Two-time Irish Oscar winner Michele Burke dies after career working with stars from Tom Cruise to Sharon Stone

"Kildare-born Burke (75), who emigrated to Canada in the late 1970s before moving to LA, won her first Oscar in 1983 for her work on Jean-Jacques Annaud's drama Quest for Fire. Her win that year meant she became the first woman to win a Best Makeup Oscar alongside Sarah Monzani. She won her second Academy Award in 1993 for her work on Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, and was nominated four other times for The Cell, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Cyrano De Bergerac, and The Clan of the Cave Bear."

"Burke emigrated from Ireland in the 1970s due to the poor economy and lack of opportunity. When she arrived in Montreal, she started off waitressing in cocktail bars. She made contacts with people in the fashion industry, and during a brief stint of modelling was introduced to a make-up artist. As he went through the pages of his portfolio, she said it was as if 'a thunderbolt hit me' and decided she wanted to work in the field. Ms Burke did a make-up artistry course, and started working as a demonstrator in Department Stores for Revlon."

"She and the two other prosthetic specialists, Greg Cannom, and Matthew W Mungle collected the award for Bram Stoker's Dracula. In an interview in 2022, she recalled looking out at the auditorium of celebrities. "There are all these faces, and they are all famous people with eyes wide... you're thinking 'oh my god... there's Meryl Streep... and Faye Dunaway," she said."

Burke emigrated from Ireland to Canada in the late 1970s and later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film makeup and prosthetics. She won Oscars in 1983 for Quest for Fire and in 1993 for Bram Stoker's Dracula, and received four additional nominations for high-profile films. She created Tom Cruise's Lestat look and collaborated with him on several films, and also worked with stars such as Sharon Stone, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt and Mike Myers. She began as a waitress, trained in make-up artistry, worked as a Revlon demonstrator, and cold-called artists to build experience and a portfolio that led to major Hollywood work.

Read at Irish Independent