This was a very sad day for me as I knew him on a personal level.
He was strong for his age, actually, all the way until he passed. Walking without the need of an assistive device or help from someone.
He loved to talk about his work too. He had pictures of his favorite creations on his wall. Most of them are discussed on that link above. Among them was David Bowie in The Hunger (my favorite), Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man, and Linda Blair in The Exorcist.
He made these little busts, no bigger than 4" tall of several different actors and people in history, which he kept on a shelf above his desk. He said he made them just for fun. But I can tell he really took pride with those because he kept them next to his Oscar Awards.
You can see a picture, above his head in a red frame, that night he was honored by the Academy for his ground breaking special effects work and contribution to Hollywood. Everyone who is anyone in special effects is standing in that picture.
He also had this book:
On both the front and back cover of the book, you can see signatures and little snippets of the WETA team thanking Smith for his help and advice. I can still remember one inscription written, "...we still use a lot of your techniques today."
He was a very caring person and made many friends even after he retired. He will be missed but never forgotten.
Thanks for all the great memories my friend.
