April 7, 1946 - June 15, 2008
Stan Winston, the man that pioneered visual-effects in movies over the last 25 plus years has died at the age of 62 after a seven year fight with multiple myeloma. He died Sunday night, June 16 at his California home.
Technically his death is not Transformers related but without his trail-blazing and inspiring work, the live action Transformers probably would not have existed. His work helped create the blockbuster, special effects fun we now enjoy.
Stan Winston has won four Academy Awards for makeup, visual-effects and animatronics work. He is only one of two special effects wizard to have a Walk of Fame start.
For his impact on the film industry, you just have to read through his filmography and see his work on The Terminator movies, Predator series, Aliens series, Jurassic Park series, and Edward Scissorhands, just to name a few. His final projects include Avatar, Jurassic Park IV, and Terminator 4. He also created the special effects company Stan Winston Studio whose recent work includes Indiana Jones and the upcoming GI Joe.
Modern visual effects and how a story is told with them all bow down to Stan for pioneering many firsts. You name a your favorite big visual effects or creature effects from the last 25 years chances are he was either involved or a source of inspiration.
"I don't do special effects. I create characters and I use the tools of special effects necessary to do it," - Stan Winston, 2003
AICN has a running tribute page from some of Hollywood's famous that worked with Stan including James Cameron, Jon Favreau and Frank Darabont. Click here to read.
Holy crap! Such a tragic loss. I grew up with his name engraved in my mind for all the biggest sci-fi/fantasy movies. :(
ReplyDeleteA big loss, all i remember is his name when I saw Jurassic park. He has had a huge impact in the animatronic and effects bracket, especialy t-rex and the Raptors
ReplyDeleteTis a very sad day indeed !!! :( The guy was a true FX God !!!
ReplyDeleteAww man... that's just sad... he was one of my idols when I was young :(
ReplyDeletethat headline could've been written with more tact... it's like he died in a car crash from a drug overdose
ReplyDeletewhat a shame!
ReplyDeletei loved all of Stans stuff
his works where simply amazing and very real life like. myself being 30 years old grew up watching every film he was a part of.
thank you Stan for all the monsters, robots, and ghouls you brought to life. i will miss you.
-Patrick