Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO may well have never seen the light of day in their current and beloved guises if it were not for Ralph McQuarrie. Many of McQuarrie’s conceptual paintings for Star Wars helped convince 20th Century Fox that Star Wars was worth spending a few bucks on. The talented artist worked alongside Steven Spielberg designing the alien ships in Close Encounters and E.T. and in 1985 he picked up an Academy Award for Visual Effects for his work as a conceptual artist on Cocoon.
McQuarrie also had an uncredited role in The Empire Strikes Back as General Pharl McQuarrie, who also got his own action figure.
On March 3rd Ralph McQuarrie passed away at the great age of 82 at home, in Berkeley, California. George Lucas had a glowing tribute for the artist saying “His genial contribution, in the form of unequalled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original Star Wars trilogy. When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph's fabulous illustrations and say, 'do it like this'."
And while death is an incredibly sad time, especially for family, Ralph McQuarrie and his work has shaped many of us and our love of the movies. The Force is certainly strong with this one. May he Rest In Peace.
