Walk Of Fame Star Honoring Oscar-Winning ET Creator Unveiled

HOLLYWOOD, CA — A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Thursday posthumously honoring three-time Oscar-winning special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi, the creator of E.T.

The star was accepted by Rambaldi's daughter, Daniela Rambaldi, the president of the Milan-based Carlo Rambaldi Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 2014 to preserve, restore and promote his artistic and technical legacy.

She was joined in speaking at the late-morning ceremony by Cristina Lippolis Rambaldi, a granddaughter of the honoree; Matt Winston, the son of the late four-time Oscar-winning special make-up effects artist Stan Winston; and Antonio Saccone, the president of the Rome-based film studio Cinecitta.

Dee Wallace, who portrayed the mother in "E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial" attended the ceremony.

The star is next to the star of the Italian film star Franco Nero. It is the 2,860th star since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.

The ceremony coincided with Italian American Heritage Month, Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, told City News Service.

"Carlo was a visionary whose artistry brought cinema's most unforgettable characters to life," Martinez said in a statement. "From his groundbreaking work on E.T. with Steven Spielberg to his iconic animatronic King Kong, his imagination transformed the film experience."

Born Sept. 15, 1925, in Vigarano Mainarda, a small town in northern Italy, Rambaldi developed a fascination with art and animation at a young age, according to a biography supplied by the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He spent his afternoons building his own toys out of clay and helping his father in his workshop, where he learned about mechanics and levers.

Rambaldi enrolled as a scenography student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. Although he initially sought to be a sculptor and painter, he soon discovered his true passion in character animation. Rambaldi was driven by the idea of bringing inanimate objects to life and was determined to find a way to do so.

Rambaldi dedicated himself to designing and constructing small mechanisms to test the possibility of animating them electrically. He made several films testing these mechanisms, and his work yielded excellent results. This early fascination with animation paved the way for Rambaldi's future in special effects.

Rambaldi began his career in the 1950s, designing and creating special effects. He would later work with such directors as Federico Fellini, Ettore Scola, Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Pupi Avati.

Rambaldi shared a special achievement Oscar with Glen Robinson and Frank Van der Veer in 1977 for their visual effects for "King Kong," with Rambaldi designing and creating the life-sized animatronic gorilla. He was also part of the teams that won visual effects Oscars in 1980 for "Alien' and in 1983 for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

In creating the alien E.T., Rambaldi once said director Steven "Spielberg told me he wanted something ugly but innocent."

Rambaldi's other work includes the fire-breathing dragon in "The Dragon's Blood," the Medusa in "Medusa vs the Son of Hercules," giant skeletons in "Planet of the Vampires," vivisected dogs for "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin," the monster Dagoth in "Conan the Destroyer," and a mechanized werewolf for "Silver Bullet."

Rambaldi died on Aug. 10, 2012, in Lamezia Terme, Italy, at the age of 86.

City News Service