In the more than 50 years he has spent animating three-dimensional screen fantasies, Ray Harryhausen's name has become synonymous with spectacular special effects. He pioneered and developed many of the stop-motion techniques that have become today's industry standards.

Born in Southern California, Harryhausen attended City College in Los Angeles and studied dramatics, photography and sculpture. In 1933 he saw the original "King Kong," which inspired him to a career in filmmaking. Early experiments in 16mm won him his first job with George Pal's animated "Puppetoons." He served with the Army Signal Corps in World War II and in 1946 worked on his first feature, "Mighty Joe Young," as head animator and assistant to Willis O'Brien. In association with producer Charles Schneer, he made "It Came from Beneath the Sea, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad," Jason and the Argonauts, "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad," "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" and "Clash of the Titans!'

His body of work has been celebrated by exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of the Moving Image in London and the Frankfurt Museum in Germany.