Ralph McQuarrie

Ralph McQuarrie (b. June 13 1929, Gary, Indiana) is a conceptual designer and futurist responsible for the look of "Star Wars" (all of the original trilogy), the original "Battlestar Galactica" (TV), "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and "Cocoon", for which he won an Academy Award.

He is a contemporary of Syd Mead, another conceptual designer/futurist, with whom he attended school. "RMQ", as he is known to sign original works, has provided illustrations to supplement several Isaac Asimov publications, including "Robot Dreams" and "Robot Visions". When George Lucas announced in 1995 that he was going to be making a Star Wars prequel, RMQ was invited to head up the design team, as he had done with Joe Johnston twenty years before. After arriving, however, he decided that the existing design team (lead by ILM illustrator Doug Chiang) was more than sufficient, and declined to participate -- much to the eventual disappointment of many "Original Trilogy" fans.

McQuarrie played the uncredited role of General McQuarrie in "".

Filmography

# "Jurassic Park" (1993) (conceptual artist)
# "" (1991) (conceptual artist) (uncredited)
# "*batteries not included" (1987) (conceptual artist)
# "" (1986) (visual consultant)
# "Cocoon" (1985) (conceptual artist)
# "" (1983) (conceptual artist)
# "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) (scenic artist/spaceship design)
# "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) (ILM illustrator)
# "" (1980) (design consultant and conceptual artist)
# "The Star Wars Holiday Special" (1978) (TV) (illustrator)
# "" (1977) (production illustrator)

External links

*imdb name|id=0574319|name=Ralph McQuarrie
*http://www.ralphmcquarrie.com/ Official website
* [http://www.dreamsandvisionspress.com The Art of Ralph McQuarrie]
* [http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-1978---news/ralph-mcquarrie-concept-sketches.html Ralph McQuarrie Concept Sketches] and [http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-1978---news/ralph-mcquarrie-concept-paintings.html Concept Paintings] for Battlestar Galactica (1978)