Biography

Mark Rappaport (born 1954) is an American special make-up effects artist.

Working in film and theater, Rappaport and his company Creature Effects, Inc specialize in creating hyper-realistic make-up effects and animatronic animals, including the horse rode by Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, and prosthetic makeup effects for 300 and I Am Legend. Rappaport was born in Yokohama, Japan. At the age of three, his family moved to the Napa Valley in northern California. He graduated from Justin-Siena High School in Napa and attended San Diego State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree. Upon graduation, he returned to Northern California and worked in law enforcement before meeting and working with Bob Hartman, a San Francisco puppeteer and street performer. His work with Hartman sparked an interest in creating effects for the entertainment industry and he pursued employment at Industrial Light & Magic. At ILM he worked on feature film projects, including Innerspace and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. From ILM, Rappaport went to work with Chris Walas and created effects for films including The Fly II and Child's Play.