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Memory Alpha
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(written from a production point of view)

Zoltán Elek (born 6 September 1941; age 83) is a Hungarian makeup artist who worked on Star Trek Nemesis. He has a long working relationship with Star Trek makeup artist Michael Westmore. He is the husband of fellow makeup artist Katalin Elek, who worked on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Elek started working as an apprentice makeup artist in his native country's film industry in the 1960s. He met his wife while attending the makeup school at MAFILM, the Hungarian state film production company. After working as lead makeup artist on two feature films in 1970, Elek left the country with his wife, and settled down in New York City, later moving to Los Angeles, trying to find work in Hollywood.

Before working on the Star Trek franchise, he worked on Explorers (1985, with James Cromwell, Brooke Bundy, Robert Picardo, Dick Miller, Frank Welker, and Paul Abascal), Johnny Handsome (1989, with Michael Westmore, Ken Diaz, and Gerald Quist), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and Independence Day (1996, with Michael F. Blake, Hazel Catmull, Patricia Miller, Norma Lee, Candace Neal, Katalin Elek, Joy Zapata, and Craig Smith).

He won an Academy Award for best make-up in 1985 for Mask that he shared with Michael Westmore. In addition to this award, he was part of a team which earned an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special" for Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (along with Edouard F. Henriques, Craig Reardon, Janna Phillips, Rick Stratton and Richard Snell).

Elek later served as makeup artist on films such as The Terminal (2004, with Zoë Saldana, Jude Ciccolella, Michael Nouri, and Conrad Pla), The Black Dahlia (2006, with Mia Kirshner), Live Free or Die Hard (2007, with Tim Russ and Tim de Zarn), Fast & Furious (2009, directed by Justin Lin), and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013, with Pasha Lychnikoff, April Grace, and Aldis Hodge).

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