death_date death_place birth_place nationality field birth_date works article_title name bgcolour
22 december 2003 carmel , california , usa honolulu , territory of hawaii american film , sculpture , painting 2 august 1917 '' star trek '' wah chang
 wah chang # 6495ed
wah chang

wah ming chang -lrb- 鄭華明 august 2 , 1917 -- december 22 , 2003 -rrb- was a chinese-american designer , sculptor , and artist .
he is known primarily for his sculpture and the props he designed for '' '' -lrb- the original series -rrb- , including the tricorder and communicator .
-lrb- while he is mistakenly credited with having created the phaser , it was actually designed by the art director of the original series , matt jefferies .
jefferies ' phaser was not accepted , and chang redesigned it for him . -rrb-
for `` star trek '' , chang built costumes for the salt vampire -lrb- `` the man trap '' -rrb- , the gorn -lrb- '' '' -rrb- and balok 's false image -lrb- `` the corbomite maneuver '' -rrb- .
he created tribbles by using artificial fur stuffed with foam , the neanderthals in `` the galileo seven '' , and the romulan bird of prey -lrb- `` balance of terror '' -rrb- , and the vulcan harp first seen in `` charlie x '' and later seen in `` the conscience of the king '' , `` amok time '' , `` the way to eden '' ; and '' '' .
his other film credits include sculpting the maquette of `` pinocchio '' which was used as the reference for the animators of the classic walt disney feature , and articulated deer models for `` bambi '' .
he designed the spectacular headdress worn by elizabeth taylor in the feature film `` cleopatra '' .
other work included building the title object from 1960s movie `` the time machine '' .
chang 's firm , project unlimited , inc. , would win academy award recognition for its special effects , but chang was not listed on the award , due to the way the credits were submitted to the academy .
film historian bob burns reported that chang did n't object to this .
`` he was the most humble , gentle man i 've ever known in my life , '' burns said .
`` he never boasted about anything he did , and he just did remarkable stuff . ''
in addition , chang built the artificial creature in `` the architects of fear '' episode of the original `` the outer limits '' , some props for the original `` planet of the apes '' film , the frightening skeleton animated in `` the power '' , the flying machine in `` the master of the world '' , and the dinosaurs in `` land of the lost '' .
chang 's work as a stop-motion animator through the effects company centaur productions , operated with fellow artist gene warren , has been enjoyed for years in the cartoons `` hardrock , coco and joe '' and `` suzy snowflake '' .
later in life , chang moved to carmel-by-the-sea , california , where he produced sculptures of wildlife .
in 1941 , 31-year-old wah ming was diagnosed with polio after suffering flu-like symptoms .
after an extended stay at the twin oaks sanitarium hospital in san gabriel , california , and treatments that included confinement in an iron lung , he eventually would walk again , but for the rest of his life , never had enough strength in his lungs to be able to blow up a balloon .
while his earlier creative efforts were consumed with special effects and film related wonders , his more mature artistic creations were delightful bronze sculptures and whimsical statuary from a life-sized dennis the menace , commissioned by creator hank ketcham and displayed in dennis park in monterey , california , to the smaller statues like `` girl and frog '' , which is owned by a private collector in los angeles , ca .
