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How did Robert Blalack die? Oscar-winning VFX icon pulled off ‘Star Wars’ at 29

Robert Blalack also got noted for his work in movies like ‘Meteor’ (1979), ‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980), ‘Airplane!’ (1980), and others

Robert Blalack, who was one of the most prominent figures in the world of visual effects, died on Wednesday, February 2. The unfortunate news of his demise was confirmed by his wife, Caroline Charron-Blalack. He was 73. Robert shot to fame for his stupendous work on the legendary movie ‘Star Wars’. He ended up winning the Academy Award for the same and interestingly, he also scored the coveted Emmy for his work on the television motion picture, ‘The Day After’.
 
Robert Blalack was also the co-founder of the visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). He made waves when he designed and supervised visual effects used in ‘Star Wars’ at the age of 29. The news of Robert Blalack’s death comes days after the legendary actor and comedian Louie Anderson died on January 21. Bob Saget is another icon that Hollywood lost on January 9. Speaking of celebrity deaths, Betty White died at 99 of natural causes on December 31, 2021. Chick Vennera, DMX, Jay Black, and Jeanette Maus are other public figures who passed away last year leaving their loyal fans devastated.
 
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How did Robert Blalack die?

Robert Blalack died of cancer at his home in Paris, the news of which was confirmed by his writer wife Caroline Charron-Blalack, as published by The Hollywood Reporter. Robert also produced and helmed USA and international mixed-media TV commercials, independent, experimental feature films, and location-based theme park rides.
 
Bidding adieu to the late talented artist, the official Twitter account of Star Wars posted, “We are saddened to learn of the passing of Robert Blalack, a founding member of @ILMVFX and the key architect of our optical compositing workflow, first used on Star Wars: Episode IV (1977). Robbie’s friendship will be deeply missed, and our thoughts are with his wife and son.” Robert Blalack also worked on Peter Davis’ Oscar-winning Vietnam documentary ‘Hearts and Minds’ in the year 1974 where he bumped into John Dykstra. The two then teamed with George Lucas and others to launch ILM, ultimately picking the Oscar for ‘Star Wars’. Robert also got noted for his work in movies like ‘Meteor’ (1979), ‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980), ‘Airplane!’ (1980), ‘Altered States’ (1980), ‘Wolfen’ (1981), ‘Cat People’ (1982) and ‘RoboCop’ (1987).

Social media bids adieu to Robert Blalack

Tributes poured in for the late VFX icon as one of the users stated, “RIP Robert Blalack, a VFX giant, who received the Visual Effects Academy Award for his work on Star Wars (1977). Among many projects, he produced the vfx of Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, (1980) & worked on Aliens: Ride at the Speed of Fright (1996).” Another stated, “Sad news. An original founding member of @ilmvfx, and head of Optical on EpIV, Robbie Blalack has passed away. I never met him in person, but his was a name I read many many times in Cinefex (and pre-Cinefex) articles.”
 
The next one shared, “#RIP Robert Blalack; he co-founded Industrial Light & Magic and shared the VFX Oscar for 'Star Wars.' "Building ILM from scratch during production was like jumping out of a plane and stitching up the parachute during free fall," he once said.” Whereas, one added, “Visual effects depend on "compositing", placing elements together to create a final image. These days, that's done digitally, but from 1977 until fairly recently, it was done with a machine like this and a workflow created by Robert Blalack. Rest in peace, Robert.” One posted, “Oh no! I worked for Rob, back in the '90s. I even went into his office and picked up his Oscar, just to see what it felt like. R.I.P.” And, another concluded, “Awwww man I saw the OG Star Wars in the theater when it came out. I was 6 years old & it's still my favorite. It was mesmerizing! This is very sad news.  @CrewCorridor it would be awesome if you guys did an fx reaction in honor of Mr. Blalack.”