Colin Cantwell Cause of Death Mysterious: ‘Star Wars’ Spacecraft Designer Was 90
Colin Cantwell, a designer and concept artist popularly known for designing memorable spacecraft from "Star Wars" films like the Death Star, X-wing Starfighter, and TIE fighter, has passed away at the age of 90.
His longtime partner Sierra Dall confirmed the tragic news to The Hollywood Reporter.
Per the outlet, the concept artist's specialties include photographic effects, which he used in the 1968 sci-fi movie "2001: A Space Odyssey." He also did a technical dialogue for 1977's "Close Encounter of the Third Kind" and became a graphics design consultant for "WarGames" in 1983.
His career in the movie industry skyrocketed even more, when he started designing and constructing some of the most iconic prop pieces in history for "Star Wars" movies.
During his early days, Cantwell suffered from health problems after being diagnosed with tuberculosis and a partial retinal detachment.
In a 2016 interview, the artist said his illness was cured after spending a lot of time being confined to a dark room.
"I spent nearly two years of my childhood immobilized in this dark room. Suffice to say, nothing else could slow me down after that!" he said in a Reddit Q&A.
The artist studied animation at the University of California, Los Angeles, before studying at Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture.
Before working in the film industry, Cantwell already had a blossoming career during the '60s. He previously worked for NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create educational programs for the people to understand what was happening during the space race between the United States and Russia.
He also became a part of history by being a resource for Walter Cronkite during the moon landing broadcast in 1969.
The artist worked at the communications line between NASA and the assigned astronauts.
Cantwell's fascination with outer space and love for architecture led him to work in Hollywood as a spacecraft designer and programmer for sci-fi movies.
His first work was in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" where he collaborated closely with Stanley Kubrick.
The concept artist was the person responsible for the dramatic space opening of the film.
He also programmed the Hewlett Packard monitors on "WarGames."
Aside from being a successful concept artist, Cantwell was also a science fiction author. He published two novels titled "CoreFires 1" and "CoreFires 2."
