The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans—no geek worthy of the name hasn't spent many a sunny afternoon ensorcelled by the stop-motion magic of Ray Harryhausen. Breathing dynamic life into monsters and creating some of the most iconic special effects spectacles on film, Harryhausen influenced an entire generation of filmmakers and geeks, including Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Terry Gilliam, James Cameron, and Peter Jackson.
Sadly, The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, a charitable trust set up in the eighties by Harryhausen and his wife, announced Ray's death today, May 7, in London. He was born 29 June 1920.
“THE LORD OF THE RINGS is my ‘Ray Harryhausen movie’. Without his life-long love of his wondrous images and storytelling it would never have been made – not by me at least”
Peter Jackson
In 2010, Harryhausen received a special BAFTA Award from the British Film Institute at a tribute party thrown for his 90th birthday.
