{{Short description|American special effects artist (1923–2012)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox person |birth_date={{Birth date|1923|01|19}} |birth_place=Lorain, Ohio, U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|2012|05|28|1923|01|19}} |death_place=Los Angeles, California, U.S. }} '''Matthew J. Yuricich''' (January 19, 1923 – May 28, 2012) was an American special effects artist.
==Biography== He was born of Croatian immigrant parentage in Lorain, Ohio. His father immigrated to America from his native Josipdol in Gorski Kotar.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Pavlinić |editor1-first=Vladimir |editor2-last=Toth |editor2-first=Željko |editor3-last=Saganić |editor3-first=Gvido |title=Nova Hrvatska |date=1972 |publisher=Nova Hrvatska |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nnLvAAAAMAAJ |language=hr |quote=Mato Juričić (Matthew Yuricich) iz Lorain, Ohio. Njegov otac odselio se u Ameriku godine 1920. iz Josipdola u Gorskom Kotaru}}</ref> Yuricich spoke only Croatian when he started grade school.<ref>{{cite news |last=Davison |first=Phil |year=2012 |title=Matt Yuricich: Visual effects artist who won an Oscar for 'Logan's Run' |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/matt-yuricich-visual-effects-artist-who-won-an-oscar-for-logans-run-7836842.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/matt-yuricich-visual-effects-artist-who-won-an-oscar-for-logans-run-7836842.html |archive-date=2022-05-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Polimac |first=Nenad |authorlink=Nenad Polimac |date=2012-06-18 |title=Odlazak Hrvata oskarovca: Neopjevani junak Matt Yuricich umro je prošli mjesec u domu za hollywoodske umirovljenike u Kaliforniji |language=hr |trans-title=The departure of the Croatian Oscar winner: Unsung hero Matt Yuricich died last month at a home for Hollywood retirees in California |publisher=Jutarnji list |url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/matthew-yuricich--odlazak-hrvata-oskarovca-kojeg-nismo-poznavali--/1035631/ |accessdate=2012-06-19}}</ref> After graduating high school in 1941, he joined the U.S. Navy. He served on the escort carrier USS Nassau, seeing combat in the Pacific Theater.<ref>Davison 2012</ref>
Before becoming a special effects artist, Yuricich received a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where he also played football and joined Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. He received Miami's 2006 Distinguished Achievement Award for his career achievements and was a charter member of the Phi Kappa Tau Hall of Fame.{{Citation needed|date=June 2012}}
A pre-war friendship with pinup star Betty Grable allowed Yuricich entry into the movie industry after the war.<ref>Davison 2012</ref> As a matte artist, much of his early studio work was uncredited but included work on ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956), ''North by Northwest'' and ''Ben-Hur'' (both 1959). Some of his later credits are ''Soylent Green'' (1973, special photographic effects), ''Young Frankenstein'' (1974, uncredited), ''The China Syndrome, Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' and ''1941'' (all in 1979), ''Blade Runner'' (1982), ''Ghostbusters'' and ''2010'' (both 1984), ''Fright Night'' (1985), ''Poltergeist II: The Other Side'', ''The Boy Who Could Fly'' and ''Solarbabies'' (all 1986), ''Masters of the Universe'' (1987), ''Die Hard'' (1988), ''Field of Dreams'' (1989), ''Dances with Wolves'' (1990) and ''Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'' (1991).
Yuricich won the 1976 Academy Special Achievement Award for visual effects in the movie ''Logan's Run''. He was nominated for the best visual effects Oscar for his work on ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' in 1977. His brother is Academy Award-nominated special effects artist Richard Yuricich.<ref>Davison 2012</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |last=Cotta Vaz |first=Mark |year=2002 |title=The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting |publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=978-0811831369}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|951046}} {{Special Achievement Academy Award}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuricich, Matthew}} Category:1923 births Category:2012 deaths Category:American people of Croatian descent Category:Matte painters Category:Miami RedHawks football players Category:American special effects people Category:Special Achievement Academy Award winners
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