Ralph McQuarrie 13 June 1923 - 3 March 2012

[Perpetual Man]

Ralph McQuarrie passed away yesterday.

He might not have the most recognisable name in the field of SF, but his contribution to popular culture is without a doubt, near insurmountable.

McQuarrie was a graphic artist, who just happened to come to the attention of a young director, going by the name of George Lucas who liked his work enough to hire him as conceptual artist for Star Wars.

Everyone remembers different things about the first time they saw the film, whether it was the design of the space ships, to the Death Star - the chances are McQuarrie designed them.

At the time there were the collectable cards that we could collect featuring stills from the movies, and it was the pictures of his paintings that really stood out in my mind.

His film credits are:

Star Wars (1977) (production illustrator)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) (Mother Ship designer)
The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) (illustrator)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (design consultant and conceptual artist)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (ILM illustrator)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (scenic artist/spaceship design)
Return of the Jedi (1983) (conceptual artist)
Cocoon (1985) (conceptual artist)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) (visual consultant)
*batteries not included (1987) (conceptual artist)
Back to the Future: The Ride (1991) (conceptual artist) (uncredited)
Jurassic Park (1993) (conceptual artist)


Not exactly a bad record as far as these things (He won an Oscar for Cocoon)

Official Website

[C Of K]

Sad news. He brought to life some of the most iconic ideas in fictional history.



He'll be missed

[Culhwch]

A great loss. Rest in peace.

[Starbeast]

I always enjoyed looking at Ralph's Star Wars illustrations. Mr McQuarrie was the real genius for giving the look George Lucas was searching for that made Star Wars so unique to enjoy on the big screen (and TV).

Rest in peace Ralph McQuarrie

Thanks for posting a pic from Star Wars C of K.

[Rodders]

RIP Ralph. Without your vision, many movies wouldn't be what they are today.

[gully_foyle]

And without his vision some movies failed to live up to the expectations he had imbued us with. I think there was a certain grace in his Star Wars designs that disappeared in the subsequent prequels. In a way it was like pulp novel covers springing to life. Thanks Ralph.