Ron Cobb, the artist who designed the DeLorean for Back to the Future, died on Monday, September 21, 2020 from Lewy body dementia. His wife Robin Love made the announcement. He was 83 years old.

Born in 1937 in Los Angeles, Cobb’s film career began in the 1950s as a breakdown artist on Sleeping Beauty. After he served in the Vietnam War, he got back into film work.

He worked on cantina creatures for Star Wars, the interior of the Mothership and the stranded tanker in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, created weapons and sets for Conan the Barbarian, designed the exterior and interior of the Nostromo in Alien, the Earth colony complex in Aliens, and the vehicles in The Last Starfighter.

After designing the DeLorean for Back to the Future, he designed breathing tanks and helmets for The Abyss, and the Omega Sector logo and the H Bombs in True Lies.

His work has also been featured in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Total Recall, Titan A.E., The 6th Day, Firefly, and Southland Tales.