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(written from a production point of view)

Ellis Burman was a make-up and special effects make-up artist who worked on several Star Trek television series and feature films. He was also credited as Sonny Burman.

Burman's father, Ellis Burman, worked as technician in the make-up and special effects department. His uncle Thomas R. Burman worked with his company The Burman Studio on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and is married to make-up artist Bari Burman. Burman's cousins Barney Burman and Rob Burman worked also on several Star Trek projects, most recently 2009's Star Trek. The name S. Burman appeared on the dedication plague of Enterprise NX-01 in several episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise and was named after him, Sonny Burman.

During his time on Star Trek, Burman earned seven Emmy Award nominations and wins for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series/ Outstanding Makeup for a Series:

In addition to his Emmy Award nominations Burman received two Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award nominations; in 2000 for Best Special Effects Makeup – Television (for a Single Episode of a Regular Series – Sitcom, Drama or Daytime) for the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Dark Frontier", shared with Michael Westmore, Scott Wheeler, and James Rohland, and in 2001 for Best Period Makeup – Television (For a Single Episode of a Regular Series – Sitcom, Drama or Daytime) for the Voyager episode "Fair Haven", shared with Michael Westmore, Suzanne Diaz, Tina Hoffman, James Rohland, Scott Wheeler, and Natalie Wood.

Before Burman started his work on Star Trek, he earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup in 1973 for Gargoyles which he shared with Del Armstrong and Stan Winston. He was a special effects make-up artist on Soldier Blue (1970) and make-up artist on the first season of All in the Family (1971-1972). Further credits include the documentary National Geographic Specials (1973), the documentary Up from the Ape (1974, which featured Anthony Zerbe and make-up artists Thomas R. Burman, Werner Keppler, and John Chambers), The Devil's Rain (1975), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Empire of the Ants (1977, starring Joan Collins and Robert Lansing), the comedy Matilda (1978, with hair stylist Lola McNalley), and Prophecy (1979), on which he worked with Thomas R. Burman, Allan A. Apone, and Edouard F. Henriques.

He provided the "Wookie family" costumes for Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), which featured Trek performers Mickey Morton, Lev Mailer, and Patty Maloney, and hair stylist Silvia Abascal and worked as a special effects make-up artist on the comedy Popeye (1980), One Dark Night (1983), Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), Starman (1984), and The Terminator (1984), and Transylvania 6-5000 with Carol Kane (1985).

Among his latest make-up assignments beside his work in the Star Trek franchise were Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Future Part III (1990), both starring Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Thomas F. Wilson, Outbreak (1995), and several episodes of Father Dowling Mysteries (1991) and Alien Nation (1990). The latter one starred Eric Pierpoint, Michele Scarabelli, and Gary Graham as well as Trek make-up and hair artists Richard Snell, Edouard F. Henriques, William Howard, and Katalin Elek.

Star Trek credits[]

(This list is currently incomplete. The following are the episodes in which Burman received on-screen credit as make-up artist. Note that the make-up credits were in a rotation, meaning that he also worked on episodes in which he was not credited.)

External link[]

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