In Memorium: Stan Winston

Stan Winston has passed away at age 62 after a seven-year battle with multiple myeloma.

1987: Oscar for Best Visual Effects: Aliens
1992: 2 Oscars - Best Visual Effects & Best Makeup: Terminator 2: Judgment Day

1994: Oscar for Best Visual Effects: Jurassic Park

Those four Academy Awards are just a few of the highlights of special effects make-up wizard Stan Winston's remarkable career. After struggling to find work as an actor, Winston set up his own effects studio and promptly won an Emmy Award for the 1972 TV movie, Gargoyles. He worked on a diverse range of projects from then and into the 1980's on such fare as The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, Heartbeeps, and Stan designed the "Mr. Roboto" mask for rock group, Styx.

Winston reached a new level of fame in 1984 when director James Cameron's The Terminator premiered. The movie was a surprise hit, and Winston's work bringing the metallic killing machine to life led to many new projects and additional collaborations with Cameron. In fact, Winston won his first Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1986 on Cameron's next movie, Aliens.

His motion picture resume speaks for itself, and he is just as revered for his work, as he himself revered earlier special effects pioneers like Ray Harryhausen. Winston also translated his film efforts into a line of toys based on some of his own sci-fi & monster creations in recent years.

He will be missed and condolences go out to his family, friends and thousands of fans.