Diary of the Deadpit - Remembering Stan Winston

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stan Winston, the Oscar-winning special-effects maestro responsible for bringing the dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" and other iconic movie creatures to life, has died. He was 62.
Winston died at his home in Malibu surrounded by family on Sunday evening after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma, according to a representative from Stan Winston Studio.

Working with such directors as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Tim Burton in a career spanning four decades, Winston created some of the most memorable visual effects in cinematic history. He helped bring the dinosaurs from "Jurassic Park," the extraterrestrials from "Aliens, the robots from "Terminator" and even "Edward Scissorhands" to the big screen, and was a pioneer in merging real-world effects with computer imaging.

"The entertainment industry has lost a genius, and I lost one of my best friends with the death Sunday night of Stan Winston," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "Stan's work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever. What will live forever in my heart is the way that Stan loved everyone and treated each of his friends like they were family."

Winston won visual effects Oscars for 1986's "Aliens," 1992's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and 1993's "Jurassic Park." He also won a makeup Oscar for 1992's "Batman Returns."
Winston was nominated for his work on "Heartbeeps," "Predator," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman Returns," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "A.I."

He last worked with director Jon Favreau on "Iron Man."

"He was experienced and helped guide me while never losing his childlike enthusiasm," Favreau said in a statement. "He was the king of integrating practical effects with CGI, never losing his relevance in an ever changing industry. I am proud to have worked with him and we were looking forward to future collaborations. I knew that he was struggling, but I had no idea that he would be gone so soon. Hollywood has lost a shining star."

At the time of his death, Winston was in the process of transforming his physical makeup and effects studio into the new Winston Effects Group with a team of senior effects supervisors. Winton's most recent projects included "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins," "G.I. Joe," "Shutter Island" and Cameron's "Avatar."

"He ran at full throttle, in both work and play, and was a man of kindness, wisdom and great humor," Cameron said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "He was a kid that never grew up, whose dreams were writ large on the screens of the world. I am proud to have been his friend, and I will miss him very deeply."

As a child growing up in Virginia, Winston enjoyed drawing, puppetry and classic horror films. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville in 1968, Winston moved to Southern California to become an actor but instead worked behind the scenes and completed a three-year makeup apprenticeship program at Walt Disney Studios in 1972.

Winston is survived by his wife, Karen; a son, daughter, brother and four grandchildren.

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[wiilover07]

the guy was very talented he worked on some of my favorite movies RIP Stan Winston. my favorite movies that he worked on are the thing, ironman, aliens, Artificial Intelligence: AI, Small Soldiers theres alot more just cant think of them all lol.

[WhoreScout]

Great video, CreepyK. I think The Monster Squad alerted me to the master artist that is Stan Winston. I loved the look of the Creature From The Black Lagoon, well, HIS version of the creature, in Monster Squad.

[chin2000000]

stan winston didnt do shit on the iron man movie......watch the making. He didnt even supervise it...he just made sure his name was on the screen.

[madmode300]

i think terminator salvations special effects were inspired by stan winstons work. i mean, who wouldnt be inspiredd by a legend?

[MrDave475]

Fucking A Bro, his make up fx along with KNB are the best in the business and his work on Aliens Jurassic park is still the industry standard for those type of films...He will be sorely missed

[DeathZONE851]

my favorite film he did is the Predator i saw this movie when i was seven and i feel in love with this movie, there was not even a second where i thought the movie might suck or anything

PREDATOR best movie of all time!!

[painsey]

i never knew he died, omg

[amazmo]

Well an effect that i really love that Stan Winston worked on was from the thing, now i know that he wasnt the special effects artist for the movie it was Rob Bottin but stans studio helped out for the dog cage scene. To this day the thing is one of the greatest movie ever made. Well all miss Stan Winston.

[Docjava3]

Actually, Stan was never really that great of a make-up artist. He and Rick Baker worked on "The autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" creating old age make-up for 'Cicely Tyson' and for whatever reason Rick decided to quit the job. In later years, Stan simply hired other people to do his work. Rick Baker is largely forgotten for his innovations and creativity in say: "Star Wars"?.... Stan around that time was doing TV's "Pinocchio" with Sandy Duncan on ice...

Stan was a good business man.

[brody1jaws]

We need to fill his shoes fellas...where are you???? No disrepect to Stan. He was genius and will be missed. Pumpkinhead was an innovative and groundbreaking film in the genre.  On my list of heroes...(Bob "Benjamin" Clark, etc...taken from us too soon.)

[SerialKiffer]

He did pumpkinhead, which after 20 years, still looks great, as far as effects... Its a 80's movie that you can watch and you cant say, hey I see the stings or that looked fake... You cant say that at all, its my favorite all time movie...

[Jal8919536]

Given that the entertainment industry isn't as good as it used to be before, say twenty years ago, I'd hate to think what it holds in store without them. :(