5 Mar – It is a great loss for the movie industry that "Star Wars" legend and Oscar-winning concept artist Ralph McQuarrie had passed away recently in Berkeley, California, at the age 82, according to The Hollywood News. McQuarrie is a talented technical illustrator who was well-recognized for his great contributions towards bringing "Star Wars" maestro George Lucas's ideas into visual life for the first, or according to "Star Wars" chronology, last three episodes of the sci-fi franchise. His death was the result of his long struggle with Parkinson's disease. For Lucas, "Ralph McQuarrie was the first person I hired to help me envision "Star Wars". His genial contribution, in the form of unequalled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original "Star Wars" trilogy. When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph's fabulous illustrations and say, 'Do it like this.'" Anthony Daniels, who played the role of C-3PO tweeted, "Without his inspirational art I would not be C-3PO. I once said to him, 'This is all YOUR fault!' Then I thanked him." Simon Pegg, a long-time fan of "Star Wars" also remarked, "RIP Ralph McQuarrie, an extraordinary artist whose work fuelled my dreams, fantasies and imagination. His paintings will live forever." Born in Gary, Indiana on 13 June 1929, McQuarrie began his illustrious career by being a designer at Boeing in the 1960s and when he worked with CBS News, he participated in the Apollo space program. It was later that he got the chance to work on a film project, and his pieces had attracted Lucas, who needed someone who was able to convey his ideas based on virtual and textual descriptions. Besides being successful for the creation of the concept art for famous characters like Darth Vader, Boba Fett and C-3PO for "Star Wars", McQuarrie was also known for his contributions in Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind", "Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark", "Jurassic Park" and "ET: The Extraterrestrial". He also won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1986 for the movie "Cocoon".