Marc Thorpe, the visual effects artist who worked on various Star Wars and Indiana Jones films and created the Robot Wars concept in the early 1990s — around the same time he was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s — died November 24 of complications of the disease. He was 77.
His daughter Megan Feffer announced his death in a Facebook post. Thorpe’s official website confirmed the news.
A noted Hollywood model-maker and puppet engineer, Thorpe joined George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic in 1979 and went on to work on effects for Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom and other instal.ments of those franchises.
Other film credits through the 1980s include Dragonslayer, Poltergeist, Howard the Duck and, in 1990, The Hunt for Red October.
Thorpe developed the concept for what would become Robot Wars while...
His daughter Megan Feffer announced his death in a Facebook post. Thorpe’s official website confirmed the news.
A noted Hollywood model-maker and puppet engineer, Thorpe joined George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic in 1979 and went on to work on effects for Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom and other instal.ments of those franchises.
Other film credits through the 1980s include Dragonslayer, Poltergeist, Howard the Duck and, in 1990, The Hunt for Red October.
Thorpe developed the concept for what would become Robot Wars while...
- 11/29/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Marc Thorpe, the visual effects artist who worked on several “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” films before launching the bot battling competition Robot Wars, has died. He was 77.
Thorpe died Friday of complications related to Parkinson’s Disease, his daughter Megan Feffer shared on Facebook.
“For him, early onset Parkinson’s disease started out with relatively mild tremors and then over time progressed toward less and less bodily autonomy — something particularly torturous for a fiercely independent artist like my dad whose joy in life was to create things with his hands,” Feffer wrote.
“While the disease itself is not technically considered terminal, it does eventually remove crucial functions like movement and swallowing – functions essential for life,” she continued. “To say the last few months, and especially the last few weeks, were challenging for my dad would be an understatement, and I am grateful that he is finally at peace.”
Thorpe...
Thorpe died Friday of complications related to Parkinson’s Disease, his daughter Megan Feffer shared on Facebook.
“For him, early onset Parkinson’s disease started out with relatively mild tremors and then over time progressed toward less and less bodily autonomy — something particularly torturous for a fiercely independent artist like my dad whose joy in life was to create things with his hands,” Feffer wrote.
“While the disease itself is not technically considered terminal, it does eventually remove crucial functions like movement and swallowing – functions essential for life,” she continued. “To say the last few months, and especially the last few weeks, were challenging for my dad would be an understatement, and I am grateful that he is finally at peace.”
Thorpe...
- 11/29/2023
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Marc Thorpe, the visual effects artist who created the hit television series “Robot Wars” in which customized radio-controlled robots fight in metal arenas, has died. Thorpe was 77.
Thorpe died on Friday at a hospice facility in Alamo, California, according to his daughter Megan Feffer. Thorpe’s death resulted from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Doctors first diagnosed Thorpe with the progressive nervous system disorder in 1993.
“But if there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that my dad would want to be remembered – and not for his Parkinson’s Disease. He would want to be remembered for his art,” Megan Feffer wrote on Facebook.
She added: “From being a model maker at Ilm on ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ to his creation of ‘Robot Wars,’ he made many, many beautiful, weird, detailed and strange things.”
In 1979, Thorpe started working at Industrial Light and Magic/Lucasfilm as a model maker and animatronic designer.
Thorpe died on Friday at a hospice facility in Alamo, California, according to his daughter Megan Feffer. Thorpe’s death resulted from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Doctors first diagnosed Thorpe with the progressive nervous system disorder in 1993.
“But if there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that my dad would want to be remembered – and not for his Parkinson’s Disease. He would want to be remembered for his art,” Megan Feffer wrote on Facebook.
She added: “From being a model maker at Ilm on ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ to his creation of ‘Robot Wars,’ he made many, many beautiful, weird, detailed and strange things.”
In 1979, Thorpe started working at Industrial Light and Magic/Lucasfilm as a model maker and animatronic designer.
- 11/29/2023
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Marc Thorpe, who created special effects for Star Wars and Indiana Jones films before launching Robot Wars, which feature radio-controlled gladiators in events he called “festivals of destruction and survival,” has died. He was 77.
Thorpe died Friday of complications related to Parkinson’s disease at a hospice facility in Alamo, California, his daughter, Megan Feffer, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was first diagnosed with the progressive disorder that affects the nervous system in 1993.
“For him, early onset Parkinson’s disease started out with relatively mild tremors and then over time progressed toward less and less bodily autonomy — something particularly torturous for a fiercely independent artist like my dad whose joy in life was to create things with his hands,” she wrote on Facebook.
“While the disease itself is not technically considered terminal, it does eventually remove crucial functions like movement and swallowing — functions essential for life. To say the last few months,...
