‘Star Wars’ concept artist Ralph McQuarrie dies

Celebrated conceptual designer and illustrator Ralph McQuarrie passed away over the weekend at the age of 82. McQuarrie is best known for his design work on the original "Star Wars" trilogy, creating the distinctive look of iconic characters like big baddie Darth Vader, droids C-3PO and R2-D2, and bounty hunter Boba Fett.

In addition to "Star Wars," McQuarrie also designed the space ships in Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." He won his only Oscar (the Best Visual Effects award) in 1985 for his work on Ron Howard's "Cocoon."

McQuarrie perfected the "used future" look for science fiction, designing fantastical worlds that had a realistic and lived-in quality to them. His amazing work has proved influential to an entire generation of filmmakers, designers, illustrators, and visual/special effects people. His "Star Wars" character designs were even turned into a series of action figures based on his original concepts for the film's characters.

In an official statement, "Star Wars" maestro George Lucas said that McQuarrie "propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original 'Star Wars' trilogy." He added, "When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph's fabulous illustrations and say, 'Do it like this.'"

Although McQuarrie had been retired for years (he was not part of the design team on Lucas' "Star Wars" prequels), his death is still a huge loss for the film industry. You can see a small sample of McQuarrie's stellar work below:

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