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Stan Winston

Not since Lon Chaney has one individual been responsible for the creation of so many memorable character icons.

Multiple Academy Award winner Stan Winston is indeed the world's foremost creator of creatures, the common denominator linking some of cinema's most innovative and accomplished character designs.

From "The Terminator" and the extra terrestrial monstrosities of "Aliens" to the amazing dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" and the fanciful character of "Edward Scissorhands," Winston has garnered a record number of awards for his achievements. He has won four Academy Awards and has been nominated for ten. He has also claimed three British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, two Emmys and numerous other industry awards.

Winston won his first Oscar nomination for creating robotic-looking make-up for "Heartbeeps" in 1981, the first year that make-up effects were recognized as an official category. He received Oscar nominations for "Aliens," "Predator," "Edward Scissorhands," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," "Jurassic Park," "Batman Returns," "The Lost World" and "A.I. Artificial Intelligence." He won for "Aliens," together with a BAFTA Award; two for "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" for Best Make-Up and Best Visual Effects and another BAFTA Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects; and his fourth Oscar for fashioning the live-action dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park."

Winston moved to Hollywood in 1969 to become an actor. While waiting for his big break he wanted to avoid the typical day jobs of parking cars or waiting tables. Like Lon Chaney, Winston saw make-up design as a powerful actor's tool for creating characters. He thus became a make-up apprentice at Disney Studios, which eventually led to his first Emmy in 1972 for the television movie "Gargoyles." He followed that with five more Emmy nominations between 1973 and 1979.

For Winston, the "day job" had quickly evolved into an impressive career. He smoothly segued into feature films and has been making movie history ever since working with the likes of James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joel Silver, Tim Burton, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg to name a few.

Recent releases featuring Winston's work include "Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines" from director Jonathan Mostow, "Wrong Turn" from director Rob Schmidt, "Darkness Falls" from director Jonathan Liebesman, Joe Johnston's "Jurassic Park 3" and Steven Spielberg's "Artificial Intelligence" (which earned Stan his tenth Oscar nomination).

Later this year you will see the work of Winston and the artisans of the studio in Tim Burton's "Big Fish". Some of Winston's television credits include "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" and "Roots."

He has taken part in several commercials as well, including the Toys "R" Us "Geoffrey" spot, the Aflac "Duck" spot, and the successful Budweiser series, featuring the "Bud-weis-er Frogs" and their comic "Louie & Frank" lizard counterparts.

As a director, Stan Winston helmed the film "Pumpkinhead," for which he won a "Best First Time Director" award at the Paris Film Festival and a nomination for a Saturn Award as "Best Director." He also directed the film "The Adventures of a Gnome Named Gnorm" and Michael Jackson's "Ghosts," set to the music of Jackson's song "Too Bad," for which he combined his creativity and talents in creature design and special effects for a frightening and entertaining combination of film, music and dance.

Following this natural progression, Winston currently runs his own production company to develop, direct and produce feature films. "Wrong Turn", produced by Stan Winston Productions in partnership with Summit Entertainment and Constantin Films, was the first feature film for theatrical release to follow the 2001 debut of "Creature Features"- a series of five original world premiere movies that were broadcast on the Cinemax and HBO cable networks. Produced by Stan Winston, Lou Arkoff and Colleen Camp, these films are updated versions of Sam Arkoff's classic 1950's horror and sci-fi movies.

The Stan Winston Studio in Los Angeles continues to break new ground in the areas of design, make-up and creature effects. Embracing the technology of CGI, Winston was a founding partner of the successful computer effects company Digital Domain in the mid-90's.

Currently, he has formed a new division of his studio called SW Digital that will enable his team of creators to expand the possibilities in developing realistic characters - bringing together the best of the live-action and CG worlds.

2001 saw the formation of Stan Winston Creatures -- a new toy company which features original, never-before-seen characters from the minds of the artists at the world famous Stan Winston Studio. The collectible action figures are being distributed through NECA and will be available at comic book and specialty stores world wide.

Outside of work, Winston enjoys spending time with his family, exercising at the in-studio gym he built for his employees, playing with his "big toys" (his Harley Davidson motorcycles and sports cars) and working with Free Arts for Abused Children.

Winston has been recognized for his community contributions by the County of Los Angeles and he holds an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from the nation's largest art school, the Savannah College of Art and Design, for his contributions to the art community.

In February 2000, Winston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, being the second artist in the field of visual effects to do so. Most recently, he has devoted his creativity and sponsorship in a collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the most realistic artificially intelligent robot to date.