John Dykstra
John Dykstra Born John Charles Dykstra (1947-06-03) June 3, 1947 (age 67) Long Beach, California, U.S. Nationality American Alma mater California State University, Long Beach Occupation Special Effects artist Years active 1971–present Spouse(s) Cass McCune (1996 - ) John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. (born June 3, 1947 in Long Beach, California, United States) is a special effects artist and pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking. He was one of the original founders of Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects and computer graphics division of Lucasfilm. He is well known as the special effects lead on the original Star Wars, helping bring the original visuals for lightsabers, space battles between X-Wings and TIE Fighters, and Force powers to the screen. He also led special effects on many other movies, including Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, Stuart Little, X-Men: First Class, and Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.