Richard Miller, ILM sculptor who designed Princess Leia’s gold bikini, dies at 80
A vital member of the effects company’s creature and model shops for nearly three decades, he contributed to four ‘Star Wars films and movies in the ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchises.
Richard Miller, the legendary sculptor whose work at Industrial Light and Magic included Princess Leia’s gold bikini for Return of the Jedi and Davy Jones’ tentacled beard for two Pirates of the Caribbean films, has died. He was 80.
According to an ILM representative, Miller died quietly in his sleep on Thursday, two days after his birthday, at his home in Northern California. He was a cancer survivor who passed away after a lengthy stay in hospice care.
Miller, a beloved member of ILM’s extended family, worked for nearly 30 years as the lead sculptor and key staffer in the ILM Creature Shop and, later, the ILM Model Shop. He worked on 55 films and various more projects since 1981 when he joined the company to work on 1983’s Jedi, the last installment in the original Star Wars trilogy.
In addition to the Star Wars prequels, he worked on many Star Trek films, including Generations (1994) and First Contact (1996), the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and the last two Back to the Future films.
In addition to Ghostbusters (1984), Howard the Duck (1986), Innerspace (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Willow (1988), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Rocketeer (1991), Hook (1991), The Mask (1994), Jumanji (1995), and Planet of the Apes (1995), he worked on the films Ghostbusters (1984), Howard the Duck (1986), Howard the Duck (1986), The Mask (1994), Jumanji (1995 (2001).
Jabba the Hutt forces Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia into a tight gold bikini after capturing her in his headquarters on the desert planet Tatooine in Jedi. She is also restrained by a chain, which she exploits to kill the alien.
“I had to sit very straight because I couldn’t have lines on my sides, like little creases,” Fisher recalled in her 2016 memoir, The Princess Diarist. “No creases were allowed, so I had to sit very, very rigid straight.
“What redeems it is I get to kill him, which was so enjoyable. … I sawed his neck off with that chain that I killed him with. I really relished that because I hated wearing that outfit and sitting there rigid straight, and I couldn’t wait to kill him.”
Miller’s octopus-like beard for Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones had to behave like a live organism, so the business used controls that allowed animators to move the tentacles in specific ways in the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and At World’s End (2007). (Dead Man’s Chest won an Academy Award for best visual effects.)
Miller has also taught at ILM for the past two decades, providing enrichment programs in the art of sculpting.
“With his artistic skill in evidence, an agreeable demeanor, and a wry sense of humor, Richard fit right in from the start and became a fixture at ILM,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “Richard will be dearly missed by the entire ILM family, but his artistic contribution lives on in each of the films he contributed to and in the fond memories of all who knew him.”