RIP Ron Cobb (Production Designer)

[Himmel]

Ron Cobb, the underground cartoonist turned production designer who influenced the making of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and helped shape the worlds of Conan the Barbarian, Alien and Back to the Future, has died. He was 83.

Cobb died Monday — his birthday — of Lewy body dementia in Sydney, his wife of 48 years, Robin Love, reported.

Cobb brought to life several cantina creatures for Star Wars (1977) and came up with weaponry and sets for Conan the Barbarian (1982), the exterior and interior of the Nostromo ship in Alien (1978) and the earth colony complex in Aliens (1986) and the DeLorean time machine in Back to the Future (1985).

His prolific design work also included the breathing tanks and helmets in The Abyss (1989), the Omega Sector logo and the H bombs in True Lies (1990), the interior of the Mothership and the stranded tanker in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and the vehicles of The Last Starfighter (1984). [×]

[kylor]

Bloody hell. RIP.

This guy helped shape some of the most awesome movies to ever exist. It is a shame that his work on the interior of the Mothership in Close Encounters didn't make it into the final release, it only exists in deleted scene form.

[Bobbyjoe766]

Love his Nostromo design work for ALIEN. R.I.P.

[R3P0]

Lucasfilm and Mark Hamill have paid tribute to Ron Cobb, the veteran production designer behind movies like Back To The Future, Conan The Barbarian and Alien.

Cobb died yesterday, on his 83rd birthday, in Sydney from complications of Lewy body dementia.

In a post to Twitter, Luscafilm, via its Star Wars account, said: “We were saddened to learn of the passing of conceptual designer Ron Cobb, who designed one of the most memorable characters in the Mos Eisley cantina, Momaw Nadon.

“He also contributed to E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alien, Back to the Future, and many more. He will be missed.”

After working as an animator at Disney, he was laid off before joining the army, working as a draughtsman in Vietnam.

He later became an underground political cartoonist, and began designing album covers then moving into the movies, working on Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Alien, designing the interior and exterior of the space ship Nostromo.

While working as a designer for John Milius on his fantasy classic Conan The Barbarian, he met Steven Spielberg, who was working on Raiders of the Lost Ark on the same studio lot, and worked on the original idea for the movie Night Skies, which would later become E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

His career in production design took off, and he worked on movies including The Last Starfighter, Total Recall and True Lies.

For Back To The Future, he was credited as the 'DeLorean Time Travel Consultant', having created the home-made look for Doc Brown's now iconic time machine.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years Robin, and his son Nicky.

[don3663]

Loved seeing him pop up on various supplementary material over the years. Great mind and artist.

[Narcissus]

"I like doing corridors"

Rest well.