# Unjustly Forgotten Special Effects Masters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023 "2019-06-25T12:01:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023/1 "2019-06-25T12:01:47Z")
As with many of my generation, I grew up on Forrest J. Ackerman’s _Famous Monsters of Filmland_, and later read _Cinefantastique_, _Cinefex_, and books on fantastic films, so the names of _Willis O’Brien, Ray Haryhausen, Jim, Danforth, Mario Larrinaga, Dennis Muren, Wah Chang_, and others have been pretty familiar to me. But in recent years a lot of other effects and makeup people who have been long neglected have been getting credit for their long-ago work. **Paul Blaisdell** – Apparently there was some sort of falling-out between him and Warren, the publisher behind Famous Monsters, because his name never appeared in that magazine. He was the wizard of low-price, low-tech who could create creatures from bodysuits, foam latex, and airbrushed paint, especially for Roger Corman. Starting with _The Beast with a Million Eyes_, he created a succession of wird, often highly unlikely, but often iconic creatures, including the “cucumber man” in _It Conquered the World_ and the big-headed aliens in \* Invasion of the Saucer Men\*. His creation of _the She Creature_ was one of the wildest. I didn’t realize until I saw stills of it that it had huge stylized breasts and a head of stringy “blonde” hair. He later re-used the costume (with significant changes) for _Voodoo Woman_ and _The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow_. He also created the freay miniature creatures like the flying umbrella monster from the original _Not of THis Earth_ and the “Inject-a-Pods” from _It Conquered the World_. His masterpiece has to be the Martian spaceship-invader from _It! The Terror from Beyond Space_ (from which _Alien_ ripped off its plot). The guy in the suit was former serial star Raymond “Crrash” Corrigan, whose head was too big for the mask. If you lok at the head, it seems to have a weird tongue or something – that’s Corrigan’s study cleft chin protruding from the mouth hole, because that’s as far as they could get the mask on. Blaisdell has gotten publicity over past couple of decades, and a book about him, so he’s not as obscure as he once was. > **[Paul Blaisdell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Blaisdell)** > > Paul Blaisdell (July 21, 1927 – July 10, 1983) was an American painter, sculptor and visual effects creator, best remembered for his work in science fiction and horror B movies of the 1950s. > Blaisdell was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1927, and grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts. He sketched and built models since early childhood, and eventually attended the New England School of Art and Design in Boston. Following his graduation, he married his wife Jackie and they moved to California, where h... **Svend Aage Pedersen** , who changed his name to **Pete Peterson** – long-unacknowledged assistant to master animator Willis O’Brien, who worked wit O’Brien and Harryhausen on _Mighty Joe Young_, and went on to assist with _the Black Scorpion_ and _The Giant Behemoth_. Near the end of his life he suffered from several conditions, including kidney cancer, and had to animate from a seated position. You can se some test animation he did on his own on YouTube. Some of his models (the “Beetleman”) inspired the animation in _Flesh Gordon_. > **[Pete Peterson (animator)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Peterson_(animator))** > > Pete Peterson (born Svend Aage Pedersen; September 30, 1903 - February 24, 1962) was an American motion picture special effects and stop-motion animation pioneer, best remembered for his work with Willis H. O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Black Scorpion (1957) and The Giant Behemoth (1959). > Pete Peterson, who changed to this name in 1945, worked as a grip at RKO studios in Hollywood in the 1940s and was assigned to work on Mighty Joe Young (1949) lighting the miniature sets where technic... \*\*Milicent Patrick\*\* (supposedly originally \*\*Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi\*\*) -- I hadn't heard of her until I saw a new book -- \*The Lady from the Black Lagoon\*. Universal used to publicize its monster makers (especially the eccentric make-up artist Jack Peirce), but I can't recall them saying a word about Patrick, the only woman I know of who created a major iconic monster. I always though that the Creature suit was an incredible creation -- a "practical" diving suit that could be shot underwater as well as above water (and, arguably, the reason for making the "creature" films in the first place), but never thought to look into its creation. Malory O'Meara unearthed the details for the book she wrote: > **[The Forgotten Woman Who Designed The Creature From The Black Lagoon](https://www.npr.org/2019/03/28/707306134/the-forgotten-woman-who-designed-the-creature-from-the-black-lagoon)** > > A new book by Mallory O'Meara explores the life of artist Milicent Patrick, who worked on Fantasia and costumed a legendary Hollywood monster — and then ran afoul of misogyny in the workplace. > **[The Fantastic Mystery of Milicent Patrick - Reactor](https://reactormag.com/the-fantastic-mystery-of-milicent-patrick/)** > > She went by the name of Milicent Patrick, appeared in 21 motion pictures over a span of 20 years (1948 to 1968), acted in dozens of television shows, worked as a costumer, character designer, and illustrator on countless other films, and took a... Patrick’s creation went beyond the creature: > [@](#): > > According to magazine articles and newspaper accounts that predate the Westmore flap, Milicent Patrick designed the Xenomorph for It Came from Outer Space (1953), the Gill Man (Creature from the Black Lagoon ), the Metaluna mutant for This Island Earth (1954), and was a mask maker on Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) and The Mole People (1956); a glut of ghastly creations with which any self-respecting monster maker would be proud to be associated. