FX Sculptor Richard Miller Who Created Princess Leia’s Gold Bikini Has Died

Richard Miller, the famed sculptor whose decades of memorable work at Industrial Light and Magic included creating Princess Leia’s gold bikini for Return of the Jedi and Davy Jones’ tentacled beard for two Pirates of the Caribbean movies, has died. He was 80.

Miller died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday — two days after his birthday — at his home in Northern California, an ILM spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. He was a cancer survivor and died after an extended stay in hospice care.

A dear member of ILM’s extended family, Miller was the lead sculptor and a key staffer in the ILM Creature Shop and later the ILM Model Shop for nearly 30 years. He contributed to 55 features and numerous other projects dating to 1981, when he joined the company to work on 1983’s Jedi, the last installment in the original Star Wars trilogy.

His long list of credits at the studio also included the Star Wars prequels; multiple Star Trek movies including Generations (1994) and First Contact (1996); the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films; and the last two Back to the Future features.

He also contributed 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 (2001).

In Jedi, Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia is forced into a skimpy gold bikini by Jabba the Hutt after he captures her in his headquarters on the desert planet Tatooine. She’s also held captive with a chain, which she uses 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.”

via The Hollywood Reporter