- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDouglas Huntley Trumbull
- Legendary filmmaker and visual effects pioneer, Douglas Trumbull, was one of the Special Photographic Effects Supervisors for 2001 : L'Odyssée de l'espace (1968). He went on to become the Visual Effects Supervisor for such classics as Rencontres du troisième type (1977), Star Trek, le film (1979), and Blade Runner (1982), each of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.
Mr. Trumbull directed Silent Running (1972), Brainstorm (1983), Back to the Future... The Ride (1991) and numerous other special format films.
He is the recipient of an Academy Award in the area of Scientific and Technical Achievement, as well as the International Monitor Award and American Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions in the field of filmmaking. Mr. Trumbull was most recently involved in the evolution of visual effects using virtual digital sets and electronic cinematography.- IMDb mini biography by: Steve
- SpousesJulia Hobart(August 12, 2012 - February 7, 2022) (his death)Ann Vidor(? - February 1, 2001) (her death)Cherry (divorced, 2 children)
- Stanley Kubrick hired Trumbull to work on 2001 : L'Odyssée de l'espace (1968) after seeing a documentary Trumbull worked on for the 1964 World's Fair, To the Moon and Beyond (1964).
- Quit directing feature films after Brainstorm (1983) due to conflicts with the studio involving the making of the film and then in the salvaging of the project when the studio had hoped to get an insurance payout from scrapping it, following the death of Natalie Wood during production.
- In 1975, Trumbull turned down an offer to provide the effects for George Lucas' Star Wars due to other commitments.
- Son of Don Trumbull.
- His mother was a commercial artist, and his father was an engineer who also worked in Hollywood special effects, including "The Wizard of Oz".
- I had to personally make a life decision many years ago when Natalie Wood died under very suspicious circumstances during the making of Brainstorm (1983). I just had to stop. I had been a writer-director all my life, and I decided it wasn't for me because I was put through a really challenging personal experience. I do not think the story has ever been told. I don't know the story myself, but I know what my experience was. I decided to leave the movie business.
- I don't think it's possible for special effects to overwhelm a story that is a strong story. There are too many films that have been made where special effects are holding up a lousy story.
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