Richard Snell Richard Snell was a makeup artist and head of Richard Snell Designs , Inc . who worked on three and at least one " Star Trek " television series , . In 1992 , he shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup with Michael M . Mills and Edward French for his work on the Klingon and Vulcan prosthetics created for . That same year , he won an Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series for his work on " The Next Generation " fifth season episode which he shared with Michael Westmore , Gerald Quist , Ron Walters , Jane Haymore , Bob Scribner , Ken Diaz , Karen Westerfield , and Tania McComas . Snell previously won an Emmy Award in 1990 in the category Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Series for his work on the " Alien Nation " episode " Chains of Love " , shared with Rick Stratton , Katalin Elek , and Ken Diaz . He received four more Emmy Award nominations : In 1995 in the category Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special for " Alien Nation : Dark Horizon " , shared with Rick Stratton , Janna Phillips , Zoltan Elek , Craig Reardon , and Edouard F . Henriques , 1996 in the same category for " Alien Nation : Body and Soul " , shared with Ricj Stratton , David Abbott , Craig Reardon , Steve LaPorte , Janna Phillips , Kenny Myers , and Jill Rockow , 1997 in the category Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special for " Alien Nation : The Enemy Within " , shared with Rick Stratton , Craig Raerdon , Janna Phillips , David Abbott , Edouard F . Henriques , Karen Westerfield , and Kenny Myers , and in 2005 in the category Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries , Movie or a Special ( Non - Prosthetic ) for his work on the television mini series " Revelations " . Born in San Francisco , California , USA , Snell started to work for film and television as member of the creatures effects crew on the horror film " Poltergeist II : The Other Side " ( 1986 ) and the horror comedy " House " ( 1986 ) . He also worked as makeup effects and contact lens artist on the fantasy film " Nutcracker " ( 1986 ) , the science fiction thriller " The Running Man " ( 1987 , with Jeff Dawn , Steve LaPorte , and James Lee McCoy ) , the horror sequel " Fright Night Part II " ( 1988 , with Bart Mixon , Earl Ellis , and Greg Cannom ) , and the horror sequel " Friday the 13th Part VII : The New Blood " ( 1988 ) before he started his longtime connection on the " Alien Nation " franchise . Snell also worked as a makeup artist on such films as " Lethal Weapon 3 " ( 1992 ) , " Last Action Hero " ( 1993 ) , " Demolition Man " ( 1993 ) , " James and the Giant Peach " ( 1996 ) , " Amistad " ( 1997 ) , " Species II " ( 1998 ) , " How the Grinch Stole Christmas " ( 2000 ) , " A . I . Artificial Intellignce " ( 2001 ) , " The Time Machine " ( 2002 , written by John Logan ) , " Clockstoppers " ( 2002 , directed by Jonathan Frakes ) , and " Dodgeball : A True Underdog Story " ( 2004 , featuring William Shatner ) . Snell passed away on location in Freeport , Bahamas in February 2006 while working on " Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man ' s Chest " and " Pirates of the Caribbean : At World ' s End " . He was 50 years old . He is stated to have died from natural causes .