from Variety

Effects master Stan Winston dies

Work included ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Terminator’

By DAVID S. COHEN

 

Stan Winston, Oscar-winning special effects master who designed the dinosaurs for“Jurassic Park” and the look of “The Terminator,” died Sunday evening at his Malibu home. He was 62.

Michael Jackson in THE WIZThe Oscar and Emmy-winning f/x and makeup designer died after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma, according to a representative from Stan Winston Studio.

Winston, who set the industry standard for robotic/animatronic creatures and prosthetic makeup, won four Oscars: a visual effects Oscar for 1986’s “Aliens,” visual effects and makeup Oscars for 1992’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and a visual effects Oscar for 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” for which he created animatronic dinosaurs that complemented the film’s digitally animated creatures.

The conference room at Winston’s Van Nuys studio was long one of the most effective sales tools any effects company could hope for. It was a combination museum and resume, with many of the most memorable movie creatures of recent decades — including the queen alien from “Aliens,” EDWARD SCISSORHANDSthe Predator and even Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator — lunging toward the conference table on all sides.

Steven Spielberg, who worked with Winston on several films, said in a statement: “Stan was a fearless and courageous artist/inventor, and for many projects, I rode his cutting edge from teddy bears to aliens to dinosaurs. My world would not have been the same without Stan. What I will miss most is his easy laugh every time he said to me, ‘Nothing is impossible.’ “

Winston refused to discuss his illness outside his intimate circle, and many were surprised at news of his death.

He is survived by his wife, Karen; son Matt, an actor; daughter Debbie; a brother and four grandchildren. 

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