Stan Winston, we salute thee

Stan Winston, creator of the creatures from Alien, Predator, Terminator, Jurassic Park and Congo passed away yesterday. I admired the man greatly, and not just because he had a hand in The Star Wars Holiday Special, but also because he went to UVA. The first Virginia Film Festival that I took part in had Stan Winston as a guest, and I will never forget sitting up in the booth and watching him introduce a movie. He talked about how he used the scare the crap out of his kids when they were little, because he would test his creations on them.

Interesting Wikipedia fact - Stan Winston was the second special effects artist to receive a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. (Dennis Muren was the first. Shout out for the original Battlestar Galactica and Willow!)

And...What the heck?! Are you freaking kidding me?! Stan Winston sculpting the head of Davros of the Daleks from Doctor Who?! My first and all time favorite science fiction television show?! Are there even enough question marks and exclamation points in the world to express the awesomeness of this?!

So Stan, I raise my glass to you. Thanks for all the nightmares!