Tom Woodruff Jr.

Tom Woodruff Jr.
Tom Woodruff Jr.
	Woodruff in 2018
Born	January 21, 1959 (age 65); Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Lycoming College
Occupation(s)	Actor, director, producer, special effects supervisor
Years active	1984–present

Tom Woodruff Jr. (born January 21, 1959) is an American actor, director, producer and special effects supervisor. He won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects for his work on the 1992 dark fantasy film Death Becomes Her; that same year he was also nominated for the same award for Alien 3.

Some of his most notable works include: The Santa Clause (1994), Starship Troopers (1997), Cast Away (2000), It (2017) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).^[2]

Early life

Woodruff Jr. was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on January 21, 1959. He grew up in nearby Loyalsock Township, Pennsylvania and attended Loyalsock Township High School and graduated in 1977. Upon graduating high school he enrolled at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania where he earned a dual-degree in business administration and theater.^[3]

Career

Woodruff was first credited in the 1984 film The Terminator as an assistant special effects supervisor. In the 1980s Woodruff was a crucial part of numerous films and television programs. In 1986 he was part of the Stan Winston Studios Effects Crew on The Vindicator. Also in 1986 Woodruff made his debut on screen, he played a Salvager and also worked as the creature effects coordinator on Aliens.^[4]^[5]

In 1988, Woodruff and fellow Stan Winston alumni Alec Gillis founded effects studio Amalgamated Dynamics, which soon became highly requested in Hollywood, with movies such as Alien 3, Death Becomes Her (both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, won by the latter), Demolition Man, Wolf and Starship Troopers.^[6] In the 2010s, Woodruff has continued to do practical effects in films such as Grown Ups 2, Ender's Game, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Harbinger Down, Unnatural, It, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.^[7] Woodruff has also played many creatures in the movie he did effects for, such as Gill-man in the 1987 comedy-action film The Monster Squad, the eponymous demon from Pumpkinhead, and the Alien.

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Year	Category	Result	Film	Notes
1992	Best Visual Effects	Won	Death Becomes Her	Shared with: Ken Ralston Doug Chiang Douglas Smythe
1992	Best Visual Effects	Nominated	Alien 3	Shared with: Richard Edlund Alec Gillis George Gibbs

Awards Circuit Community

Year	Category	Result	Film	Notes
1993	Best Visual Effects	Won	Death Becomes Her	Shared with: Ken Ralston Doug Chiang Douglas Smythe
1993	Best Visual Effects	Nominated	Alien 3	Shared with: Richard Edlund Alec Gillis George Gibbs

BAFTA Awards

Year	Category	Result	Film	Notes
1992	Best Special Effects	Won	Death Becomes Her	Shared with: Ken Ralston Doug Chiang Douglas Smythe
1992	Best Special Effects	Nominated	Alien 3	Shared with: Richard Edlund Alec Gillis George Gibbs

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

Year	Category	Result	Film	Notes
2017	Best Makeup & SFX	Won	The Monster	Shared with: Alec Gillis

Rondo Hatton Awards

Year	Category	Result	Film	Notes
2012	Best Short Film	Nominated	Joe Comes To Life

Saturn Awards

Year	Category	Result	Film	Notes
1991	Best Special Effects	Nominated	Tremors	Shared with: Alec Gillis
1993	Best Special Effects	Won	Death Becomes Her	Shared with: Ken Ralston Doug Chiang Douglas Smythe
1993	Best Special Effects	Nominated	Alien 3	Shared with: Richard Edlund Alec Gillis George Gibbs
1995	Best Make-Up	Nominated	The Santa Clause	Shared with: Alec Gillis
1998	Best Special Effects	Won	Starship Troopers	Shared with: Phil Tippett Scott E. Anderson Alec Gillis John Richardson
1998	Best Special Effects	Nominated	Alien: Resurrection	Shared with: Pitof Erik Henry Alec Gillis
1999	Best Make-Up	Nominated	The X-Files	Shared with: Alec Gillis Michael Mills Greg Nelson
2001	Best Make-Up	Nominated	The 6th Day	Shared with: Alec Gillis Jeff Dawn Charles Porlier
2012	Best Make-Up	Nominated	The Thing	Shared with: Alec Gillis

References

^ "Tom Woodruff Jr. Net Worth". Retrieved March 9, 2018.
^ "With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology". Bloody-Discusting.com. March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
^ Rashid, Jerry. "A special homecoming" (PDF). Lycoming magazine. No. Spring 2011. Lycoming College. p. 14.
^ "One of Tom Woodruff Jr.'s most abiding memories of playing an alien in the Alien movies". Vanity Fair. May 18, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
^ "The Worst Parts of Playing the Xenomorph in Alien". CinemaBlend.com. May 19, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
^ VFX Artists Tom Woodruff & Alec Gillis Of StudioADI Celebrate 30 Years
^ [ http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/230844/godzilla-king-monsters-tom-woodruff-jr-working-film-practical-monster-fx-inbound/ "Tom Woodruff Jr working on Monsters FX Inbound"]. May 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ "Tom Woodruff Jr. Awards and nominations". IMDb. Retrieved March 9, 2018.

External links

Tom Woodruff Jr. at IMDb

[1] "Tom Woodruff Jr. Net Worth". Retrieved March 9, 2018.

[2] "With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology". Bloody-Discusting.com. March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.

[3] Rashid, Jerry. "A special homecoming" (PDF). Lycoming magazine. No. Spring 2011. Lycoming College. p. 14.

[4] "One of Tom Woodruff Jr.'s most abiding memories of playing an alien in the Alien movies". Vanity Fair. May 18, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.

[5] "The Worst Parts of Playing the Xenomorph in Alien". CinemaBlend.com. May 19, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.

[6] VFX Artists Tom Woodruff & Alec Gillis Of StudioADI Celebrate 30 Years

[7] [ http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/230844/godzilla-king-monsters-tom-woodruff-jr-working-film-practical-monster-fx-inbound/ "Tom Woodruff Jr working on Monsters FX Inbound"]. May 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)

[8] "Tom Woodruff Jr. Awards and nominations". IMDb. Retrieved March 9, 2018.

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v t e Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
1963–1980	Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963) Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964) John Stears – Thunderball (1965) Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966) L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967) Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969) A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett, and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974) Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975) Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976) John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977) Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978) H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979) Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1981–2000	Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson, and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983) Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Lorne Peterson, and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar, and David Berry – Cocoon (1985) Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986) Dennis Muren, Bill George, Harley Jessup, and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987) Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones, and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989) Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990) Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe, and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992) Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993) Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994) Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan, and John Cox – Babe (1995) Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney, and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996) Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997) Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson, and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998) John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999) John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)
2001–2020	Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004) Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010) Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011) Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013) Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014) Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015) Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016) John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018) Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019) Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)
2021–present	Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer – Dune (2021) Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett – Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima – Godzilla Minus One (2023)

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