Matt Sweeney Dies: Oscar-Nominated ‘Apollo 13’ Visual Effects Artist Was 75

Matt Sweeney, a pioneering special effects artist who was Oscar-nominated for his work on Ron Howard’s 1995 space epic Apollo 13, died February 19 of lung cancer at Burbank’s Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. He was 75.

His death was announced by the Alliance of Special Effects & Pyrotechnic Operators board of directors. Sweeney was a founder and past president of the trade organization.

“A special effects guru, industry legend, ASEPO founding member and past president, recipient of three technical achievement awards, and Oscar nominee, Matt is well recognized for his generous spirit and deep love of his craft,” the board said in a statement posted on social media. “He etched his marks on this crazy business in so many ways that will persist long after all of us are gone. He never quit, even after his retirement.”

Sweeney, whose roster of special effects credits stretches back to such 1980s hits as 9 to 5, The Goonies, The Lost Boys, Big Top Pee-wee and Lethal Weapon 2, won three Technical Achievement Oscars, the first in 1987 for his invention of an automatic capsule gun to simulate bullet hits.

The second and third Oscars came in 1998 (for his invention of the Liquid Synthetic Air fog effect system), and in 2002 (for a vehicular camera rig he developed with stunt coordinator Mic Rodgers during the production of The Fast and the Furious).

Sweeney, along with Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Leslie Ekker, was nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar for Apollo 13 (they lost to the visual effects artists of Babe).

Other credits include Natural Born Killers (1994), installments in the Fast and the Furious franchise, and 2008’s Role Models, among others.

Sweeney is survived by his wife Lucinda.