SCI FI PI

Stan Winston, Hollywood's reigning master of visual effects and makeup, has died at the age of 62.

In a long career that began in TV, Winston won four Oscars - one for Aliens, two for Terminator 2 and one for Jurassic Park.

His stellar list of credits in the makeup department also include Terminator 3, Artificial Intelligence, Eward Scissorhands, The Thing, and he often doubled up in the visual effects department as well, working on (among many others) Iron Man, Big Fish, Galaxy Quest and Predator. He saw both departments as extensions of the other, and was interested primarily in creating creatures that were characters, not merely visual effects.

He also directed the Lance Henriksen cult classic, Pumpkinhead.

He was one of the founders of VFX house, Digital Domain, After his early work gained notoriety and began to blossom with movies like Terminator Winston was responsible for the prosthetic makeup made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the puppeteering that was used in the full final version of the Terminator Robot) and The Thing, Stan Winston's name became synonymous with creatures and 'creature features'. A Stan Winston monster in your movie guaranteed a loyal fanbase would see it.

Stan Winston died after suffering from multiple myeloma (cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow) for seven years. He is survived by wife, Karen; son Matt, an actor; daughter Debbie; a brother and four grandchildren.