Born in Chicago, IL; educated at William Peterson College, NJ and Los Angeles City College (film). Leading FX wizard who first attracted attention for his makeup design on David Cronenberg's SCANNERS (1981) and Steven Spielberg's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981). In the mid-1980s he formed Chris Walas Inc., the company responsible for creating beings such as the GREMLINS (1984) and the over-sized spiders of ARACHNOPHOBIA (1990). After his ingenious and Oscar®-winning work on THE FLY (1986), Walas made his directing debut with the sequel, THE FLY II (1989). He also directed an episode of HBO's "Tales from the Crypt" and the feature THE VAGRANT (1992). Other notable special makeup effects credits include ENEMY MINE (1985), DEEPSTAR SIX (1989), and VIRTUOSITY and JADE (both 1995). Walas also created creatures for PIRANHA (1978), CAVEMAN and DRAGONSLAYER (both 1981), RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983), CURSE III: BLOOD SACRIFICE and NAKED LUNCH (both 1991), and DARK HEAVEN (2002).  Best Achievement in Makeup 1986: THE FLY (w. Stephan Dupuis) 1 nomination, 1 Award