I am sad to report that special effects pioneer Stan Winston passed away yesterday, after a long struggle with multiple myeloma cancer. He was only sixty-two-years-old. Stan Winston is like nine of the top ten names in special fx that people into them tend to know. The other name is Tom Savini, known best for his active participation in fandom and willingness to share his knowledge from doing makeup effects on projects including Friday the 13th, Day of the Dead, and Killing Zoe. Stan Winston really was larger than life in a way where all comparisons have to fall short. He won Oscars for Best Effects Visual Effects on Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Aliens. His work spanned the gamut from makeup to general special fx to the creature creation he was best known for. Not having been a reader of the comic book and being a fan of Keanu Reeves, I might be the only person in America who thought the look of the makeup and animatronics (and everything else) in Constantine was awesome, but it really was impressive. If the characters in a movie had innovative and fantastical design in the last couple decades, odds were good it was a Stan Winston joint. From Edward Scissorhands to John Carpenter’s The Thing, from Predator to Tank Girl, from Dracula’s Dog to Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Stan Winston was the man. When the hilarious Galaxy Quest wanted to do it right, they tapped Stan Winston. Now of course, Stan Winston did not attach every eyelash and fang personally, but he was one of the founders of a quadruple threat empire with studios for live action character effects, digital animation and enhancement, producing and directing, and even an action figures and comics division. You can see some of the product of this genius in Ironman in theatres now.
I just did a shoot on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame this past weekend and I was struck by the extent to which I didn’t recognize the names of so many of the accomplished people memorialized there. Stan Winston got his star in 2001 and I hope people remember him for a long time, whether or not they are wandering along Hollywood Blvd. Rest in peace.
