McCune was born on March 27 , 1943 . He attended California State University , Northridge where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology and met his future wife . McCune was able to use his scientific training when he and Bill Shourt were hired in 1975 to work on creating the iconic shark in the movie '' Jaws '' , marking his start in Hollywood , though he was uncredited . He was subsequently hired to work on the '' Star Wars '' movies as the franchise 's chief model maker , responsible for the design details of the robots ( such as R2-D2 ) and alien characters in the films . He and his team earned an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 50th Academy Awards for Star Wars Episode IV : A New Hope . He received a second Oscar nomination for his work on the 1979 film '' Star Trek : The Motion Picture '' . As a partner at Apogee Productions , McCune 's work was featured in such films as '' Caddyshack '' before founding his own firm , which was hired to work on such movies as '' Speed '' and '' Spider-Man ''
50th Academy Awards
50th Academy Awards
Grant McCune