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023/2 "2019-06-25T15:16:53Z")
Thank you: that was fun to read. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023/3 "2019-06-25T17:05:16Z")
Looking up some of these monster designs on Google, I found [this delightful publicity still](https://garth.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d6d8d53ef01b8d1b93014970c-600wi) from _The Day the World Ended_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023/4 "2019-06-25T18:51:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Looking up some of these monster designs on Google, I found [this delightful publicity still](https://garth.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d6d8d53ef01b8d1b93014970c-600wi) from _The Day the World Ended_. That was, I believe, another Paul Blaisdell special. Love the pose. I never saw that one before. Saw the movie countless times. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023/5 "2019-06-25T21:57:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > His masterpiece has to be the Martian spaceship-invader from _It! The Terror from Beyond Space_ (from which _Alien_ ripped off its plot). The guy in the suit was former serial star Raymond “Crrash” Corrigan, whose head was too big for the mask. If you lok at the head, it seems to have a weird tongue or something – that’s Corrigan’s study cleft chin protruding from the mouth hole, because that’s as far as they could get the mask on. I was at a screening of _It!.._ and one of Mr. Blaisdell’s assistants (whose name I do not recall) addressed the audience. According to him, they were test fitting the mask on the inebriated Mr. Corrigan and when they tried to pull it off of him, his chin tore through the bottom of the mask. They thought they were screwed because there was not enough money in the budget to make a second mask, but then someone noticed how Mr. Corrigan’s protruding chin resembled a tongue, and after applying some paint… > [@](#): > > **Milicent Patrick** (supposedly originally **Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi** ) – I hadn’t heard of her until I saw a new book – _The Lady from the Black Lagoon_. Universal used to publicize its monster makers (especially the eccentric make-up artist Jack Peirce), but I can’t recall them saying a word about Patrick, the only woman I know of who created a major iconic monster. I read an article about this recently. I vaguely recall the reason for her not getting credit had to do with Bud Westmore being an a-hole. I do not remember the details. A few more unsung visual effects artists: \*\* Karel Zeman\*\* – from IMDB: “…a noted pioneer of cinematic live action and animation techniques. From 1955, he produced a series of… fantasy and science-fiction films, which were celebrated for their visual artistry and influenced such later film makers as Terry Gilliam.” > **[Karel Zeman | Writer, Director, Animation Department](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0954724/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm)** > > Known for: Bláznova kronika, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, Invention for Destruction \*\* Irving Block, Jack Rabin, Louis DeWitt\*\* - together or with others, responsible for efx in some great '50s flicks: _Unknown World_ (1951) featuring the Cyclotram! _Invaders from Mars_ (1953) _Kronos_ (1957) _The Atomic Submarine_ (1959) featuring the inspiration behind the aliens on _The Simpsons_. _The Giant Behemoth_ (1959) **Flo Nordhoff & Karl-Ludwig Ruppel** – responsible for efx in _Fiend Without a Face_ (1958). **Joshua Meador** – Disney efx animation artist loaned out to MGM for _Forbidden Planet_ to bring the Id Monster to life. **Eiji Tsuburaya** - According to IMDB, “ranks alongside Willis H. O’Brien and Ray Harryhausen as one of the great visionary SFX masters of twentieth century fantasy cinema.” ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023/6 "2019-06-25T23:25:35Z")
How about the [Lydecker brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydecker_brothers), whose miniature vehicles and flying rigs graced many a pulp serial? > **[Howard & Theodore Lydecker--Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea](http://www.vttbots.com/page20.html)** > > Howard Lydecker, master of miniature movie special effects was mastermind behind some briliant work. Photos and info on his career are featured, leading up to his work with Irwin Allen on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unjustly-forgotten-special-effects-masters/836023/7 "2019-06-26T09:21:49Z")
This is all awesome, fascinating stuff, thanks.