Journeyman Makeup Artist (Retired) Craig Smith passed away January 15, 2023 at the age of 75.

Craig was a second-generation makeup artist in Local 706. His father, Stan Smith, worked on numerous movies and TV shows during his career, including "Raintree County," "The Birds," "Support Your Local Sheriff," "The Man from UNCLE," "I Spy," and "Trapper John, MD."

Craig got his start at NBC working on various game shows before being hired by Universal Studios makeup department head Nick Marcellino. For the next four years Craig worked on "The Rockford Files," "Xanadu," "Simon and Simon" and the mini-series "The Gangster Chronicles."

With the closing of Universal's makeup department, Craig landed what he called "the luckiest job on the planet" as makeup artist for the syndicated TV show "Entertainment Tonight" for a 10-year run.

In 1993 he began to freelance again with such feature credits as "Independence Day" and "Impostor." He frequently worked on "Star Trek: Deep Space 9," where he earned an Emmy nomination as part of the makeup- team in 1999.

Retiring in 2002, he spent his time being the dutiful grandfather, which delighted him to no end. Craig was an accomplished scuba diver and took many trips to various South Sea islands where he explored numerous sunken wrecks of WWII naval ships. The makeup room at "Entertainment Tonight" had a gallery of photos he took during these trips.

Craig once said being a working makeup artist was "the best award a person could receive. Anything else is gravy."

Craig is survived by his wife, Ester, his daughters Heather and Jamie and several grandchildren.