Ralph McQuarrie

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The whale tank concept art

Ralph McQuarrie (13 June 1929 – 3 March 2012; age 82) was a conceptual artist and illustrator who worked on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home through ILM, doing conceptual drawings and designs for 23rd century San Francisco, Starfleet Headquarters, shuttlecrafts, whale tanks, and storyboard concepts for the surreal time travel sequence.

McQuarrie is best known to the public for his production designs for the Star Wars films. His imagination helped guide the final appearance of Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers, as well as Chewbacca and Boba Fett. He also created many of the matte paintings of planets and satellites that appeared in the film and illustrated many vehicles seen in the film.

After Star Wars wrapped in 1977, McQuarrie was invited to England to work under Ken Adam to help develop designs for a director Philip Kaufman's planned film Star Trek: Planet of the Titans, but it was canceled at the script stage.

Following the immense success of Star Wars, McQuarrie was brought in as concept and matte artist and design consultant on the sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In addition to these films, he created conceptual artwork and illustrations for at least four iconic films directed by Steven Spielberg, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park. He also created designs for the original Battlestar Galactica television series.

McQuarrie won an Academy Award for his work on the Ron Howard film Cocoon (featuring Ron's brother, Clint Howard, Herta Ware, music by James Horner and cinematography by Don Peterman). He received his Academy Award from Star Trek: The Motion Picture director Robert Wise.

McQuarrie died on 3 March 2012. He was 82.

External links

• RalphMcQuarrie.com - official site
• Template:IMDb-link
• Ralph McQuarrie at Battlestar Wiki