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American special effects designer
Grant McCune
Born (1943-03-27 ) March 27, 1943Died December 27, 2010(2010-12-27) (aged 67)Hidden Hills, California
Occupation Special effects designer
Grant McCune (March 27, 1943 – December 27, 2010) was an American special effects designer whose entry into Hollywood was the uncredited creation of the great white shark in the 1975 film Jaws . His efforts there led to work on a series of major films, including his design of the robots in the Star Wars films, winning an Oscar in 1977 for his efforts in the first film in the series .
McCune was born on March 27, 1943. He attended California State University, Northridge where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology and met his future wife.[ 1] [ 2] McCune was able to use his scientific training when he and Bill Shourt were hired in 1975 to work on creating the iconic shark in the movie Jaws , marking his start in Hollywood, though he was uncredited.[ 1] He was subsequently hired to work on the Star Wars movies as the franchise's chief model maker, responsible for the design details of the robots (such as R2-D2 [ 3] ) and alien characters in the films. He and his team earned an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 50th Academy Awards for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope .[ 1] He received a second Oscar nomination for his work on the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture . As a partner at Apogee Productions, McCune's work was featured in such films as Caddyshack before founding his own firm, which was hired to work on such movies as Speed and Spider-Man .[ 3]
Interviewed by Popular Mechanics magazine in 2009, McCune described how one uses a photographer's eye in designing miniatures, using perspective and surface details to make the objects appear as realistic as possible.[ 4]
A resident of Hidden Hills, California , McCune died at his home there of pancreatic cancer at the age of 67 on December 27, 2010.[ 5] [ 6] He was survived by his wife, Katherine, as well as by a daughter and a son.[ 1] [ 3] [ 7]
Star Wars (1977) - Death Star Gunner (uncredited)
^ a b c d Nordyke, Kimberly (December 29, 2010). " 'Star Wars' Visual Effects Artist Grant McCune Dies" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 30, 2010 .
^ Staff. "PASSINGS: Grant McCune, Roger Milliken: Grant McCune, a special effects artist who shared an Oscar for 'Star Wars,' dies at 67; Roger Milliken, a textile magnate who was among the richest in the U.S., dies at 95" , Los Angeles Times , December 31, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^ a b c Staff. "R2-D2 creator Grant McCune dies" , CBC News , December 30, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^ Porges, Seth. "4 Questions for Star Wars Modelmaker Grant McCune" , Popular Mechanics , October 1, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^ "VFX model-making pioneer Grant McCune dies" . Animation Magazine . Retrieved 2024-06-07 .
^ "Oscar-Winning FX Artist McCune Dies" . Animation World Network . Retrieved 2024-06-07 .
^ Staff (December 29, 2010). "Star Wars visual effects artist dies" . Variety . Retrieved December 30, 2010 .
1963–1980
Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963)
Peter Ellenshaw , Eustace Lycett , and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964)
John Stears – Thunderball (1965)
Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966)
L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969)
A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Alan Maley , Eustace Lycett , and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Frank Brendel , Glen Robinson , and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974)
Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975)
Carlo Rambaldi , Glen Robinson , and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976)
John Stears , John Dykstra , Richard Edlund , Grant McCune , and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977)
Les Bowie , Colin Chilvers , Denys Coop , Roy Field , Derek Meddings , and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978)
H. R. Giger , Carlo Rambaldi , Brian Johnson , Nick Allder , and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979)
Brian Johnson , Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1981–2000
Richard Edlund , Kit West , Bruce Nicholson , and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Carlo Rambaldi , Dennis Muren , and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , Ken Ralston , and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Dennis Muren , Michael J. McAlister , Lorne Peterson , and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Ken Ralston , Ralph McQuarrie , Scott Farrar , and David Berry – Cocoon (1985)
Robert Skotak , Stan Winston , John Richardson , and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986)
Dennis Muren , Bill George , Harley Jessup , and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987)
Ken Ralston , Richard Williams , Edward Jones , and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
John Bruno , Dennis Muren , Hoyt Yeatman , and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989)
Eric Brevig , Rob Bottin , Tim McGovern , and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990)
Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Gene Warren Jr. , and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Ken Ralston , Doug Chiang , Douglas Smythe , and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Phil Tippett , and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993)
Ken Ralston , George Murphy , Stephen Rosenbaum , and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994)
Scott E. Anderson , Charles Gibson , Neal Scanlan , and John Cox – Babe (1995)
Volker Engel , Douglas Smith , Clay Pinney , and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996)
Robert Legato , Mark Lasoff , Thomas L. Fisher , and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997)
Joel Hynek , Nicholas Brooks , Stuart Robertson , and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998)
John Gaeta , Janek Sirrs , Steve Courtley , and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999)
John Nelson , Neil Corbould , Tim Burke , and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)
2001–2020
Jim Rygiel , Randall William Cook , Richard Taylor , and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
John Dykstra , Scott Stokdyk , Anthony LaMolinara , and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Joe Letteri , Brian Van't Hul , Christian Rivers , and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005)
John Knoll , Hal Hickel , Charles Gibson , and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Michael L. Fink , Bill Westenhofer , Ben Morris , and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007)
Eric Barba , Steve Preeg , Burt Dalton , and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Joe Letteri , Stephen Rosenbaum , Richard Baneham , and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009)
Paul Franklin , Chris Corbould , Andrew Lockley , and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010)
Robert Legato , Joss Williams , Ben Grossmann , and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011)
Bill Westenhofer , Guillaume Rocheron , Erik-Jan de Boer , and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012)
Tim Webber , Chris Lawrence , Dave Shirk , and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013)
Paul Franklin , Andrew Lockley , Ian Hunter , and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014)
Mark Williams Ardington , Sara Bennett , Paul Norris , and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015)
Robert Legato , Adam Valdez , Andrew R. Jones , and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016)
John Nelson , Gerd Nefzer , Paul Lambert , and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Paul Lambert , Ian Hunter , Tristan Myles , and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018)
Guillaume Rocheron , Greg Butler , and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019)
Andrew Jackson , David Lee , Andrew Lockley , and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)
2021–present