Special effects pioneer Carlos Rambaldi passes away

Mr Rambaldi, a 3-time Oscar winner best known for his work on "ET" and "Alien", died near his home in Lemezia Terme, Italy after apparently suffering through a long illness. He was 86.

Special effects in the 70's and 80's were largely defined by Rambaldi's work. Besides the two films mentioned above he also worked on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Conan the Destroyer" and the 1977 version of "King Kong" for which he won a special Academy Award for his work (at that time the special effects Oscar had not yet been created).

Carlos Rambaldi's version of H.R. Giger's facehugger gets up close and personal in 1979's "Alien"