[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/StanWinston.jpg]]
->''"I don't do special effects. I do characters. I do creatures."''

In the summer of 1983, independent young filmmaker Creator/JamesCameron was confronted with the problem of convincingly turning [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger an unknown Austrian bodybuilder]] into a killer metal skeleton peeling with rotting flesh from the future called Film/{{the Terminator}}.

Just when it seemed that James and Arnold were doomed to an embarrassment made out of an idea that no studio in Hollywood would touch, a makeup artist who gave Chewbacca's father Itchy his face in ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' and astoundingly refused to work on ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', walked through the door.

His name was Stanley Winston (April 7, 1946 -- June 15, 2008).

Stan took one look at James Cameron's pencil sketches and wrapped the bodybuilder's face in liquid plaster. Out of the impression left by the massive Austrian's face, he meticulously carved a nightmarish visage of mechanical death out of clay.

In the fall of 1984, Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese, and thousands of film audiences [[NightmareFuel watched in stunned horror as that same visage of death, now rendered in steel, walked fleshless out of a roaring inferno]]. The rest is history.

For a quarter of a century, Mr. Stan Winston held the honor of being the single most respected makeup artist and puppeteer in the film-making industry. When in doubt, he was the go-to guy if you needed the most horrifyingly realistic movie monsters. Aside from helping to get the career of Creator/JamesCameron off the ground, he was also a veteran collaborator with cinematic luminaries such as Creator/StevenSpielberg, Creator/TimBurton, Creator/MichaelBay, and even a music video or two (working with the late Music/MichaelJackson for instance).

More than just a monster-puppeteer, Mr. Winston was also a virtuoso in the art of makeup, capable of making chameleons out of actors playing characters wildly different in appearance or recreate heartbreakingly accurate injuries of the most horrific battles in human history. He went on with Creator/JamesCameron to create the visual effects company known as Creator/DigitalDomain.

First and foremost, Stan Winston considered himself a storyteller, with his creations as characters and actors, rather than props. In 2001 he was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. By the time he lost his battle to cancer on June 15th, 2008, he had 4 Academy Awards, 2 Emmys, and 15 other awards under his belt. His workshop has since been reformed as [[https://www.legacyefx.com/ Legacy Effects]] and largely stick to commercial work; but have been involved in several films and shows, such as ''Film/TheMuppets2011'', ''Film/RealSteel'', ''Film/DinnerForSchmucks'', ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', ''Film/{{Robot}}'', and even ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' to name a few.

At his funeral, lifelong-friend Governor Schwarzenegger reverently thanked Mr. Winston, proclaiming that he would not have had the career that made him who he is without him. This appreciation is shared by Creator/SigourneyWeaver, Creator/JamesCameron, Creator/TimBurton, Creator/StevenSpielberg and the scores of mourning filmmakers who attended that day.

Have fun up there, Mr. Winston. Your glory will be remembered by filmgoers for generations to come.

