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HR Giger, creator of Alien, Dies Aged 74

May 13th, 2014 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

According to Swiss television station SRF, the Swiss artist Hans Ruedi Giger, better known as HR Giger, has died at the age of 74 from injuries sustained in a fall.

The celebrated artist was best known for inspiring and working on the designs of Sir Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror masterpiece Alien, for which he won a Visual Effects Oscar in 1980.

Inspired by HP Lovecraft, Giger’s nightmarish compendium of work Necronomicon inspired numerous aspects of Scott’s Alien. One piece in particular – Necronom IV – inspired the titular alien killer which would go on to be called a xenomorph. He also designed the derelict ship, the alien eggs and face-huggers found within, the infant xenomorph famous for bursting from John Hurt’s chest and the Space Jockey – which became the subject of Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus in 2012.

Giger also worked on Poltergeist II in 1986, Alien 3 in 1992 and Species in 1995.

Condolences from all here at FTN go out to Giger’s family and friends.

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