Stan Winston

Stan Winston won his first Oscar for Best Visual Effects in Aliens. He would win three more en route to changing the way Hollywood makes films... more..

Biography

You might not know his name but you know his work. A visual effects supervisor, make-up artist and film director, he was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, Iron Man and Edward Scissorhands. A frequent collaborator with director James Cameron, he owned more than one effects studio, including Stan Winston Digital, an established mainstay in makeup, puppets, practical effects, as well as a recent expansion into digital effects. And if you think the above list is impressive his studio has had a hand in the special effects of such films as Avatar, Shutter Island, G.I. Joe, Indiana Jones, You don’t mess with the Zohan, World Trade Center, Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, Charlotte’s Web, Doom, Constantine, Big Fish, Wrong Turn, Darkness Falls, The Time Machine, A.I., Pearl Harbor, What Lies beneath, Galaxy Quest, Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo, End of Days, The Sixth Sense, Inspector Gadget, Lake Placid, Austin Powers The Spy who Shagged Me, Instinct, Small Soldiers, Mousehunt , The Relic, The Ghost and the Darkness, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Congo, Tank Girl, Interview with the Vampire, Batman Returns, Predator 2, Leviathan, Pumpkinhead, Predator, Invader From Mars, Starman, The Thing, and the Wiz just to name…more than a few.

Stan Winston was born on April 7, 1946, in Arlington, Virginia, where he graduated from Washington-Lee High School in 1964. He studied painting and sculpture at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville from which he graduated in 1968. In 1969, after attending California State University, Long Beach, Winston moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as an actor. Struggling to find an acting job, he began a makeup apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studios.

In 1972, Winston established his own company, Stan Winston Studios, and won an Emmy Award for his effects work on the telefilm Gargoyles. Over the next seven years, Winston continued to receive Emmy nominations for work on projects and won another for 1974's The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Winston also created the Wookiee costumes for the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special.

Winston reached a new level of fame in 1984 working with James Cameron for The Terminator. The movie was a surprise hit, and Winston's work in bringing the titular metallic killing machine to life led to many new projects and additional collaborations with Cameron. In fact, Winston won his first Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1986 on James Cameron's next movie, Aliens. He would win three more en route to changing the way Hollywood makes films.

Stan Winston died on June 15, 2008, in Malibu, California after suffering for seven years from multiple myeloma. A spokeswoman reported that he "died peacefully at home surrounded by family. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a public speech about his death, and Jon Favreau dedicated his Spike TV Scream Award to him upon receiving the award for Best Sci-Fi Movie for Iron Man. Winston was survived by his wife and two children, actor Matt Winston and Debbie Winston. Terminator Salvation starts and ends the credits with a dedication to him. His special effects still lives on through his studio, Stan Winston Studios, continuing to work on films after his death, thus continuing his legacy.

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