Tom Howard(1910-1985)
- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
Oscar winning Special Effects expert Thomas William Howard was born in
England in 1910 and was to become one of the most influential and
pioneering men in movie making, taking the development of special
visual effects to a new level through the golden age of the 40's 50's
and 60's. Tom began his career at a young age working as a runner and
theatre projectionist before joining the Special Effects department at
'Denham Studios' under 'Alexandra Korda'. Denham Studios was the
largest facility of its type in the UK, developed by Korda in 1936 and
spanning an area of 165 acres on the outskirts of Denham Village in
Buckinghamshire. The site would later be merged with 'Pinewood
Stuidios' before final closure in 1952. Tom Howard was to mastermind
the special photographic effects on many of Korda's early productions
including the magnificent 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1940) working closely
with Lawrence Butler to create arguably the most spectacular movie of
the time. By 1945 Tom had become a major force within the industry
winning his first Academy Award for his special photographic effects in
David Lean's 'Blithe Spirit'. His pioneering work had come to the
attention of MGM and Tom was appointed Director of Special Effects for
MGM British Studios in Borehamwood producing a number of movies still
well loved today, from epics such as 'Ivanhoe' and 'Quo Vadis'
featuring his spectacular effects of the burning of Rome, to the
thrilling spectacles of 'Where Eagles Dare' and the legendary '2001 A
Space Odyssey' working as a Special Effects Supervisor with 'Stanley
Kubrick' and the multi talented team of 'Con Pederson', 'Douglas
Trumbull' and 'Wally Veevers'. Tom Howard was in charge of special
effects at the MGM Studios in Borehamwood for a total of 15 years,
working closely with a number of fellow experts in their field,
including the Cinematographer 'Freddie Young', expert matte artist
'Peter Ellenshaw' and close friend 'A W Watkins' a specialist in sound
recording whom he had worked with since the early days of Korda. Tom
Howard was in demand throughout the film industry and an example of
this would be in 1958 when he was recruited by Director 'George Pal' to
work on the special photographic effects for 'Tom Thumb' starring 'Russ
Tamblyn' for which he was awarded his second Academy Award, with Oscar
presented by 'Gary Cooper' and announced by a young 'Shirley MacLaine'
and 'Peter Ustinov' at the 1958 (31st) Academy Awards. In 1967 Tom
Howard invented and patented a version of Front Projection Composite
Cinematography which would be utilized in movie making for years to
come. Tom's later work included The Haunting, Where Eagles Dare, The
Man Who Haunted Himself, Young Winston and The Little Prince. In total
he was responsible for the special photographic effects in over 150
movies from the early 40's to the late 1970's. He also appeared in an
extended two part episode of a TV series entitled 'Clapperboard' hosted
by Chris Kelly and aired in the late 70's, this two part special
featured Tom explaining the magic of Special Effects in the film
industry. He was a founder member of the British Society of
Cinematographers and a fellow of both the Royal Photographic Society
and the British Kinematograph, Sound & Television Society. Thomas
William Howard FRPS died at the age of 75 on the 30th August 1985 in
Hertfordshire, England.