Robert Blalack Tributes As Pioneering 'Star Wars' VFX Artist Dies Aged 73

Tributes have been paid for Robert Blalack, the Oscar-winning visual effects artist, who has died at the age of 73.

Best known for his groundbreaking work on the original 1977 Star Wars movie, Blalack died on Wednesday of cancer at his home in Paris.

Caroline Charron-Blalack confirmed her husband's passing to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Panama-born artist also won an Emmy for his VFX work on the acclaimed TV movie The Day After, which told a story of a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Some of Blalack's other notable film credits include Meteor (1979), The Blues Brothers (1980), Airplane! (1980), Altered States (1980), Wolfen (1981), Cat People (1982) and RoboCop (1987).

Blalack was also a founding member of what remains one of Hollywood's leading visual effects providers, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).

"We are saddened to learn of the passing of Robert Blalack, a founding member of@ILMVFX and the key architect of our optical compositing workflow, first used on Star Wars: Episode IV (1977)," read a tweet of condolence from the official Star Wars account.

"Robbie's friendship will be deeply missed, and our thoughts are with his wife and son."

Meanwhile, VFX publishing group AWN tweeted: "Robert Blalack, Oscar-Winning ILM Co-Founder, Dies at 73: The visionary visual effects artist helped develop 'Star Wars' production pipelines that forever changed the filmmaking industry."

Industrial Light and Magic also shared a tribute to their founding member and VFX giant.

"We are saddened to learn of the passing of Robert Blalack, a founding member of @ILMVFX and the key architect of our optical compositing workflow, first used on @StarWars: Episode IV (1977). Robbie's friendship will be deeply missed, and our thoughts are with his wife and son."

Another tribute read: "Visual effects depend on compositing,' placing elements together to create a final image. These days, that's done digitally, but from 1977 until fairly recently, it was done with a machine like this and a workflow created by Robert Blalack. Rest in peace, Robert."

Another person tweeted: "His work was so important in how they shot many scenes in Star Wars. RIP to a man who left behind a great legacy with his work and the company he helped start."

Another hailed Blalack as a "genius" tweeting: "RIP to one of the hidden #genius's of the magical world of special effects. In my view optical compositing and the artists that worked that camera wizardry have always been some of the unsung heroes of visual fx."

"RIP to another person responsible for one of the most formative things of my life. Always saddened to hear about the passing of another innovator responsible for making @starwars what it was," said another.