Stan Winston, Makeup and Effects Artist: 1946 - 2008
Ain’t it Cool News is reporting that Stan Winston, the 4-time Oscar winner for makeup and visual effects, died in Los Angeles on Sunday.
[UPDATE: Winston suffered mutiple myeloma for seven years, a treatable but incurable form of cancer of the blood plasma cells]
You might not have been able to pick Stan out of a police line-up, but if you grew up watching sci-fi and horror movies throughout the ’80s and ’90s, you recognize the man’s contributions to cinema history. From Starman to The Terminator and from Aliens to Jurassic Park, Winston was one of the go-to guys for pre-CGI creature effects.
You can keep Cloverfield. Give me practical effects any day of the week and, in this area, Winston was a master. He will be missed.
Source: AICN
Filed under: News, Obituaries
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Sad news indeed. He was a living legend.
Very sad to hear this. Is it me or are a lot of people, both expected and shockingly, dying lately?
Very sad news. Winston has been instrumental in convincing directors to keep as many practical effects in films as possible, proving repeatedly that CGI is incapable of doing everything (and typically more expensive and slower than doing something practical on-set.)
He convinced Speilberg to keep practical effects in all three of the Jurassic Park films and AI. I get chills just thinking about his work on Aliens and Predator.
A huge loss for Hollywood. The guy was a genius.
Thanks for bringing that Winston battle to keep practical effects in the JP movies. They were better for it.
CGI is eye popping, but there is still something tactile and convincing about more traditional effects.
Even more important, it gives the actors something tangible to work with. I noticed a couple instances in The Hulk were the actors’ site lines don’t match the placement of the CGI creations. Having a large, dangerous animatronic beastie lunging at you is far more “inspiring” than having to apply that same threat to a cardboard cut-out on a stick.
I noticed that a few times about the Hulk too Joel (wasn’t much else to think about). Stan Winston was a genius, and he was also someone that, perhaps even more importantly, actually gave a shit.
Great points all.
Rick Baker and Stan Winston are the Ray Harryhausens of our generation.
Dang. I know a lot of acting and directing legends have passed on already this year, but it’s people like Winston (whom I know only from your list of his credits here, Craig) who really don’t come along often enough. I hope it’s not thought in bad taste for me to say that great actors and actresses will always be coming down the pipeline, while the true imaginative geniuses will rarely get the accolades they deserve while they are around. Losing Winston may end up like losing Jim Henson, and look how much of a void that left.
Even in acting there are few true innovators. The fact I can name two FX guys off the top of my head and Winston is one of them says everything.
This is indeed a loss, it’s guys like Winston who do so much behind the scenes that make such a huge contribution to the texture and feeling of their films.
Kinda annoys me that I don’t see any mention of this on non-film oriented institutions such as the NYT or CNN. You’d think an Oscar-winning name brand effects artist would merit a short obit.
If CNN can cover Tim Russert’s death non-stop all afternoon on Friday, they should be able to at least give a tip of the hat to Winston.
Maybe they are on the cable channel, but not on their web site.
I’ll be curious to see if it even makes the local LA News. Odds are they’ll be too busy talking about the Tonys, the Lakers, Britney Spears and whoever got shot or was involved in a high speed chase to bother with a man who average audiences don’t recognize.
That’s ok, I won’t be watching to find out.
Harry Knowles posted an email from James Cameron on Winston’s passing. Nice stuff.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37109
That’s the thing about Harry Knowles, whether you love him or hate him, he at least legitimately loves movies, and I loved that he let us read Cameron’s email.
Very, very sad news. RIP
Yeah, and it’s depressing how slow the mainstream was to finally pick up on this. Glad to see a site where his fans congregate giving him a proper memorium.
Oh man, very sad news.