Connie Grayson Criswell

Connie was born and raised in San Diego, CA, and first trained as a makeup artist in 1985, working on college productions. Connie soon transitioned to professional theaters, including La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Civic Light Opera, and San Diego Repertory Theatre as a makeup artist, wig assistant & dresser. Connie got her first real education as a wig maker at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre and further advanced her expertise over 4 years at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. She received a Sir Tyrone Guthrie Award in 1990 from the Festival to travel to England & France to study period hairdressing & hairstyles.

Connie eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1994 to pursue a career as a special makeup effects hair technician & wig maker. She also studied to become a contact lens technician for Professional VisionCare Associates and went on to earn her cosmetology license in 2002. 

Connie has worked non-stop in the film industry ever since, working for Hollywood’s leading FX studios, including Stan Winston Studio, Legacy Effects, Rick Baker’s Cinovation Studios, Spectral Motion, Tatopolous Studios, Alterian Studios, KNB EFX, and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

Connie’s wig and hair artistry can be seen in countless films, including Congo, Tank Girl, Evolution, From Dusk Till Dawn, Men in Black, The Devil's Advocate, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Planet of the Apes, The Time Machine, Blade: Trinity, The Revenant, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Tropic Thunder, Drag Me to Hell, Thor, American Horror Story, The Amazing Spider-Man, Terminator Genisys, Avengers: Age of Ultron, X-Men: Apocalypse, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, and many more.