Colin Cantwell Cause of Death
According to his partner Sierra Dall, Cantwell died on May 21, 2022, at his house in Colorado. Cantwell had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in his latter years, according to Dall.
Colin Cantwell, the artist behind several of the Star Wars spacecraft, passed away at the age of 90.
Colin Cantwell Career
Cantwell’s first acting role was in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Death Star, X-Wing, TIE fighter, and Imperial Star Destroyer prototypes were then requested by Star Wars creator George Lucas.
Shannon Eric Denton, Cantwell’s cousin, said he “gave a lot of joy to the world with his art.”
“And for those of us who knew him, he gave a lot of joy being himself,” Denton wrote on social media.
Denton noted that Cantwell, who also designed the Millennium Falcon, was “an immensely nice individual and clever in ways most people dream of.”
Colin Cantwell Background
Cantwell was born in Colorado in 1932 and went on to study architecture after earning a degree in animation.
Cantwell worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Nasa during the US-Russia space competition in the 1960s, helping the American people understand the flights.
As a result, during the momentous Moon landing broadcast in 1969, he worked alongside TV journalist Walter Cronkite, establishing a link between him and the astronauts.
Cantwell’s fascination in both architecture and space propelled him to success in Hollywood, where he worked in special photographic effects on 2001: A Space Odyssey, contributing to the film’s epic space opening scene.
Lucas then enlisted him, along with other designers including Ralph McQuarrie, to help construct early models for the 1977 film Star Wars.
