ILM and Star Wars Sculptor Richard Miller Has Passed Away

Richard Miller, a sculptor at Industrial Light & Magic, died earlier within the week on the age of 80, a handful of days after his birthday. Per the Hollywood Reporter, he handed after an prolonged keep in hospice care. Fon H. Davis, certainly one of Miller’s colleagues, later confirmed the information on Instagram, writing that he was “ grateful to have had the opportunity to work, laugh, and be grumpy, at times, with him. […] Hug your friends today.”

“With his artistic skill in evidence, an agreeable demeanor and a wry sense of humor, Richard fit right in from the start and became a fixture at ILM,” wrote ILM in a press release to the Reporter. “Richard will be dearly missed by the entire ILM family, but his artistic contribution lives on in each of the films he contributed to and in the fond memories of all who knew him.”

Miller first joined ILM in 1981 forward of 1983’s Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and his most well-known contribution to that movie was Princess Leia’s gold bikini. Following that movie, he would contribute to 55 motion pictures over the span of 30 years, and his credit embody Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the unique Jumanji, and Willow. He even had a hand in Ang Lee’s Hulk film from 2003. Since the 2000s, Miller had been a trainer at ILM, serving a sculpting trainer for aspiring prop makers.

During his time with ILM, Miller had contributed to a number of franchises; he labored on all three Star Wars prequels, each Star Trek: First Contact and Generations, and the unique Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. During the Pirates franchise, he created the tentacled beard for Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones, with Dead Man’s Chest profitable an Academy Award for its visible results. His closing movie as a sculptor, in line with IMDB, was 2007’s Evan Almighty, and he contributed to prop design for the 2021 quick movie Mila.

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