Gregory Jein, the master model maker who worked on eight Star Trek properties and earned two Oscar nominations, passed away on May 22, 2022, at the age of 76. According to his family spokeswoman, Jein died of cardiac arrest after a long history of health issues, including diabetes.
A Career Spanning Four Decades
Jein started his career in the 1970s, building models for films and television shows such as Flesh Gordon, Wonder Woman, and The UFO Incident. He soon caught the attention of visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull, who hired him to work on Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For that film, Jein and his team created the iconic mothership model that featured heavily in the final sequence. Jein received his first Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects for his work on Close Encounters, along with Trumbull and others.
Jein continued his collaboration with Spielberg and Trumbull on 1941, where he built a number of models, including a 12-foot Ferris wheel that rolled down the pier and into the water. He earned his second Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects for 1941, sharing it with William A. Fraker and A.D. Flowers.
A Star Trek Legend
Jein’s association with Star Trek began in 1977, when he designed a Klingon battle cruiser for Star Trek: Phase II, a planned live-action spinoff of the original series that was never produced. He then worked on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, building planetary models for Spock’s spacewalk scene and the interior of the V’Ger craft.
Jein went on to work on six more Star Trek films, as well as three Star Trek television shows: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. He built many of the starships and props that are now considered iconic in the Star Trek universe, such as the USS Enterprise-D, the Ferengi Marauder, and the Klingon Vor’cha. He also shared Emmy nominations for his work on Deep Space Nine and Angels in America, and received eight Art Directors Guild nominations for his production design excellence.
A Modest and Talented Artist
Jein was known for his modesty and his passion for his craft. He once said in an interview, “We look to have fun and make everything the best we can on any project we work on.” He also mentored many young model makers and inspired generations of fans with his creations.
Jein’s work can be seen in many other films and shows, such as One From the Heart, The Hunt for Red October, The Dark Knight Rises, Avatar, and Mulan. He worked for various production houses, such as ILM, Boss Film Corp., and Walt Disney Imagineering. He also launched his own company, Gregory Jein Inc., in 1979.
Jein is survived by his wife, Carol Bauman, and his son, Alexander. He will be remembered as one of the greatest model makers in Hollywood history, and a Star Trek legend.
