VETERAN MECHANICAL EFFECTS WIZARD ISIDORO RAPONI, WHO HELPED TO CREATE CREATURES AND EFFECTS FOR “E.T.,” “KING KONG” “ALIEN,” AND “BABY SECRET OF THE LOST LEGEND,” DIES AT AGE 76
Isidoro “Isi” Raponi, the acclaimed veteran mechanical effects expert who worked on such iconic films as “King Kong” (1976), “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Dr. Doolittle” (1998), “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Alien” (1979), and “The Shawshank Redemption,” among others, passed away at a rehab facility in Los Angeles on Friday 5/27, from congestive heart failure. He was 76 years old. Among Raponi’s numerous achievements, he is credited with designing, creating and operating the various dinosaur characters for Touchstone Pictures’ 1985 feature film, “Baby Secret of the Lost Legend.” The creatures in that film ranged from the title character (which involved a human performer inside a rubber costume with remote controlled expressions and movements) to a mechanically operated full size adult Brontosaurus, standing 70 feet long and 25 feet wide. For the 1983 Disney adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic, “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” Raponi built a series of mechanical stunt tarantulas to appear on camera beside dozens of real creatures.
Raponi was born in the Italian town of Frosinone (southeast of Rome) on June 30, 1945. He learned his craft working as an apprentice to Oscar®-winning effects creator, Carlo Rambaldi, whose workshop was located across the street from the Raponi family bookstore. The mechanically minded Isi was offered a job working for Rambaldi starting in 1963 at age 18, and over the next 15 years, he contributed to a variety of popular Italian films. In 1975, he relocated to the Los Angeles to work with Rambaldi on the Dino De Laurentiis produced feature, “King Kong.” This was followed by assignments on “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “White Buffalo,” among others. Raponi played a key role in designing, building and operating E.T., working alongside Rambaldi, on the 1982 Steven Spielberg classic, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”
Striking out on his own, Raponi found his way to Disney Studios in the late 70s, where he provided mechanical effects for such films as “My Science Project,” “Tron,” “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” and “Baby Secret of the Lost Legend.”
Raponi went on to work on a variety of major film projects for such top directors as Martin Scorsese (“Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator”), Frank Darabont (“The Green Mile,” “The Shawshank Redemption”), among others. He also provided mechanical effects and props for “Air Force One,” “The Godfather: Part III,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” “The Hunt for Red October,” and “The Running Man.” He retired from the industry in 2008, but came back for one last assignment on “Argo.”
Raponi is survived by his wife of 40 years, Nina Edelstein, and his daughter, Tiziana Raponi, from a previous marriage. Isi and Nina’s son, Daniel, predeceased him in 2007. Cremation services will be private, and a life celebration in his honor is being planned for July (date to be announced). In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Daniel Raponi Memorial Scholarship Endowment at California State University, Northridge. Donations can be made online at https://www.csun.edu/giving, or by check (noting the Daniel Raponi Memorial Scholarship) to: CSUN Foundation, 18111 Nordhoff Street – Valera Hall 110, Northridge, CA 91330-8296