Spider-Man 2

Background:

John Frazier is a special effects coordinator best known for his Academy Award winning contribution to the blockbuster hit “Spider-Man 2” (2004). He is also known for his contribution to such hit movies as “Twister” (1996), “Armageddon” (1998), “The Perfect Storm” (2000), “Pearl Harbor” (2001), “Spider-Man” (2002) and “Poseidon” (2006).

Working on films since 1977, Frazier has worked special effect magic on more than forty vehicles. Other movie credits include “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” (1986), “Basic Instinct” (1992), “Speed” (1994), “The Haunting” (1999), “The Island” (2005), “Spider-Man 3” (2007), “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End” (2007), “The Kingdom” (2007), “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009), and “The Green Hornet” (2011), to list just a few. Upcoming credits include “Pirates of the Caribbean” On Stranger Tides” and “Transformers” Dark of the Moon.”

Southern Boy

Childhood and Family:

John R. Frazier was born on September 23, 1944, in Richmond, California. His family relocated to southern California when he was a child. After graduating from Canoga Park High School, John enrolled at Los Angeles Trade Tech.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Career:

John Frazier began working on special effects at age 19 at the Haunted House nightclub in Hollywood, California. His work attracted the attention of the owner, who then landed him a job with NBC. He joined Local 44 seven years later (1970) and began working on special effects for feature films.

Frazier made his motion picture debut with “Wes Craven's 'The Hills Have Eyes'” (1977), which he followed with gigs in episodes of the TV series “Space Academy” (1977) and movies like “When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder” (1979), “Airplane” (1980) and “White Dog” (1982). With the Dan Aykroyd comedy “Doctor Detroit” (1983), Frazier served as the special effects supervisor. In 1986, he was the special effects coordinator for the popular movie “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” (1986), which was written and directed by John Hughes and starred Matthew Broderick.

In the 1990s, Frazier focused his attention on motion pictures, during which time he worked on such films as Clint Eastwood's “The Rookie” (1990), the Sharon Stone starring “Basic Instinct” (1992), David Mamet's “Hoffa” (1992), Jan de Bont action hit “Speed” (1994) and James Keach's “The Stars Fell on Henrietta” (1995). In 1996, Frazier received notice for his work on the hit film “Twister,” which starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton and was helmed by “Speed” director Jan de Bont. For his effort, he was handed a BAFTA Film award for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Effects, Visual Effects, to name a few prestigious nominations. He shared the honors with Stefen Fangmeier, Habib Zargarpour and Henry LaBounta.

After Morgan Freeman's “Hard Rain” (1998), the special effects supervisor boosted his fame with an Oscar nomination for his contribution to the Michael Bay blockbuster film “Armageddon” (1998), from which he also shared a Saturn nomination in the category of Best Special Effects. Frazier closed out the decade coordinating special effects for the movies “Forces of Nature,” “True Crime” and “The Haunting” (all 1999).

Entering the new millennium, Frazier nabbed a BAFTA Film for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects, as well as another Oscar and Saturn nomination, (shared with Stefen Fangmeier, Habib Zargarpour and Walt Conti) for “The Perfect Storm,” a 2000 movie starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Diane Lane that was directed by Wolfgang Petersen. He went on to work on such popular films as “Almost Famous” (2000), “Cast Away” (2000), “Pearl Harbor” (2001, netted an Oscar nomination), “Spider-Man” (2002, earned an Oscar nomination), “xXx” (2002, nabbed a Saturn nomination) and “Bad Boys II” (2003), to name a few projects.

Frazier earned a lot of attention with this Academy Award winning work on the blockbuster sequel “Spider-Man 2,” (directed by Sam Raimi). After the victory, he worked on such films as “xXx: State of the Union,” “The Island,” “Stealth” and “Domino” (all 2005) and received his next Academy Award nomination for “Poseidon” (2006), which was adapted from the Paul Gallico's novel. He then lent his talent to “Deja Vu” (2006), “Spider-Man 3” (2007), “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End” (2007) and “Transformers” (2007). A busy man, a few other films he has worked on includes “The Kingdom” (2007), “Hancock” (2008), “Pineapple Express” (2008), “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” (2009), and “Burlesque” (2010). Upcoming projects include director Scott Charles Stewart’s “The Priest,” Rob Marshall’s anticipated “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” and Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” which will star actor Shia La Beouf.

Awards:

• Oscar: Best Achievement in Visual Effects, “Spider-Man 2,” 2005

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn, Best Special Effects, “Spider-Man 2,” 2005

• BAFTA Film: Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects, “The Perfect Storm,” 2001

• BAFTA Film: Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects, “Twister,” 1997