Stan Winston: A Old School Scholar in a New School Industry

On Sunday June 15th the film industry lost one of its most renowned special effects wizards: Stan Winston. Stan Winston was a special effects genius with an ability to make the creatures he created into legitimate characters. While his name might not be a household name, his creations certainly are. Some of his most well known creations are the alien queen in Aliens, the razor fingers worn by Johnny Depp’s character in Edward Scissorhands, the trophy collecting alien in Predator, the robot endoskeleton and additional robotic effects in Terminator, the monstrous animal hybrid in The Relic, the iconic red and yellow medal suit in this summer’s Iron Man, and the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park.

Mr. Winston came to Hollywood in 1969 to begin a career as an actor. After failing to achieve success he took an apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studio’s make-up department. His skills were fully realized in 1974 with his work on the TV movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, in which he transformed then 40 year old actress Cicely Tyson into the 110 year old title character.

What set Stan Winston apart from many of today’s effects creators was his consistent use of particle effects. Even with the advance of computer imagery he continued to employ make up, animatronics and robotics to bring his visions to life. This brought an extra level of realism not only to his creations, but also to the performance of those acting alongside his creations.

Sadly there hasn’t been a great deal of coverage on the passing of this revolutionary effects man. I only heard about it after reading a tiny blurb in the local paper. Hopefully Hollywood will pay proper tribute to the passing of this effects mastermind. And at the very least fans can take comfort in the knowledge that his work will be experienced and remembered by future generations.