Tom Woodruff Jr. (born January 21, 1959) is an American actor, director, producer and special effects supervisor. He won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects for his work on the 1992 dark fantasy film Death Becomes Her; that same year he was also nominated for the same award for Alien 3.

Some of his most notable works include: The Santa Clause (1994), Starship Troopers (1997), Cast Away (2000), It (2017) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).

Early life
Tom Woodruff Jr. was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on January 21, 1959. He grew up in nearby Loyalsock Township, Pennsylvania and attended Loyalsock Township High School and graduated in 1977. Upon graduating high school, he enrolled at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania where he earned a dual degree in business administration and theater. Woodruff grew up a fan of films with monsters and creatures and created an interest in doing similar effects, working around the lack of materials in his city - in his own words, the only theatrical makeup supplies to be found was greasepaint at the back of a local pharmacy - such as using art class to create masks based on Planet of the Apes out of plaster bandages.