It’s been a rough couple of months lately. Many prominent stars of Hollywood have left us stranded in the middle of nowhere. Actors like Diana Rigg and Chadwick Boseman’s passing brought us immense grief. And now we have also come to know that another promising light of the movie making industry has breathed his last as well. Ron Cobb, the famous conceptual designer of Hollywood who was worked in movies like George Lucas’ Star Wars, Ridley Scott’s Alien, and the Back to the Future Series, has died at the age of 83.
Cobb began his career as a comic book artist. He was hired as a ghost artist for Walt Disney‘s Animation studio, where he illustrated most of their animated works. Cobb spent most of the early days of his life in the bustling city of Los Angeles. He was one of the driving forces behind the acclaimed animated movie Sleeping Beauty. Ron Cobb would then encounter Dark Star writer Dan O’Bannon and the two would soon hit it off. Cobb was later seen lending his skills to Alejandro’s Jodorowsky’s Dune Project. The movie project never took off and Ron Cobb was then hired by Ridley Scott for the Alien movie. Ron Cobb is best remembered for his behind the camera roles for Star Wars and Back to the Future series of movies.
Working as an uncredited artist, Ron Cobb was tasked by George Lucas in the year 1977 to design a number of prominent alien characters for the movie. Momaw Nadon from the Mos Eisley Cantina is one of the many creations of Ron Cobb. His career took off when Star Wars was a massive hit. He never looked behind after that. Ridley Scott hired Ron Cobb to design the signature Nostromo ship for Alien. The Nostromo ended up inspiring a litany of ides that influenced space-ship designs in Hollywood’s space adventure genre for many years to come.
Ron Cobb got to leave his mark on the world when he was hired by Robert Zemeckis. It was Ron Cobb who designed the iconic DeLorean time travelling super car for Back to the Future. Cobb’s career took a turn for the better later. He would be hired by Steven Spielberg for his movies – Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Amazing Stories. Other movie and TV Projects where Ron Cobb has lent his skills include Total Recall and Firefly.
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Ron Cobb passed away on his birthday two days ago in Sydney, Australia. He passed away at the age of 83. Ron Cobb was suffering from acute Lewy Body Dementia at the time. Lucas Films’ Star Wars franchise, where his contributions helped shape the movie universe, shared a heartfelt post to commemorate his passing. The tribute post was shared on Twitter. Creators of Star Wars were left saddened by the news of Ron Cobb’s death. The post also included one of Ron Cobb’s preliminary designs for Momaw Nadon.
Here is the official twitter post:
Ron Cobb was more than just a conceptual designer. The work he did inspired generations that came after him. He was a dreamer and visionary who played a huge hand in making some of the biggest blockbuster movie franchises in the industry. Ron Cobb was also an environmentalist and an avid philanthropist. Everybody remembers Cobb’s iconic newspaper cartoons. FandomWire mourns his loss.
Source: Screenrant
