulcan.

Early life and career
Barney Burman began working in his father's make-up shop when he was 14 years old, but he did not initially pursue make-up as a profession. For approximately thirteen years, beginning at age 17, Burman actually pursued an acting career and only did make-up jobs as a way to make money.

Burman's early make-up credits after Star Trek III included House (1986), Slaughterhouse (1987), and Fright Night Part 2 (1988), the latter of which featured Merritt Butrick and Brian Thompson. Burman also acted in and provided mechanical effects for the 1987 horror/thriller The Offspring, which starred Lawrence Tierney. Burman's brother, Rob, also did effects work on this film.

Both Barney and Rob Burman did work in their father's make-up studio for the 1989 film Meet the Hollowheads, which Tom Burman co-wrote and directed. Barney Burman also had an acting role in this film, which starred Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest actor John Glover.

Burman next provided make-up effects for the 1990 films Brain Dead and Class of 1999. Burman also made an acting appearance in Brain Dead, which co-starred Lee Arenberg. Class of 1999 starred Malcolm McDowell and Patrick Kilpatrick. Burman then designed the special effects for and appeared in the 1990 science fiction film Circuitry Man, which starred Jim Metzler.

After working on films such as Stay Tuned and Body Snatchers, Burman's big break in the make-up business was the 1995 film Powder. It was this project which got him into the make-up union. He subsequently worked on such films as Galaxy Quest (1999), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), and Planet of the Apes (2001). He also did makeup for television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and The X-Files. In addition, he was the special makeup effects department head on Strong Medicine, the drama series developed for Lifetime Television by Whoopi Goldberg.

Burman worked on many of the hit films released in 2003, including The Matrix Reloaded, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. For the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead (which featured Matt Frewer in the cast), Burman was one of the make-up department heads. This was followed with make-up work on such films as Constantine and The Ring Two. He also worked on the Emmy Award-winning mini-series Into the West, whose cast included Keith Carradine, John Pyper-Ferguson, Clayton Rohner, Keri Russell, Keith Szarabajka, and Garrett Wang.

Career at Proteus FX
Barney Burman co-founded the Proteus Make-up FX with fellow make-up artist Steve Prouty in 2004. As the artistic director and lead makeup artist of Proteus FX, Burman first worked with Star Trek director and producer J.J. Abrams as a special effects makeup artist on another Paramount Pictures film, Mission: Impossible III (2006). He also worked with Abrams on the television series, Alias, and, more recently, Burman was the head of the prosthetic makeup department on the HBO pilot Anatomy of Hope, which Abrams directed.

Burman's other credits for Proteus FX have included the films Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006) and Blades of Glory (2007), as well as television series such as Arrested Development, Medium, and Scrubs. More recently, he handled 's Les Grossman make-up on the action comedy Tropic Thunder and was a prosthetic makeup artist for Cruise's Valkyrie, directed by Bryan Singer.