Tom Irvin(I)

Born in 1966 at Memorial Hospital, Belleville, Illinois, to Rose and John Irvin. After his parents divorced in 1970 he and his sister Angela moved with their mother to Collinsville, Illinois. As a child he became fascinated with make-up effects and by the age of 15 he knew that he wanted to pursue a career in this field, despite the lack of support from family and friends. In 1984, at the age of 18, he enlisted into the US Army Reserve and completed his basic training at Fort Knox in Louisville, Kentucky. When he returned home he worked as an armed security officer until 1988 when, after the death of his mother, he moved to Southern California in the attempt to break into the film industry. Three years later, in 1991, he finally got his break when he was hired by effects artist Scott Coulter to assist on the film 976-Evil II (1991).

Despite Tom's success in films, his late father (John Irvin died in 2000) was still not supportive of his career until 1995, when he saw the film Lord of Illusions (1995) and saw his son's name in the credits. It was then that he called Tom to apologize to him for all the years telling him to give up and find a real job.