Douglas Trumbull, a visual effects master who showed movie audiences indelible images of the future and of space in films like “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Blade Runner,” has died. He was 79.
His wife Julia Trumbull said he died Monday of complications from mesothelioma.
Director Edgar Wright tweeted, “RIP to an actual visionary, Doug Trumbull…he directed a childhood favourite of mine, the sci fi gem ‘Silent Running.’ Watch it tonight.”
Producer and documentarian Charles de Lauzirika, who worked with Trumbull on “Blade Runner: The Final Cut,” tweeted that, “He wasn’t just innovating magnificent visuals, but also pursuing the big ideas behind whatever story he was telling.”
Born in Los Angeles in 1942, Trumbull’s father was visual effects supervisor Donald Trumbull, who worked on “The Wizard of Oz.” He got his start at Graphic Works Films, where a short of his caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick who was beginning work on “2001: A Space Odyssey.” At 23 years old, he not only talked himself into a key job on “2001” but helped innovate the process that would be used to create the iconic star-gate sequence.