Willis H. O'Brien

Willis H. O'Brien was born on Mar 02, 1886 in USA. Willis H. O'Brien's big-screen debut came with The Ghost of Slumber Mountain directed by Willis H. O'Brien in 1918.

In 1949, 16 years after his ground-breaking work on the 1933 film "King Kong", Willis O'Brien worked as Chief Technician on another gorilla film for Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Shoedsack titled "Mighty Joe Young". A young Ray Harryhausen would do most of the animation, but O'Brien did come up with the designs for the film. At the 1950 Academy Awards, O'Brien was awarded an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for "Mighty Joe Young". This, along with "King Kong", are often considered his greatest achievements.