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Ralph McQuarrie was born on June 13, 1929, in Gary, Indiana.
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McQuarrie served during the Korean War and later worked as a technical illustrator for Boeing.
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He played a key role in the conceptual design of many characters, including Darth Vader, C3PO and R2D2
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McQuarrie designed many key elements in "Star Wars," including spaceships.
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He won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for "Cocoon."
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McQuarrie was introduced to George Lucas by Hal Barwood, a mutual friend.
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His early concept paintings for "Star Wars" played a key role in convincing 20th Century Fox to fund the film.
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Outside of "Star Wars", McQuarrie also did design work for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," and "Battlestar Galactica."
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Ralph McQuarrie retired after working on designs for "Jurassic Park."
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George Lucas has described McQuarrie's impact on "Star Wars" as being so profound that "when words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph's fabulous illustrations and say, 'Do it like this.'"
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McQuarrie's name has been immortalized in the "Star Wars" universe as a character named Quarrie in the "Star Wars Rebels" animated series.
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C-3PO was inspired by the robot from the silent film "Metropolis."
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The idea of a twin sunset over the desert landscape of Tatooine was McQuarrie's.
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McQuarrie was hired to design the alien ships for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home."
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A number of art books have been published, which exclusively feature McQuarrie's "Star Wars" artwork.
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In 2007, McQuarrie was honored at the Star Wars Celebration IV, in Los Angeles.
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Doug Chiang, who later became Vice President of Lucasfilm, cites McQuarrie as an influence on his own work on the Star Wars prequels.
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Ralph McQuarrie passed away at the age of 82, on March 3, 2012, but left behind a legacy of iconic imagery that will be revered for generations to come.
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