John Stears
John Stears (25 August 1934 – 28 April 1999), known as the "Dean of Special Effects",[2] was a British special effects expert. He created James Bond's lethal Aston Martin DB5, Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, the Jedi Knights' lightsabers, the Death Star and the robots R2-D2 and C-3PO, as well as a host of other famous movie gadgets and special effects.[2]
Life and family
Stears was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex (now part of Greater London) on 25 August 1934 and grew up in nearby Ickenham. Stears studied at Harrow College of Art and Southall Technical School before working as a draughtsman with the Air Ministry.
He served as a dispatch rider during his National Service, then joined a firm of architects where he was able to utilise his passion for model-making by constructing scale models of building projects for clients.[3]
For most of his life he lived at Welders House in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, where he reared cattle and his wife ran the Livny Borzoi Kennels, breeding Borzoi show dogs.[3]
In 1993, he sold his Welders House country estate in Buckinghamshire to the singer Ozzy Osbourne and emigrated to California with his wife Brenda, whom he married in 1960, the couple had two children.[3]
Film career
Stears' effects featured in the first eight James Bond films, winning an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1965 for Thunderball, and sharing another Academy Award in 1977 for Star Wars.
He created some of the most famous scenes in the movies. He blew up the villain's Jamaican hideout at the end of Dr. No (1962), and for Goldfinger (1964), he created Agent 007's Aston Martin DB5, featuring bullet-proof windows, revolving licence plates, forward-firing machine guns, a rear oil-slick dispenser and a passenger-side ejector seat.[4]
He also created an avalanche for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and built flying cars for the musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and the Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
Stears grew disenchanted with the Bond franchise, and vowed never to do another one. He complained that the "team spirit" had gone. Stears expressed great regret that Kevin McClory could not get his rival Bond film, Warhead, into production, as Stears wanted to work on that film.[5]
In 1976, Stears received a telephone call from George Lucas, who had been a great admirer of the Bond films, who wanted to know if he was interested in creating mechanical and electrical effects for a film that he had written, Star Wars. Stears accepted the offer.[3] Stears had something in common with Alec Guinness and John Williams; he had won an Academy Award before working on Star Wars.[6] For Star Wars (1977), Stears created the robots R2-D2 and C-3PO, Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, the Jedi Knights' lightsabers, and the Death Star.[3][2][7] Stears was also credited, along with John Dykstra, for the original film's climactic aerial dogfight.[7] Other well known mechanical effects Stears orchestrated included the garbage compacter, making an X-wing fighter fly and the Jawa's sandcrawler.[8]
In 1978, producer Harry Saltzman hired Stears to direct the "shrunken man" epic film The Micronauts. The troubled project had been in pre-production for many years and saw many directors come and go; ultimately the film never made it into production.[9]
Awards
John Stears is notably one of only a few people to ever win an Academy Award for a James Bond film and one of only eight to win an Academy Award for a Star Wars film.
- 1965 – Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Thunderball
- 1977 – Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- 1978 – Saturn Award for Best Special Effects for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- 1982 – Saturn Award for Best Special Effects (nomination) for Outland
Selected filmography
- Call Me Bwana (1963)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Court Martial (1965)
- Thunderball (1965)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
- Toomorrow (1970)
- The Pied Piper (1972)
- Sitting Target (1972)
- Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1973)
- O Lucky Man! (1973)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- That Lucky Touch (1975)
- Sky Riders (1976)
- Star Wars (1977)
- The Martian Chronicles (1980)
- Hopscotch (1980)
- The Awakening (1980)
- Outland (1981)
- Turkey Shoot (1983)
- Sahara (1983)
- The Bounty (1984)
- F/X: Murder by Illusion (1986)
- Haunted Honeymoon (1986)
- Miracles (1986)
- Navy SEALs (1990)
- Babylon 5: The Gathering (1993)
- Babylon 5 (1994)
- The Mask of Zorro (1998)
Death
Stears died on 28 April 1999 in UCLA Medical Center after a stroke. His wife, Brenda, and other family members had wanted the death kept quiet until after services in Pacific Palisades in May and in London. The family announced his death in June of that same year. Stears owned homes in Pacific Palisades and in Beaconsfield, England, where he and his wife raised cattle and show dogs.[7]
References
- ^ "Corrections". The New York Times. 7 July 1999. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
- ^ a b c William H. Honan (4 July 1999). "John Stears, 64, Dies; Film-Effects Wizard". The New York Times. p. 1 24. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Vallance, Tom (19 July 1999). "Obituary: John Stears". The Independent. London. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "James Bond's Aston DB5 for sale". Autocar. London. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ Maronie, Sam (July 1981). "John Stears Talks About Making Move Magic (Without Divulging Too Many Secrets)". Starlog (48): 82.
- ^ "". episodenothing.
- ^ a b c Oliver, Myrna (5 July 1999). "John Stears; Special Effects Genius Behind 007 and R2-D2". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "". Man who built R2D2.
- ^ anonymous (5 July 1978). "Stears' Helm Debut Due On Micronauts". Variety: 29.
External links
- Autocar DB5 Article, 02 June 2010
- John Stears at IMDb
- Obituary, John Stears: Independent, Monday, 19 July 1999
- Obituary, John Stears: New York Times, Sunday, July 4, 1999
- Obituary, John Stears: Los Angeles Times, Monday, July 5, 1999
- John Stears: images of constructing and testing R2D2
- v
- t
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- Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963)
- Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964)
- John Stears – Thunderball (1965)
- Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966)
- L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967)
- Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969)
- A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
- Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett, and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
- L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
- Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974)
- Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975)
- Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976)
- John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977)
- Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978)
- H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979)
- Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson, and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Lorne Peterson, and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar, and David Berry – Cocoon (1985)
- Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986)
- Dennis Muren, Bill George, Harley Jessup, and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987)
- Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones, and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
- John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989)
- Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990)
- Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe, and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992)
- Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993)
- Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994)
- Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan, and John Cox – Babe (1995)
- Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney, and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996)
- Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997)
- Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson, and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998)
- John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999)
- John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)
- Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005)
- John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
- Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007)
- Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009)
- Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010)
- Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011)
- Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012)
- Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013)
- Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014)
- Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015)
- Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016)
- John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
- Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018)
- Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019)
- Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)
- Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer – Dune (2021)
- Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett – Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
- Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima – Godzilla Minus One (2023)