Editorials > Makeup, Effects Guru Stan Winston, 62

Stan Winston, arguably the most famous and influential makeup artist in the history of film, who brought life to The Terminator, the Predator, some of the Aliens, the dinosaurs from "Jurassic Park," and much more, died yesterday at the age of 62. According to Reuters, he had been fighting a seven-year battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of blood plasma cells.

Winston worked most famously with directors Steven Spielberg (on "Jurassic Park," "The Lost World," and "A.I."), Tim Burton ("Edward Scissorhands" and "Batman Returns"), and James Cameron ("Aliens," "Predator," "The Terminator", and "Terminator 2"), earning himself four Oscars in the process. He also directed some films of his own such as "Pumpkinhead," "A Gnome Called Gnorm," and "Michael Jackson's Ghosts," which were less successful, though "Pumpkinhead" deserves its minor cult following. Most recently in theaters he worked on the special effects for "Iron Man."

There are few fields left in cinema in which an individual can really be called peerless. Only Ray Harryhausen, Dick Smith, Rick Baker, and a very small contingent of other effects men and women can boast achievements similar to those of Winston's career. CGI can make almost anything happen in movies today, but Stan Winston's eye for design is still unmatched. RIP.