A Tribute to Bill Stromberg

Picture courtesy of: "Craterlakemonster". Via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Craterlakemonster.jpg#/media/File:Craterlakemonster.jpg

Today’s Community Connection is courtesy of Tom Morrow—well known author, columnist, band leader, Host and former KOCT Board member about his good friend -- Bill Stromberg:

A special block of programming devoted to filmmaker William R. "Bill" Stromberg will be shown beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday on Oceanside television, KOCT. Bill spent more than 30 years working in Hollywood, primarily as a special-effects artist.

Tom Morrow interviewed his friend on "Living Legacies" a number of years ago. That interview with Bill telling his career story will begin at 9 a.m., Saturday on KOCT, Channel 18, followed by his production of Ray Bradbury's "Sound of Thunder" at 9:30 a.m.  At 10 a.m., Bill's full-length feature Sci-Fi thriller, "The Crater Lake Monster," will be shown.  "Crater Lake Monster" continues to be listed as one of the top 10 "low-budget" sci-fi movies ever made.

Bill passed away earlier this month after a long bout with cancer. Notably, Bill's two sons, Billy and Robert, followed in their father's footsteps and are both quite successful in Hollywood. 

Robert is a two-time Academy Award winner for Visual Effects ("Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland"), and winner of Britain's "BAFTA" (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award for "Avatar." He also has won five Emmys for various television production works, including the HBO series "John Adams," and several special effects works in the "Star Trek" series. Robert's latest work was as director of the 2014 Disney feature film "Maleficent," starring Angelina Jolie.

Billy Stromberg is a Grammy-nominated musician and recording producer concentrating on classic movie scores.

 

Bill is survived by his wife, Elaine. Bill and Elaine, as well as their two sons, all graduated from Carlsbad High School. 

KOCT is available on Channel 18 for Oceanside Cox viewers; Channel 99 on AT&T, and world-wide on the Internet at: www.koct.org.