Thomas Glenn Robinson, better known as Glen Robinson (September 20, 1914 – March 27, 2002), was an American

special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

and

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

artist, winner of six

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

: two Academy Awards for Technical Achievement and four

Special Achievement Academy Award The Special Achievement Award is an Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s. As a

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

artist, his career spans over six decades from the mid-1930s to the mid-1980s, having worked literally on dozens of films.

Biography

Glen Robinson was born Thomas Glenn Robinson in Idaho on September 20, 1914. When aged twelve his family moved to

Los Angeles city Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and in 1932, at the age of 18, he graduated from Venice High School. In 1936 he was hired by the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

company, where he became the studio's top special effects coordinator. Alongside his special effects career, Robinson was an engineer of

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

and double

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...

attractions at amusement and theme parks that included Magic Mountain (

Golden, Colorado Golden is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Censu ...

;

Valencia, California Valencia is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County, California. This area, with major commercial and industrial parks, straddles State Route 126 and the Santa Clara River. Development projects continue to be built in ...

), Pleasure Island (

Wakefield, Massachusetts Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, incorporated in 1812 and located about north-northwest of Downtown Boston. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offers ...

Freedomland U.S.A. Freedomland U.S.A. (usually called Freedomland) was a theme park dedicated to American history in the Baychester section of the northeastern Bronx in New York City. Operating from 1960 to 1964, Freedomland was built on marshland owned by the W ...

(

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) and Space City USA (near

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

). In the book, ''Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History'' (Theme Park Press, 2019), Robinson is credited for his work at the park. However, his specific contributions to Freedomland remain undetermined. Space City USA never was completed. Glen Robinson died of natural causes on March 27, 2002 at the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

in Woodland Hills,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He was aged 87 and at the moment of his death he was survived by five children (two sons and three daughters), fourteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.Doug Galloway,
Thomas ‘Glen’ Robinson: Special Effects Pioneer
', May 1, 2002, ''Variety.com'' (US Edition)

Selected filmography

*'' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939, special effects prop shop, uncredited) *''

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...

'' (1956, special effects technician, uncredited) *''

The Rat Patrol ''The Rat Patrol'' is an American action and adventure television series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers — three Americans and one British — who are part of a long-range desert p ...

'' (TV Series, special effects), three episodes: **''The Last Chance Raid'' (1967) **''Two for One Raid'' (1967) **''The One That Got Away Raid'' (1967) *''

The Bamboo Saucer ''The Bamboo Saucer'' is a independently made 1968 Cold War science fiction film drama about competing American and Russian teams that discover a flying saucer in Communist China. The film was re-released in 1969 under the title ''Collision Co ...

'' (1968, special effects) *''

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

'' (1969, special effects) *''

Tora! Tora! Tora! ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' ( ja, トラ・トラ・トラ！) is a 1970 epic film, epic war film that dramatizes the Empire of Japan, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, T ...

'' (1970, mechanical effects, uncredited) *''

Earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

'' (1974, special effects) *'' The Hindenburg'' (1975, special mechanical effects, credited as Glenn Robinson) *''

Logan's Run ''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusianism future society in which both population and the consumption of resource ...

'' (1976, special effects) *''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'' (1976, special effects) *''

Demon Seed ''Demon Seed'' is a 1977 American science fiction–horror film directed by Donald Cammell. It stars Julie Christie and Fritz Weaver. The film was based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, and concerns the imprisonment and forc ...

'' (1977, special mechanical effects – uncredited) *''

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

'' (1979, special effects) *''

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

'' (1979, special effects supervisor) *''

Kaala Patthar ''Kaala Patthar'' () is a 1979 Indian Hindi-language action drama film produced and directed by Yash Chopra, with a screenplay written by Salim–Javed. The film was based on the Chasnala mining disaster, and is the fourth collaboration betw ...

'' (1979, special effects) *''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

'' (1980, special effects consultant) *''

Island Claws An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

'' (1980, special effects) *'' Pennies from Heaven'' (1981, special effects) *''

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid ''Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'' is a 1982 American neo-noir mystery comedy film directed, co-written by, and co-starring Carl Reiner and co-written by and starring Steve Martin. Co-starring Rachel Ward, the film is both a parody of and a homage to ...

'' (1982, special effects) *'' Amityville II: The Possession'' (1982, special effects supervisor) *''

Meatballs Part II ''Meatballs Part II'' is a 1984 American comedy film and the in-name only sequel to the 1979 film ''Meatballs''. The film stars Richard Mulligan, Hamilton Camp, John Mengatti, Kim Richards, Archie Hahn, Misty Rowe, and John Larroquette, and was ...

'' (1984, special effects)

Awards

Two Academy Awards for Technical Achievement

* 1952 ( 24th): "''for the development of a new music wire and cable cutter''" * 1960 ( 32nd): "''for the design of a multiple-cable, remote-controlled winch''", shared with Winfield Hubbard and Luther Newman, both from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Construction Department

Four Special Achievement Academy Awards

* 1975 ( 47th): for Best Visual Effects for ''

'' (1974), shared with Frank Brendel and

Albert Whitlock Albert J. Whitlock (15 September 1915 – 26 October 1999) was a British-born motion picture matte artist best known for his work with Disney and Universal Studios. Life and career Whitlock began his film career as a page at Gaumont Studios in ...

* 1976 ( 48th): for Best Visual Effects for '' The Hindenburg'' (1975), shared with

* 1977 ( 49th): for Best Visual Effects for ''

'' (1976), shared with

Carlo Rambaldi Carlo Rambaldi (September 15, 1925 – August 10, 2012) was an Italian special effects artist, winner of three Oscars: one Special Achievement Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1977 for the 1976 version of ''King Kong'' and two Academy ...

and

Frank Van der Veer Frank Willard Van der Veer (June 2, 1921 – January 7, 1982) was an American optical and visual special effects artist who won (and shared) a Special Achievement Academy Award at the 49th Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects for the film ''King ...

* 1977 ( 49th): for Best Visual Effects for ''

'' (1976), shared with

L. B. Abbott Lenwood Ballard "Bill" Abbott, A.S.C. (June 13, 1908 – September 28, 1985) was an American special effects expert, cinematographer and cameraman. He became the head of the Special Effects Department at 20th Century Fox in 1957, a post he held u ...

and

Matthew Yuricich Matthew J. Yuricich (January 19, 1923 – May 28, 2012) was an American special effects artist. Biography Born of Croatian immigrant parentage in Lorain, Ohio, he spoke only Croatian when he started grade school. After graduating high school in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Thomas Glenn 1914 births 2002 deaths American film people Special effects people Visual effects supervisors Special Achievement Academy Award winners Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners People from Idaho