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).
Awards Johnson has won
Academy Awards for both
Alien (1979) and
The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He was further nominated for an Academy Award for his work on
Dragonslayer (1981). In addition, Johnson is the recipient of a
Saturn Award for
The Empire Strikes Back and a
BAFTA Award for
James Cameron's
Aliens. ==Filmography==