Grant McCune (March 27, 1943 – December 27, 2010) was an American

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 designer whose entry into Hollywood was the uncredited creation of the

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...

in the 1975 film '' Jaws''. His efforts there led to work on a series of major films, including his design of the robots in the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' films, winning an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

in 1977 for his efforts in the first film in the series.

Biography

McCune was born on March 27, 1943. He attended

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology and met his future wife. McCune was able to use his scientific training when he and Bill Shourt were hired in 1975 to work on creating the iconic shark in the movie ''Jaws'', marking his start in Hollywood, though he was uncredited. He was subsequently hired to work on the ''Star Wars'' movies as the franchise's chief model maker, responsible for the design details of the robots (such as

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...

) and alien characters in the films. He and his team earned an

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...

at the

50th Academy Awards The 50th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1977 and took place on April 3, 1978, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS ...

for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. He received a second Oscar nomination for his work on the 1979 film '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture''. As a partner at Apogee Productions, McCune's work was featured in such films as ''

Caddyshack ''Caddyshack'' is a 1980 American sports comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney, and starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight (his final film role), Michael O'Keefe and Bill ...

'' before founding his own firm, which was hired to work on such movies as ''

Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

'' and ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

''.Staff
"R2-D2 creator Grant McCune dies"

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, December 30, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2010. Interviewed by ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

'' magazine in 2009, McCune described how one uses a photographer's eye in designing miniatures, using perspective and surface details to make the objects appear as realistic as possible. A resident of

Hidden Hills, California Hidden Hills is a city and gated community in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California. It is located next to the cities of Los Angeles and Calabasas. The population was 1,725 as of 2020. History The earliest inhabi ...

, McCune died at his home there of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

at the age of 67 on December 27, 2010. He was survived by his wife, Katherine, as well as by a daughter and a son.

Filmography

*''

'' (1977) - Death Star Gunner (uncredited)

References

External links

Grant McCune Design website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCune, Grant 1943 births 2010 deaths Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners California State University, Northridge alumni Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California Designers from Los Angeles American special effects people