Carlo Rambaldi (September 15, 1925 – August 10, 2012) was an Italian

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as 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 fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

s and makeup effects artist. He was the winner of three

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

: one Special Achievement Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

for the 1976 version of ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' and two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

for, respectively, '' Alien'' (1979) and ''

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film, science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott Taylor, Elliott, a boy w ...

'' (1982). He is most famous for his work in those two last mentioned films, that is for the mechanical head-effects for the creature in ''Alien'' and the design of the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

of ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. In 2017, he was inducted into the Visual Effects Society Hall of Fame.

Early life

Carlo Rambaldi was born September 15, 1925, in

Vigarano Mainarda Vigarano Mainarda (Emilian language, Ferrarese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ferrara in the Italy, Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northeast of Bologna and about west of Ferrara. Vigarano Mainarda borders the ...

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

. Assante, Ernesto (August 10, 2012)
"Addio a Carlo Rambaldi il creatore di E.T. e Alien"
''

la Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

'' He studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, where he developed a passion for electromechanics and the skeleton and musculature of the human body. He was heavily influenced by the work of

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and the Italian artist Renato Guttuso."Obituaries: Carlo Rambaldi"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. October 5, 2012

Career

Rambaldi's first work in film was creating a fire-breathing dragon for the 1957 Italian picture ''Sigfrido'' (titled in the English version as '' The Dragon's Blood''). In 1963 he became a full-time special effects artist. He worked with Italian directors including

Mario Bava Mario Bava (; 31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter. His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish ...

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

Mario Monicelli Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, one of the masters of the ''commedia all'italiana'' ("Italian-style comedy"). He was nominated six times for an Academy Awards, Os ...

and

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. His influential work in the horror film, horror and giallo genres during the 1970s and 1980s has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the ...

. Some films he worked on included ''Medusa vs the Son of Hercules'' (1962), '' Bloody Pit of Horror'' (1965), '' Planet of the Vampires'' (1965), '' Hercules and the Princess of Troy'' (1965), '' L'Odissea'' (1968, a TV miniseries), '' A Bay of Blood'' (1972), '' The Night of the Devils'' (1972), ''

Andy Warhol's Frankenstein ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' is a 1973 horror film written and directed by Paul Morrissey. It stars Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Monique van Vooren and Arno Juerging. In West Germany and the United States, the film was released as ''Andy Warho ...

'' (1974), '' Andy Warhol's Dracula'' (1974), '' Deep Red'' (''Profondo Rosso'', 1975), ''

'' (1976), ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film, science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François ...

'' (1977), '' Alien'' (1979), ''

Nightwing Nightwing is a superhero alias used by multiple characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The most prominent bearer is Dick Grayson, the original Robin, who adopts the Nightwing identity to assert his independence from Batman. ...

'' (1979), '' Possession'' (1981), ''

'' (1982), ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

'' (1984), '' Conan the Destroyer'' (1984), ''

Silver Bullet Silver Bullet(s) or The Silver Bullet may refer to: * Silver bullet, in folklore, a weapon against supernatural creatures; metaphorically, a simple, effective solution to a problem Film and television * The Silver Bullet (1935 film), ''The Silve ...

'' (1985), '' Cat's Eye'' (1985), ''

King Kong Lives ''King Kong Lives'' (released as ''King Kong 2'' in some countries) is a 1986 American monster adventure film directed by John Guillermin. Produced by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and featuring special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, the f ...

'' (1986) and '' Cameron's Closet'' (1988), among others. Rambaldi had the distinction of being the first special effects artist to be required to prove that his work on a film was not 'real'. Dog-mutilation scenes in the 1971 film '' A Lizard in a Woman's Skin'' were so convincingly visceral that its director,

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including Commedia all'italiana, comedies and spagh ...

, was prosecuted for offenses relating to

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction of suffering or Injury, harm by humans upon animals, either by omission (neglect) or by commission. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...

. Fulci would have served a two-year prison sentence, had Rambaldi not exhibited the film's array of props to a courtroom, proving that the scene was not filmed using real animals. Rambaldi's last screen credit was on the 1988 horror film '' Primal Rage'', directed by his son Vittorio. When computer-generated special effects became common place, Rambaldi complained, "Any kid with a computer can reproduce the special effects seen in today’s movies. The mystery's gone. The curiosity that viewers once felt when they saw special effects has disappeared. It's as if a magician had revealed all of his tricks... There’s no question that these computer films are well packaged but the charm has disappeared... If Spielberg were to film ''E.T.'' today using the latest technology I'm not sure it would be a hit because the techniques they’re using at the moment couldn't reproduce the tender expression of ET's eyes, for example. The secret of creating what technology is unable to express lies in the work of the artisan, who is able to develop characteristics that touch our deepest emotions."

Personal life and death

Carlo Rambaldi married Bruna Basso, with whom he had a son, Vittorio, and a daughter, Daniela. Another son, Alessandro, died of a rare form of leukemia at 33 years of age. Rambaldi died after a long illness on August 10, 2012, in Lamezia Terme,

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

, where he had lived for the last decade of his life, after relocating to be near his daughter and grandchildren. His ashes were laid to rest in the family tomb in Vigarano Mainarda, near his son Alessandro.

Select filmography

Academy Awards

One Special Achievement Academy Award

* 1977 ( 49th): for Best Visual Effects for ''King Kong'' (1976), shared with Glen Robinson and Frank Van der Veer

Two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects

* 1980 ( 52nd): for Best Visual Effects for '' Alien'' (1979), shared with H. R. Giger, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Dennis Ayling * 1983 ( 55th): for Best Visual Effects for ''

'' (1982), shared with

Dennis Muren Dennis Muren, A.S.C (born November 1, 1946) is an American film visual effects artist and supervisor. He has worked on the films of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron, among others, and has won nine Oscars in total: eight for Bes ...

and

Kenneth F. Smith Kenneth F. Smith is a special effects artist. He works at ILM as well. He also won 2 Academy awards. Oscars Both films were in the category of Best Visual Effects * 55th Academy Awards-'' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. Award shared with Carlo ...

Other awards

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

* 1982: Special Award, "''for the body of his work''"

Saturn Awards

* 1983: for Best Special Effects for ''

'' (1982), shared with Dennis Muren

MystFest Awards

* 1985: Special Award, "''for his whole activities''"''MystFest'' is the commonly used abbreviation for the "International Mystery Film Festival of

Cattolica Cattolica (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Rimini, Italy, with 16,233 inhabitants as of 2007. History Archaeological excavations show that the area was already settled in ancient Rome, Roman times. According to one legend, Catto ...

", in Italian "''Festival internazionale del giallo e del mistero di Cattolica''"

Los Angeles Italian Film Awards

* 2000: Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Special Effects

David di Donatello Awards

* 2002: Special David Award

Notes

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rambaldi, Carlo 1925 births 2012 deaths People from the Province of Ferrara People from Lamezia Terme David di Donatello Career Award winners Special Achievement Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna alumni Italian visual effects artists