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Albert J. Whitlock (15 September 1915 – 26 October 1999) was a British-born
motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
matte Matte may refer to: Art * paint with a non-glossy finish. See diffuse reflection. * a framing element surrounding a painting or watercolor within the outer frame Film * Matte (filmmaking), filmmaking and video production technology * Matte pai ...
artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
best known for his work with
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and
Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
.


Life and career

Whitlock began his film career as a page at Gaumont Studios in London in 1929, before going on to build sets and work as a grip. Trained as a sign painter, he began an intermittent association with
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
, assisting in the miniature effects for '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1934) and then completing all of the signs for '' The 39 Steps'' (1935). Whitlock began working as a matte artist during World War II. Recruited by
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
, who admired his work, he relocated to the United States in the early 1950s. At Disney, where the head of the Matte Department was fellow-Londoner and near-exact contemporary
Peter Ellenshaw William Samuel Cook "Peter" Ellenshaw (24 May 1913 – 12 February 2007) was an English matte designer and special effects creator who worked on many Disney features. Born in London, he moved to America in 1953. Career & Life He first worked ...
, he successfully mastered the impressionistic approach to matte painting for which he would become known. He remained with the studio for seven years, helping with the design of Disneyland as well as film work, before moving to Universal in 1961. There he served as the head of their matte department, resuming his collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock and many other directors, until retiring from the company in 1985 (though he continued to work on the odd production for a few years afterwards). His most substantial achievement was the creation of over 70 individual matte paintings for the
disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...
''
Earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
'' (1974), for which he received an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. He won the Oscar again the following year for '' The Hindenburg'', in which he re-created the great airship and its final voyage. Universal loaned out Whitlock and his team to other studios for visual effects work on films including '' Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes'', the
David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
version of ''
Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
'', ''
Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve ...
'', ''
The Learning Tree ''The Learning Tree'' is a 1969 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Gordon Parks. It depicts the life of Newt Winger, a teenager growing up in Cherokee Flats, Kansas, in the 1920s, and chronicles his journey into manhood m ...
'' and '' Bound for Glory''. In the latter film, Whitlock created the famous Dust Storm with moving cotton-covered disks. One of his last projects was
John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
's 1982 sci-fi film '' The Thing'', where he reportedly painted all the shots of the uncovered alien starship, including both distant and close-up viewpoints. However, in 2020, Carpenter claimed that Whitlock had left his assistants in the art department to create the matte paintings, apparently because he disliked Carpenter personally. Carpenter claimed that Whitlock took credit for his assistants' work, and told Carpenter "I didn't take a brush to canvas." In addition to his film work, Whitlock worked on the original series of ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' contributing matte paintings for several first-season episodes, some of which he reworked for use in later episodes. These have been replaced by CGI replicas in the remastered version of the series. Whitlock was also responsible for the matte paintings in ''
History of the World, Part I ''History of the World, Part I'' is a 1981 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and ...
'', and appeared in the movie as a character hawking used chariots. He also produced background mattes for Brooks earlier film ''
High Anxiety ''High Anxiety'' is a 1977 American satirical comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first speaking lead role (his first lead role was in ''Silent Movie''). Veteran ...
'', and appeared in that film in a small role as "noted industrialist Arthur Brisbane."


Awards


Awards won

*1975:
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Special Achievement in Visual Effects in ''
Earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
'' (shared with Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson) *1976:
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Special Achievement in Visual Effects in '' The Hindenburg'' (shared with Glen Robinson) *1985:
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in ''
A.D. The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...
'' shared with Syd Dutton, Mark Whitlock, Bill Taylor, Dennis Glouner, Lynn Ledgerwood)


Awards nominated

*1968:
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Special Effects in ''
Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...
'' (shared with Howard A. Anderson) *1979:
Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
for Best Special Effects in ''
The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown (writer), William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's childr ...
''


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitlock, Albert 1915 births 1999 deaths 20th-century British male artists Artists from London Deaths from Parkinson's disease Emmy Award winners Matte painters Neurological disease deaths in California Special Achievement Academy Award winners British expatriates in the United States