RIP: STAN WINSTON

Special effects pioneer and film director Stan Winston died last night at the age of 62. Winston suffered from multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, for the past seven years. Throughout his legacy, Winston had a hand in creating some of the most memorable movie characters including The Predator, The Terminator, Edward Scissorhands and most recently Iron Man. He won three Oscars (TERMINATOR 2, ALIENS and JURASSIC PARK) and was nominated for six others. In 1995, Winston and director James Cameron founded Digital Domain, a firm that is still one of the leading FX houses in the world. Winston tried his hand at directing with films like PUMPKINHEAD and A GNOME NAMED GNORM but they were met with less fanfare than his makeup and FX work. He had recently been working on TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE FUTURE BEGINS. Winston will always be a godfather to geek cinema and it's hard to fathom modern cinema without the contributions of Stan Winston. Later today Stan Winston Studios will be releasing a list of charities to donate to in lieu of flowers.