Brian Johnson

Known for CrewBorn 1939-06-29Died 2026-06-15Surrey, England, UK

Brian Johncock (born 29 June 1939) is a British designer and director of film and television special effects. He changed his surname to Johnson during the 1960s. Joining the team of special effects artist Les Bowie, Johnson started his career behind the scenes for Bowie Films on productions such as On the Buses, and for Hammer Films. He is known for his special effects work on TV series including Thunderbirds (1965–66) and films including Alien (1979), for which he received the 1980 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (shared with H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Ayling and Nick Allder). Previously, he had built miniature spacecraft models for Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Johnson's work on Space: 1999 influenced the effects of the Star Wars films of the 1970s and 1980s. Impressed by his work, George Lucas visited Johnson during the production of the TV series to offer him the role of effects supervisor for the 1977 film. Having already been commissioned for the second series of Space: 1999, Johnson was unable to accept at the time. He worked on the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), whose special effects were recognised in the form of a 1981 Special Achievement Academy Award (which Johnson shared with Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson).Read more

Movies & web series

Thunderbirds 60th Anniversary Double Bill - Trapped in the Sky / Terror in New York City

Thunderbirds: Attack of the Alligators!

Thunderbirds: Desperate Intruder

Thunderbirds: Move - And You're Dead

Thunderbirds: The Perils of Penelope

Thunderbirds: Terror In New York City

Thunderbirds: End of The Road

Thunderbirds: The Uninvited

The Beast Within: Making Alien

The Empire Strikes Back

This Is Supermarionation

SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back

Alien

Aliens

2001: A Space Odyssey

Thunderbirds: City of Fire

Thunderbirds: The Duchess Assignment

Thunderbirds: Sun Probe

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Filmed in Supermarionation

Thunderbirds

The NeverEnding Story

Space: 1999

The Alien Legacy

Thunderbirds: Cry Wolf

Thunderbirds: Martian Invasion

Thunderbirds: The Man from MI.5

Thunderbirds: Pit of Peril

Thunderbirds: Edge of Impact

Thunderbirds: Day of Disaster

2001: The Making of a Myth

The Medusa Touch

The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Dragonslayer

Alien Attack

Quatermass and the Pit

The Eagle Obsession

Revenge of the Pink Panther

Journey Through the Black Sun

Spies Like Us

The Phantom of the Opera

Quatermass 2

First Men in the Moon

Captain Clegg

Krull

The Pirates of Penzance

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

Taste the Blood of Dracula