“Star Wars” Legend Passes Away At The Age Of 90
(LibertySociety.com) – Star Wars ship creator Colin Cantwell, famed for his artwork in designing the Death Star, X-wing fighter, and TIE fighter, died on May 21 at his home in Colorado at age 90. According to his long-time partner, Sierra Dall, the designer was ill with Alzheimer’s for quite some time. She posted on his website that he was not expected to recover.
Rest In peace Colin Cantwell, designer of the X-wing and more. https://t.co/D2CGzQjTxL pic.twitter.com/HgC0oL02rg
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 23, 2022
The artist earned his degree in animation at the University of California in Los Angeles. Cantwell also took classes at Frank Lloyd Wright’s School of Architecture, the combination which likely helped him with his detailed designs.
Starting his career at NASA, Cantwell seemed to have a great interest in outer space, as he stood by Walter Cronkite during his narration of the Apollo 11 moon landing. From there, he decided to put his focus on creating special effects science fiction movies like Voyage to the Outer Planets, 2001: A Space Odyssey, WarGames, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In 1974, Cantwell started working with George Lucas on aircraft designs for the original Star Wars movie. His work on the various space vehicles is known the world over.
Sticking to his love for science fiction, he wrote two novels over his lifetime in the same genre. Although his creative genius will be missed by many, true lovers of space will never forget what he added to the science fiction community.
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