About

Known credits:
18
Birthday:
1904-08-20
Place of birth:
Mount Vernon, Virginia, USA
Website:
N/A

Lee Zavitz

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leland "Lee" Zavitz (August 20, 1904– June 2, 1977) was a special effects technician. He was born in Mount Vernon, Washington. His first major impact was for his work on John Ford's 1937 film, The Hurricane. Zavitz's work on the 1950 space fantasy film Destination Moon won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. He also worked on films such as Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), The Alamo (1960), Sodom and Gomorrah (1963), The Pink Panther (1963) and John Frankenheimer's The Train (1964). His last film was Sydney Pollack's wartime chiller Castle Keep in 1969.

Zavitz held patents on several devices used in his film work, including fog machines, rain bombs, an exploding wagon and "a lightning torch that can be seen for 50 miles."

Known for

Crew
1965 Viva Maria! Crew Special Effects 59
Average
1963 The Pink Panther Crew Special Effects 65
Fair
1959 On the Beach Crew Special Effects 61
Fair
1958 From the Earth to the Moon Crew Special Effects Coordinator 58
Average
1957 Witness for the Prosecution Crew Special Effects 75
Good
1957 Men in War Crew Special Effects 59
Average
1957 The River's Edge Crew Special Effects 59
Average
1954 The Snow Creature Crew Special Effects 57
Average
1954 Bait Crew Special Effects 58
Average
1952 Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd Crew Special Effects 58
Average
1951 The Bushwhackers Crew Special Effects 58
Average
1951 Bride of the Gorilla Crew Special Effects 58
Average
1950 Destination Moon Crew Special Effects 58
Average
1949 The Crooked Way Crew Special Effects 59
Average
1946 The Diary of a Chambermaid Crew Special Effects 59
Average
1945 Captain Kidd Crew Special Effects 58
Average
1944 Guest in the House Crew Special Effects 58
Average
1937 The Hurricane Crew Special Effects 59
Average