Ralph McQuarrie

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Ralph McQuarrie (b. June 13, 1929, Gary, Indiana) is a conceptual designer and futurist responsible for the look of Star Wars (all of the original trilogy), the original Battlestar Galactica (TV), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award.

He is a contemporary of Syd Mead, another conceptual designer/futurist, with whom he attended school. "RMQ", as he is known to sign original works, has provided illustrations to supplement several Isaac Asimov publications, including Robot Dreams and Robot Visions. When George Lucas announced in 1995 that he was going to be making a Star Wars prequel, RMQ was invited to head up the design team, as he had done with Joe Johnston eighteen years before. After arriving, however, he decided that the existing design team (lead by ILM illustrator Doug Chiang) was more than sufficient, and declined to participate -- much to the eventual disappointment of many "Original Trilogy" fans.

McQuarrie played the uncredited role of General McQuarrie in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back.

[edit] Filmography

  1. Back to the Future The Ride (1991) (conceptual artist) (uncredited)
  2. *batteries not included (1987) (conceptual artist)
  3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) (visual consultant)
  4. Cocoon (1985) (conceptual artist)
  5. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) (conceptual artist)
  6. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (scenic artist/spaceship design)
  7. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (design consultant and conceptual artist)
  8. The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) (TV) (illustrator)
  9. Star Wars (1977) (production illustrator)

[edit] External link