Academy Award Winner and R2-D2 Designer, Grant McCune, Passes Away

While the New Year’s celebrations, long weekends and awards from the Queen were a great start to 2011, there’s also some sad news to report. Grant McCune, one of the lead visual effects designers from the original Star Wars film passed away last week, after having battled pancreatic cancer. McCune won an Academy Award for his work on the iconic film, and was responsible for designing and creating the beloved character R2-D2, among others, as he served as the movie’s head model maker.