The master passed away on 10 August 2012 in Lamezia Terme, Calabria.
His talent, his genius continues to inspire character designers, animators, and special effects creators to this day.
In Italy, science fiction cinema has never developed and the Italians who have found international success in this field are very few. Rimbaldi remains the most famous. Great artist: painter and sculptor has found the right dimension in the world of cinema, to give life to his creations, obtaining his success with science fiction.
After the beginnings in Italy, with Monicelli, Pasolini, Dario Argento, and effects so realistic that the director Lucio Fulci was accused of mistreating animals – which were nothing more than mannequins created by Rambaldi – the call to Hollywood by Dino De Laurentiis to work in King Kong, which will bring him his first Oscar in 1976 and above all the admiration of Steven Spielberg who will call him the following year for Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In 1979 the second Oscar arrives thanks to the xenomorphs designed by H.R. Giger and transformed into living beings by Rambaldi for Ridley Scott in Alien. And again Steven Spielberg calls him to entrust him with his most famous character, E.T., with whom another Oscar will arrive, the third.
Rambaldi also works with David Lynch in Dune, with Fleischer in Conan in a destroyer, he returns to work with Guillermin for the forgettable King Kong 2. But the era of puppets and sculptures is now ending, at the end of the eighties the era of computergrafica, to which Rambaldi will never adapt.
J.J. Abrams paid homage to him by calling “Milo Rambaldi” the mysterious Renaissance genius (based on Leonardo) who recurs in the mythology of the TV series Alias.
Carlo Rambaldi
Location: Italy, USA
Skills: Painter, sculptor, special effects creator, visual effects creator, character design, and much more.
Acknowledgments:
1977 – Oscar Special Achievement Award for visual effects with Glen Robinson and Frank Van der Veer for King Kong.
1978 – Nomination Saturn Award for Best Makeup with Bob Westmoreland and Thomas R. Burman for Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1980 – Oscar for the best special effects with H.R. Giger, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Denys Ayling for Alien.
1982 – Los Angeles Film Critics Association – Special award for his work.
1983 – Oscar for Best Special Effects with Dennis Muren and Kenneth F. Smith for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) Saturn Award for Best Special Effects with Dennis Muren for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) BAFTA nomination for the best special effects with Dennis Muren for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial).
1985 – MystFest – special award for his full activity.
1987 – Nomination Razzie Award for Worst Visual Effects for King Kong 2 (King Kong Lives).
2000 – Los Angeles Italian Film Awards for special effects.
2002 – David di Donatello – Special David.