Russell Morrison Shearman (April 27, 1908 – May 5, 1956) was an American

special effects artist 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 virtua ...

. He won a Technical Achievement Award at the 19th Academy Awards in 1946 along with Marty Martin and Jack Lannan of the RKO Radio Studio Special Effects Dept. for the development of a new method of simulating falling snow on motion picture sets for ''

It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...

''. The film won just the one Academy Award, in the Technical Achievement category for developing a new method of creating artificial snow. Before ''It's a Wonderful Life'', fake movie snow was mostly made from cornflakes painted white and it was so loud when stepped on that any snow-filled scenes with dialogue had to be re-dubbed afterwards. RKO studio's head of special effects, Russell Sherman, developed a new compound, utilizing water, soap flakes, foamite and sugar. He won an Academy Award during the

21st Academy Awards The 21st Academy Awards were held on March 24, 1949, honoring the films of 1948. The ceremony was moved from the Shrine Auditorium to the Academy's own theater, primarily because the major Hollywood studios had withdrawn their financial suppor ...

for Best Special Effects. He won for the film ''

Portrait of Jennie ''Portrait of Jennie'' is a 1948 American fantasy film based on the 1940 novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. At the 21st Academy Awa ...

''. He shared his win with

Paul Eagler Paul Eagler (September 24, 1890 – September 30, 1961) was an American special effects artist. He won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects and was nominated for another one in the same category. Selected filmography * '' Because of a ...

, Charles L. Freeman,

Joseph McMillan Johnson Joseph McMillan Johnson (September 15, 1912 – April 17, 1990) was a leading Hollywood art director born in Los Angeles. He was graduated from USC with a degree in architecture before attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He was wo ...

Clarence Slifer Clarence Slifer (August 31, 1904 – 1993) was an American special effects artist. He won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects and was nominated for another one in the same category. Selected filmography Slifer won an Academy Award f ...

and James G. Stewart.

Filmography

*''

The Sharkfighters ''The Sharkfighters'' is a 1956 American adventure film about U.S. Navy scientists working to invent a shark repellent to protect military personnel down at sea. Directed by Jerry Hopper, it stars Victor Mature, James Olson, and Claude Akins. T ...

'' (1956) *'' The Kentuckian'' (1955) *''

Beachhead A beachhead is a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland. The ...

'' (1954) *'' Vera Cruz'' (1954) *'' The Yellow Tomahawk'' (1954) *'' The Diamond Queen'' (1953) *''

Bwana Devil ''Bwana Devil'' is a 1952 American adventure B movie written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler, and starring Robert Stack, Barbara Britton, and Nigel Bruce. ''Bwana Devil'' is based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters and filmed with ...

'' (1952) *'' The Crimson Pirate'' (1952) *''

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

'' (1952) *''

'' (1948) *''

'' (1946)

Death

According to an entry in a shark attack database (attributed to the Australian surgeon and shark attack enthusiast Sir Victor Coppleson), Russell Shearman allegedly died from a shark attack while filming underwater scenes for ''

'' in the Caribbean Sea off Cuba. However, his obituary in the Los Angeles Times states that he died by electrocution while repairing equipment. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27368175/russell-shearman-obit/

References

External links

* Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners 1908 births 1956 deaths Special effects people Deaths due to shark attacks Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) {{US-film-bio-stub