The creator of Mr. Spock's Vulcan ears will be honored posthumously this weekend at the third annual Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards, where Star Trek: Voyager's makeup artists are contending for an award.

John Chambers, who passed away last August (see related story here), will be recognized with the guild's lifetime achievement award for makeup. Chambers spent his career working out of his garage in Burbank, California, where the likes of Lana Turner, Marlon Brando, Mickey Rooney and Leonard Nimoy could be found getting fitted with specialized makeup (in Nimoy's case, his trademark pointed ears). Chambers' most famous work was his groundbreaking creature masks for the original "Planet of the Apes" movie and its four sequels.

Daily Variety today wrote that Chambers' greatest personal achievement might not be the honorary Oscar he won for "Apes" but for helping his country defend and promote democracy around the world. Unknown to many, Chambers used his talents for more than 10 years to create masks and disguises for CIA agents in the field. He worked with the agency's disguise specialists to help protect operatives in countries such as Laos, Poland, Russia and Iran, and was instrumental in helping get the U.S. hostages released in 1980.

A former apprentice of Chambers, Michael Westmore, will also be part of the awards ceremony. The makeup supervisor and his team are nominated in the category of Best Special Makeup Effects for a Television Series, for their work on the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Void" (which first aired exactly one year ago today). The makeup team includes James Rohland, Scott Wheeler and Suzanne Diaz-Westmore.

The event will take place Sunday, February 17, in Beverly Hills.