H.R. Giger, Creator Of The Perfect Movie Monster, Dead at 74

Swiss artist H.R. Giger, who haunted movie goers by creating Ridley Scott’s Alien, died Monday at the age of 74. A representative from his museum told the Associated Pressthat he died from injuries sustained from a fall.

Giger was born in Chur, Switzerland in 1940 and became famous for creating nightmarish landscapes and surreal creatures in Hollywood science fiction films. The sculptor, artist, and set designer began working in movies in 1975 on Alejandro Jodorowsky’s uncompleted Dune remake, but came to prominence with the creation of the nightmarish creature in Alien (1979).Ridley Scott was inspired by Giger’s book Necronomicon and hired the artist to work on the film. He later went on to work on films including Poltergeist II and Species.

Here Giger is with his alien progeny:

He won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for Alien and was named into the Science Fiction and Fantasy hall of Fame in 2013:

Giger’s work lived beyond the screen:

He even created monstrous microphone stands for the band Korn:

Details on survivors and funeral arrangements haven’t yet been released.

[AP]