How Did Colin Cantwell Die?

According to his companion Sierra Dall, Colin Cantwell died on May 21, 2022, at his home in Colorado. Cantwell had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in his later years.

Cantwell was born in San Francisco in 1932 and studied animation at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also studied architecture at Frank Lloyd Wright’s school.

He worked on teaching programmes about flights at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the 1960s. Cantwell collaborated with Nasa during the 1969 moon landing to provide updates to journalist Walter Cronkite, who narrated the momentous broadcast.

Cantwell created prototypes for various Star Wars ships, including the X-wing, TIE Fighter, and Landspeeder, as well as the iconic Death Star from the film. He also designed the Tantive IV, the ship Leia is attempting to outrun Vader on at the start of the first film, which was initially intended to be a battleship.