‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Legend Dead at 91: RIP to Con Pederson

Visual effects legend Con Pederson has died. He was 91.

Pederson, who is best known for his two-and-a-half years of work on the CGI for Stanley Kubrick’s revolutionary sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, died on January 2 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. His death, related to Alzheimer’s complications, was confirmed by his son Eric to THR.

John Nelson, a visual effects artist with two Oscar wins under his belt, honored Pederson’s legacy in a statement by saying that he “could animate by hand and could program the computer to do animation that normal programs could not achieve. He was a Renaissance man and an artist.”

Kubrick first discovered Pederson through his work on To the Moon and Beyond, a NASA-sponsored 15-minute space film narrated by Rod Serling. It premiered at the 1964 World’s Fair. When Kubrick saw the visual effects on display, he hired Pederson to work alongside fellow VFX legend Douglas Trumbull, and the two helped create 2001‘s unique visual look.

Pederson was chiefly responsible for the film’s legendary Stargate scene, and in a 2018 book on the making of the film written by Michael Benson, a quote from Trumbull says that the film’s postproduction was “epic in its complexity, and Con was the smartest guy in the room. 2001 absolutely would not have happened without Con.”

He is survived by his wife, his ex-wife, his son, and his two grandchildren.