Thorpe died Friday of complications related to Parkinson’s disease at a hospice facility in Alamo, California, his daughter, Megan Feffer, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was first diagnosed with the progressive disorder that affects the nervous system in 1993.
“For him, early onset Parkinson’s disease started out with relatively mild tremors and then over time progressed toward less and less bodily autonomy — something particularly torturous for a fiercely independent artist like my dad whose joy in life was to create things with his hands,” she wrote on Facebook.
“While the disease itself is not technically considered terminal, it does eventually remove crucial functions like movement and swallowing — functions essential for life. To say the last few months,...
- 11/28/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Aaron Birch Jul 22, 2016
Ahead of the return of Robot Wars to BBC Two, we revisit the classic original run of the show...
3. 2. 1. Activate!
In early February 1998 a new TV game show surfaced on BBC Two, one that was about as different as anything we'd ever seen. It didn't feature general knowledge questions or sprints around a super market, it was equal parts testosterone and techno-geek chic. It was, of course, Robot Wars and it would quickly become one of the most popular programmes on TV.
Before appearing on UK TV, Robot Wars was first dreamt up over the pond. The story goes that a Lucasfilm-employed toy designer by the name of Marc Thorpe came up with the idea in 1992 while failing to build a remote control vacuum cleaner. The results ended up being less about cleanliness, and more about carnage. This unexpected turn out made Thorpe realise that radio controlled...
Ahead of the return of Robot Wars to BBC Two, we revisit the classic original run of the show...
3. 2. 1. Activate!
In early February 1998 a new TV game show surfaced on BBC Two, one that was about as different as anything we'd ever seen. It didn't feature general knowledge questions or sprints around a super market, it was equal parts testosterone and techno-geek chic. It was, of course, Robot Wars and it would quickly become one of the most popular programmes on TV.
Before appearing on UK TV, Robot Wars was first dreamt up over the pond. The story goes that a Lucasfilm-employed toy designer by the name of Marc Thorpe came up with the idea in 1992 while failing to build a remote control vacuum cleaner. The results ended up being less about cleanliness, and more about carnage. This unexpected turn out made Thorpe realise that radio controlled...
- 7/21/2016
- Den of Geek
BBC Two has commissioned a reboot of the famous Jeremy Clarkson-led 1998 game show "Robot Wars".
LucasToys designer Marc Thorpe created the series in which amateur roboteers pit their creations against one another in an arena battle. The UK update follows in the wake of U.S. network ABC scoring success this past summer with the similar "BattleBots".
Mentorn Scotland will produce six episodes of the reboot which boasts "more robots, more battles and more science than ever before" along with more innovative fighting machines who will duke it out in front of a live audience in Glasgow.
Source: Deadline...
LucasToys designer Marc Thorpe created the series in which amateur roboteers pit their creations against one another in an arena battle. The UK update follows in the wake of U.S. network ABC scoring success this past summer with the similar "BattleBots".
Mentorn Scotland will produce six episodes of the reboot which boasts "more robots, more battles and more science than ever before" along with more innovative fighting machines who will duke it out in front of a live audience in Glasgow.
Source: Deadline...
- 1/13/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Man vs machine game show Robot Wars is getting a new incarnation. Producer Mentorn Scotland has been commissioned by BBC Two to make a six-episode reboot that will feature “more robots, more battles and more science than ever before.” The show first aired in 1998 with Jeremy Clarkson as host (see video below) and ultimately sold around the world. The brainchild of former LucasToys designer Marc Thorpe, the entertainment series sees amateur roboteers pit their creations…...
- 1/13/2016
- Deadline TV
If you ever happen to visit the stunning Seattle Public Library or the brilliant new Wily Theater in Dallas, you might love the architecture--but you'll be sitting your butt on furniture designed by Belgian firm Quinze and Milan. They're a favorite among architects, because they create furniture that looks like it could actually be buildings. But they make mass-produced furniture as well, and they've sent Fast Company a preview of the pieces they'll be showing off in next week's Milan Furniture Fair.
Above: What might be the most intriguing piece in the collection: Atoll, a multi-person lounge, designed by French architects Jakob+Marfarlane. The piece has two separate threads of inspiration: First, it's meant to be a miniature riff on a building they just completed in Lyon, which features "hollowed out" sections. And second, it resembles topological maps. It's the first in a series of pieces that will create a modular "landscape" of furniture.
Above: What might be the most intriguing piece in the collection: Atoll, a multi-person lounge, designed by French architects Jakob+Marfarlane. The piece has two separate threads of inspiration: First, it's meant to be a miniature riff on a building they just completed in Lyon, which features "hollowed out" sections. And second, it resembles topological maps. It's the first in a series of pieces that will create a modular "landscape" of furniture.
- 4/8/2010
- by Cliff Kuang
- Fast Company
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.