Winston, Stan

▪ 2009

Stanley Winston 

      American special-effects artist

born April 7, 1946, Arlington, Va.

died June 15, 2008, Malibu, Calif.

earned praise—and 10 Oscar nominations—for his adeptness at combining makeup, animatronic creatures, and computer-generated images to produce incredibly realistic on-screen special effects. Winston won Academy Awards for Aliens (1986; for visual effects), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991; one for makeup and another for visual effects), and Jurassic Park (1993; for visual effects); captured television Emmy Awards for his makeup designs for Gargoyles (1972) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974); and in 2001 was the first special-effects artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Winston's other memorable creations included the infamous hands in Edward Scissorhands (1990) and the armoured suits for Iron Man (2008). He also directed two movies, the horror film Pumpkinhead (1988) and A Gnome Named Gnorm (1990). Winston graduated (1968) with an art degree from the University of Virginia before moving to Hollywood to become an actor. After performing stand-up comedy for a short time, he began an apprenticeship at the Walt Disney Studios as a makeup artist. In 1972 he opened the Stan Winston Studio, which was initially headquartered in his garage. In 2001 he established Stan Winston Creatures to design toys based on the characters from Creature Features, an HBO cable TV series that he produced.

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