Stan Winston: April 7, 1946 to June 15, 2008

A legend has fallen, and it is guaranteed that you have seen his wonderful work but not known whom to credit.

I just recently learned that legendary special effects artist Stan Winston passed away in June, at the age of 62.

As opposed to hundreds and hundreds of unimportant actors and actresses whose names you know, Stan Winston, a name you likely don't know, was awarded four Oscars in his lifetime. John Wayne, for example, only acquired one.

I was familiar with Winston's work through the magazines Cinefex and Cinefantastique.

His Stan Winston Studio has crafted some of modern cinema's most fantastic figures. He collaborated with director James Cameron on the fearsome monster effects of "Aliens" (1986) and on both "The Terminator" (1984) and its lavish 1991 sequel "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". In a similar vein, he designed the alien hunter in "Predator" (1987) and "Predator 2" (1990). Winston and filmmaker Tim Burton were responsible for Johnny Depp's soulful-eyed and sharp-fingered oddball looks in "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) and Danny DeVito's grotesque Penguin makeup in "Batman Returns" (1992).

Winston's last major work was the real-world armor for the movie Iron Man.

As opposed to CGI that, in some clever cases, can be well done, nothing can still replicate the true presence that an actual physical special effect creation brings to the big screen. And that was Stan Winston's work and genius.

CGI, in my opinion, is too heavily relied-upon in current films (most recently, the terrible CGI in the new Mummy) and can frequently, as the poorly-rendered "humanistic" creatures did in "I Am Legend," spoil the entire movie.

Mr. Stan Winston was indeed a legend in Hollywood, and he and his work will be missed.

BZ