RIP Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie, the concept artist who designed much of the look of the original Star Wars movies, has passed away at the age of 82. McQuarrie played a key role on the original Star Wars film, designing R2-D2, C3-PO and Darth Vader. He also created the final look of Chewbacca ( drawing inspiration from a John Shoenherr painting for, of all things, a George R.R. Martin short story). He had a cameo appearance in The Empire Strikes Back . Many years later, he was asked to work on the prequel trilogy but declined. McQuarrie also worked on Raiders of the Lost Ark , Stark Trek IV: The Voyage Home , *batteries not included , E.T. , Jurassic Park , Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Cocoon , winning an Oscar for the latter. He also played a key role as a concept artist on the original 1978 TV series of Battlestar Galactica and did some work for the aborted Star Trek: Phase II TV project before it was abandoned. George Lucas had this to say about his colleague: "I am deeply sadde...