Crist Ballas had a Wikipedia article from at least 2015 until it was soft-deleted on July 7, 2022, following a low-participation Articles for Deletion discussion citing insufficient sourcing (the nominator couldn’t verify the listed Emmy/Peabody awards in official databases). This page reproduces the last version of that article (as of June 30, 2022) under Wikipedia’s Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, for reference while a proper restoration is pursued.
Crist Ballas
Born: Crist J. Ballas, August 11, 1965, Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
Occupation: Make-up Artist
Years active: 1981–present
Organization: IATSE
Children: Matia Angeline Ballas
Parents: Nick “Bill” Ballas, Angeline Andrews Ballas
Awards: Emmy Award (2011), Peabody Award (1993)
Crist Ballas (born August 11, 1965, in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is a make-up artist for film and television. Ballas owns and operates Metamorphosis Make-Up Arts, a make-up and prosthetic laboratory located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A childhood passion for the classic Universal monsters, coupled with a love of the fine arts, led Ballas toward the study of makeup. His career began in 1981, and he further refined his make-up techniques under the tutelage of the legendary Dick Smith. He is known for his work in natural, beauty and ultra-realistic prosthetic makeups.
Ballas spent seven years as a make-up artist on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 and supplied make-up and effects for the 1996 feature film and the spin-off The Mystery Science Theater Hour. He also worked on five films for Arnold Schwarzenegger: Jingle All the Way, Batman & Robin, End of Days, The 6th Day, and Collateral Damage. In 2009, Ballas was part of the Academy Award winning makeup team for J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek. His television and movie credits include: The Straight Story, A Simple Plan, Sweet Land, Double Jeopardy, Reindeer Games, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Mallrats, and The Love Guru.
Ballas also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota for the BFA program, and ran a research laboratory in the medical simulation department.
2026 verification update
The 2022 deletion discussion turned on whether the “Emmy Award” and “Peabody Award” claims above could be verified. Revisiting the sourcing in 2026:
- Emmy Award (2011) — verified. This refers to a regional/chapter Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Upper Midwest chapter, not a national Primetime or Daytime Emmy — which is why it didn’t turn up in the national databases the original nominator checked. The chapter’s own archived 2011 recipients page credits “Crist Ballas, Make-Up Artist” under Commercial – Single Spot, for the winning entry “Hair” (Periscope). Archived recipients page →
- Peabody Award (1993) — still unverified. No source has been found to confirm this claim as of 2026. It should not be resubmitted without independent verification.
References (as cited in the original article)
- “Emmy® Recipients” (retrieved 2012-05-31)
- “Crist Ballas Movopia” – Emmy Recipients (retrieved 2012-06-02)
- Fletcher, Jacquelyn B. (2000-10-01). “It’s Alive.” Minnesota Monthly, Greenspring Media Group
- “MetaMakeUp Crist Biography” (retrieved 2012-05-17)
- “Crist Ballas IMDB” (retrieved 2012-06-02)
- “Crist Ballas Linkedin” (retrieved 2012-06-02)
- “Crist Ballas TV.com”, CNET Networks Entertainment
Text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Crist Ballas” (as of June 30, 2022), available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0.