Douglas Hunt Trumbull (April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American special effects supervisor and inventor, production designer, director and producer.
The son of special effects supervisor Donald Trumbull (who worked on, among others, The Wizard of Oz), he turned his childhood passions (building devices such as crystal-set radios and watching 1950s Alien Invasion movies) into a career path in his father's field. He notably contributed to, or was responsible for, the effects of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner and The Tree of Life.
He also directed two feature films, Silent Running and Brainstorm, in addition to the Universal Studios attraction Back to the Future: The Ride.
Tropes & Trivia about his works:
- Creator Killer: The stress of the Troubled Production of Brainstorm (the death of Natalie Wood during production and the studio losing confidence in the project) pushed him away from film directing.
