Biography

Academy Award winner Matthew W. Mungle is one of Hollywood’s premier make-up special effects artists. With over 100 film and television projects to his credit, Matthew has earned recognition as one of the entertainment industry’s top masters of this specialized art form.

Born in Durant, Oklahoma in 1956, Matthew was one of five children born to Atoka Dairy farmer Jene and Becky Mungle. As a boy he was captivated watching “Frankenstein,” “Dracula” and “The Mummy.” He would “borrow” his mother’s cosmetics to create his own version of horror and as he got older would send away for theatrical make-up from New York and Dallas specialty stores. He would experiment with face casts and prosthetics on willing family members and friends. Although his parents thought it was a phase he would soon outgrow, Matthew knew differently and continued to learn as much as he could on creating believable make-up effects. In 1964, with the release of “The Seven Faces Of Dr. Lao,” Matthew readily credits this film as being the deciding factor in what his future profession would be.

A film that would revolutionize make-up special effects, further impacting the small town boy from Atoka, was the release of the 1966 epic film “Planet Of The Apes.” Due to the skillful make-up transformation of man to ape by Academy Award-winner John Chambers, Matthew knew that he wanted to follow in his footsteps and those of his earlier mentors Lon Chaney, Jr. and Jack Pierce.

In high school, Matthew worked at the local movie theatre. With the release of “Return To The Planet Of The Apes,” he encouraged the owner to let him dress up to promote the film. Not only did Matthew dress for the part, but created his own prosthetics to look the part of a chimpanzee. The realism was so startling to the small town of Atoka, that many thought Hollywood had sent an actor to promote the film!

Matthew graduated from Atoka High School in 1975. Although his sights were still on Hollywood, at his father’s insistence, he applied and was accepted into Oklahoma State University as a theatre arts major. Matthew learned to work with props and make-up for various theatre productions, eagerly absorbing the information and educational tools being offered.

In 1977, Matthew finally arrived in Hollywood. In 1978 he applied and was accepted into Joe Blasco’s Make-Up Center - the premier academy responsible for training many of film and television’s elite make-up artists. “From the very beginning, Matthew Mungle displayed exceptional talent,” stated Joe Blasco, whose own career as a top make-up artist turned educator, has been exclusively instrumental in graduating future Academy Award winners! “I instantly knew that Matthew had what it takes to become a success in this business. Not only was he talented, but he was focused, detail-oriented and  completely professional.” Matthew’s dedication to his craft and master ability to excel in all areas of make-up and special make-up effects, created a position for him at Blasco’s school following his graduation. Matthew remained on-staff until his own growing popularity as a working make-up artist proved too demanding. Matthew credits Joe Blasco as his mentor in launching a successful career and is a voice to up-and-coming make-up artists trying to find their first break. First rule of thumb? Be as versatile as you can and learn everything about your craft. Learn to problem-solve and not be intimidated by challenges.

Matthew’s own career was launched on low-budget projects that taught him to think fast on his feet, however, his first major success was with Edward Scissorhands, starring Johnny Depp, in 1990. Bram Stoker’s Dracula followed in 1992, earning Matthew his first Academy Award. In 1993, Schindler’s List earned him his second nomination and the aging of James Woods in Ghosts Of Mississippi in 1996 gave him yet another Oscar nod.

Aging has been one of Matthew’s strongest calling cards and one that has proved to be exceptionally challenging. His fascination with taking someone young and making them old, prompted him to research more viable methods, such as gelatin, which was first used in the 1930’s but later abandoned when the hot lights caused it to melt. With today’s less intense lighting and faster film speed, Matthew has given new life to the nearly-translucent substance, which when applied correctly looks and moves like real skin. “I’ve always been intrigued by how skin and muscles work on the face. How women and men age differently. Both get jowls and that fold of skin over the top lid of the eyes and bags under the eyes, however, men’s ear lobes get longer and a woman’s skin gets a bit more translucent.”

Matthew’s expertise in this highly-specialized area of special make-up effects created a vast arena of job opportunities in film and television - HBO’s Citizen Cohn, starring James Woods, earned him his first Emmy in 1993. Six additional nominations followed before he won his second Emmy in 2001 for X-Files’ (DeadAlive episode), in 2002 for TNT’s Door-To-Door and in 2006 for HBO’s final episode of Six Feet Under (Everyone’s Waiting). Matthew’s recent work includes prosthetic aging on HBO’s John Adams and Showtime’s Tracey Ullman: State Of The Union. In addition to various work projects in film and in television, Matthew continues his work on CBS’s C.S.I. (Las Vegas), House (Fox) and N.C.I.S. (CBS).

Matthew’s extensive film credits include Polar Express (Warner Bros), The Omen (Fox), Beowulf (Fox), Knocked Up (Universal), Bucket List (Warner Bros), X-Men 3: The Last Stand (Fox), In The Valley Of  Elah (Warner Bros) and Love In The Time Of Cholera (New Line). Recent film projects include Midnight Meat Train (Lake Shore), Super Hero (Warner Bros) and Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (Paramount).

With a full schedule, Matthew balances his film and television projects with the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical WICKED, creating the prosthetic face masks for the production’s various whimsical characters including, the Flying Monkeys. This has been a rewarding and challenging experience for Matthew, who creates and supplies the prosthetic facial appliances for the show’s Broadway, U.S. tour, Japan and Los Angeles productions.

Matthew has appeared in front of the camera on a variety of nationwide and international talk and magazine shows - Discovery Channel’s Mega, Mega Movie Magic where he aged a twelve-year-old girl into an eighty-year-old woman, BBC’s Talk Of The Town, Japan’s Channel 5, Turner Entertainment Report, E! News Entertainment, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, CNN, FX Dailies, Good Day L.A., KTLA’s The Morning Show, Inside Edition and more recently on DirecTV’s ReelZ Channel.