!!Notable Credits:
* ''Film/ItLivesByNight'' (1974): The less said about this film, which became ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S10E10ItLivesByNight fodder]], the better. Shared effects duties with ''Film/FlightOfTheNavigator'''s Tony Urbano.
* ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' (1974): He and Creator/RickBaker convincingly aged Cicely Tyson up through to age 110.
* ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' (1978): Yes, even the greats [[OldShame have to start somewhere]], handled the makeup effects for Chewbacca's family.
* ''Film/TheWiz'' (1978): He did the makeup and costumes for all the characters, but most notably Music/MichaelJackson's Scarecrow and Nipsey Russell's Tin Man.
* ''Film/DeadAndBuried'' (1981)
* ''Film/TheHand'' (1981): Handled the various hand effects with ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'''s Creator/CarloRambaldi.
* ''Film/{{Heartbeeps}}'' (1982): The robot makeup he created for Creator/AndyKaufman and Creator/BernadettePeters got him his first Oscar nomination, even though the movie bombed.
* ''Film/{{The Thing|1982}}'' (1982): While Rob Bottin is the man credited with most of the film's horrifying effects, the first transformation seen the the film, the transformation of the "dog thing", was done by Stan Winston, as Bottin was suffering exhaustion from his work schedule at the time. In fact, that was ''literally'' Mr Winston's hand inside the transformed dog's head, giving a doubly disturbing organic quality to the puppetry of its movement. Winston declined to have a credit on the film, as he didn't want to take praise away from Bottin's work.
* ''Film/TheTerminator'' (1984): The film that almost-literally made Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger the man he is today.
** Winston would return for all three sequels and the theme park ride ''Ride/Terminator23DBattleAcrossTime'', making him the only person to have worked on all of the ''Terminator'' films.
* ''Film/{{Starman}}'' (1984): Worked on the transformation of Starman into an adult with Creator/RickBaker and Dick Smith. More specifically, he did the child-to-teen stages of the scene.
* ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' (1986): The Alien Queen; most realistic movie dragon, ever. First Oscar win.
* ''Film/InvadersFromMars1986''
* ''Film/TheVindicator'' (1986): A somewhat obscure modern-day take on ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', for which Stan provided an intricate cyborg suit resembling an early version of a [[Franchise/StarTrek Borg drone]].
* ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' (1987): A forgotten gem; watch it.
* ''Film/{{Predator}}'' (1987): Saved the film at the eleventh hour -- after the initial design of the creature by a different company proved to be a failure, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger recommended him for the job.
* ''Film/{{Pumpkinhead}}'' (1988): His directorial debut.
* ''Film/EdwardScissorhands'' (1990): Perhaps his best-known non-horror character piece.
* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' (1991): Yes, even the T-1000 is mostly his puppets rather than pure {{CGI}}.
* ''Film/BatmanReturns'' (1992): If one man can make Creator/DannyDeVito even MORE ugly, Stan is the man. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also, the cute animatronic penguins]].
* ''Film/{{Jurassic Park|1993}}'' (1993): If you thought the Alien Queen was scary, you have not taken a visit to the T-Rex pen yet. Though the movie famously used CGI for a lot of the dinosaur shots, many others were done using puppets and animatronics done by Winston, such as the Dilophosaurus and some shots of the T-Rex.[[note]]Basically, most full-body shots are CGI, and most partial-body shots are practical effects[[/note]]
** Winston would go on to work on both sequels, ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' and ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' as well.
* ''Film/InterviewWithTheVampire'' (1994): The UncannyValley corpselike pallor of the vampires, their retractable fangs and the astoundingly realistic ''puppet'' of Creator/TomCruise shrinking into a bloodless corpse after Creator/KirstenDunst slits his throat.
* ''Film/TankGirl'' (1995): Mutant kangaroos!
* ''[[Film/TheIslandOfDrMoreau1996 The Island of Dr. Moreau]]'' (1996): Mutant Human-Animal hybrids! Which are among the only things that people who watch the film will admit were the only decent parts.
* ''Film/TheRelic'' (1997)
* ''Film/{{Mousehunt}}'' (1997): Live action ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' antics even before the actual [[Film/TomAndJerry2021 live-action movie]].
* ''Film/SmallSoldiers'' (1998): Brought the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite to life.
* ''Film/{{Instinct}}'' (1999): A small project, but a very fulfilling one for Stan and the studio, as it allowed them to create gorillas that rivaled the apes created by Rick Baker in realism.
* ''Film/TheSixthSense'' (1999): Ghosts have rarely been this eerily convincing.
* ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' (1999): One of his few comedic projects.
* ''Film/{{Inspector Gadget|1999}}'' (1999): His interpretation of Gadget's gadgets are often cited as being the best part of the movie.
* ''Film/EndOfDays'' (1999)
* ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe'' (1999): Designed the makeup and body suit for Fat Bastard.
* ''Film/WhatLiesBeneath'' (2000)
* ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'' (2001): Stan's best known tragic film after ''Edward Scissorhands''.
* ''Film/PearlHarbor'' (2001): The chillingly realistic injuries created by his studio drove real-life survivors of the attack to tears at the film's premiere.
* ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' (2003)
* ''Film/BigFish'' (2003): The monster maestro proves once and for all he can tell heartwarming fairy-tales as well as horror stories.
* ''Film/WrongTurn'' (2003)
* ''Film/{{Zathura}}'' (2005): In one of his few kid-friendly efforts, Stan creates the suits/puppets of the creepy Zorgon lizard warriors, as well as the imposing eight-foot tall battle robot.
* ''Film/TheBenchwarmers'' (2006): Provided the effects for Number 7 and other robots.
* ''Film/EightBelow'' (2006): On top of the animatronic dogs, this was one of the few times his studio did CGI work, animating the killer seal that attacks the dogs.
* ''FIlm/CharlottesWeb'' (2006)
* ''Film/IronMan'' (2008): Tony Stark's invincible suits of iron.
* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' (2008): He and his crew created the eponymous Crystal Skulls along with the [[spoiler: extra-dimensional beings and the mummies of the Mayans who worshipped them]].
* ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' (2009): One of his last films got him back where he started, and Winston's team had to opportunity to craft a variety of Terminators, from the Moto-Terminators to the snake/pirahna-like hydrobots. The film is dedicated to his memory.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' (2009): Despite having close to none of his trademark, articulate and spectacularly lifelike puppets appearing in this film, the basis for the digital Na'vi are still designed and sculpted in clay the good old fashioned way by the Monster-Meister himself and his crew before being scanned into Weta-Digital's computers. Last major work of the master before passing away from leukemia.
* ''VideoGame/TheSuffering:'' A game, not a movie, but he designed the monsters. This was one of his more [[BodyHorror creative]] endeavors.
* {{Music Video}}:
** Winston designed and made the masks for the character of "Mr. Roboto," from the Styx album ''Music/KilroyWasHere,'' and its accompanying concert video, ''Caught in the Act Live'' (1982).
** ''Ghosts'' (1997): Designed makeups for Music/MichaelJackson -- including a white guy FatSuit -- and a troupe of dancers for the long form video / ShortFilm, and actually directed the production. Unfortunately, due to the icky DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything premise (it's a metaphor for Jackson's brushes with the law, over child molestation allegations), it's fallen into KeepCirculatingTheTapes territory in its complete form.
* {{Pinball}}: Winston worked on ''Pinball/{{Congo}},'' sculpting the snarling KillerGorilla on the inner playfield that watches the player.
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!! Tropes associated with Stan Winston:

* AFatherToHisMen: Well, to his workshop, at any rate.
* CoolOldGuy: Shows up in multiple photos with Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, in tight black T-shirts, bulging with muscles as big as the Governator's, while chomping on an equally badass cigar to match.
* DotingParent: Not only was he like a loving grandfather to his crew, but his own RealLife family is a very large and warm one.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[Film/{{Avatar}} The very last project he worked on]] before he died, went on to become the highest grossing movie in the world.
* InMemoriam: Shown in ''Film/TerminatorSalvation.''
* OldShame: ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial,'' refusing a gig on ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial,'' ''Film/InvadersFromMars1986'' and ''A Gnome Called Gnorm'' (his second directorial effort).
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