Roy Seawright born November 19, 1905 in Los Angeles, California, died April 30, 1991 in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific Oc ...

was a Hollywood

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 w ...

technician, principally with

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...

Biography

Seawright's father was the chief

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

studios. He died in 1919 during a construction accident during the building of the complex. Roy joined Roach initially as a mail boy and errand boy in 1920. Seawright worked his way up to Casting Director, then the Property Department, and later became the head of Roach's animation studio. Seawright's animation appeared in many of the Roach studio's shorts such as animating eyes, balloon captions, and other items drawn on the film. In 1934's '' Babes in Toyland'' Seawright did a stop motion animation sequence for the toy soldiers marching to attack the Bogeymen. Credited as head of the Process Department in 1937, some of Seawright's most famous work was in '' Topper Takes a Trip'' and ''

One Million B.C. ''One Million B.C.'' is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles ''Cave Man'', ''Man and His Mate'' and ''Tumak''. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist Tu ...

'' where his

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footage was recycled countless times in many lesser films. Seawright was nominated for an Oscar three times in succession for the latter two films and '' Topper Returns''. During World War II, Seawright was commissioned a Major in the

US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War I ...

' First Motion Picture Unit where he provided special effects for many military training films and '' Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress''. He left Hal Roach after returning from the Army, eventually working for Eagle-Lion Films providing special effects for Phil Karlson's '' The Big Cat'' and '' Port of New York''. Seawright entered a partnership with former Warner Brothers cartoon writer

Dave Monahan Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

as his director of photography. Seawright and his wife Bernice "Bunny" Seawright were beach volleyball fans and started Hermosa Beach's Seawright Tourney in 1968.

Notes

External links

* *Seawright information 0780880/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Seawright, Roy 1905 births 1991 deaths People from Los Angeles Special effects people Stop motion animators American animators First Motion Picture Unit personnel