Marc Thorpe Dies: ‘Star Wars’ VFX Artist And Creator Of ‘Robot Wars’ Concept, Was 77
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.
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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 designing toys for Lucas Films; he left Lucas in 1994 and launched the first Robot Wars competition in San Francisco. The events, in which amateur and professional robot-builders create battling remote-control ‘bots, would spread to other cities around the country throughout the ’90s, spawning TV specials and a UK series that continued in various forms and revivals, without Thorpe’s participation, until 2018.
Born on November 9, 1946, in San Francisco, Thorpe attended Cal State University at Hayward and then graduate school at UC Davis.
A tribute posted on his website reads, in part, “Marc had quite a remarkable life. At various points he raised pet alligators, trained dolphins, built major portions of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universes (and many others), created amazing art pieces, designed toys, worked on custom industrial design projects, engaged in unique performance art and perhaps most significantly invented the entire sport of robotic combat.
“Along the way,” the tribute continues, “he also was the main catalyst and inspiration for a huge and thriving community of highly creative individuals (which continues growing to this day) that would never have existed without his unique spark and guidance.”
In addition to his daughter, Thorpe is survived by grandchildren Evelyn and Elliott Feffer.
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