Richard Miller (born December 6, 1942; died December 8, 2022) was a multifaceted artist, working as a jeweler and sculptor, and also as an instructor at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). While teaching at a local university and developing his artistic career, Lorne Peterson, a friend, invited him to join the 1983 original trilogy production of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Miller's role on that film was as a jeweler. He then continued his career at ILM, lending his talents to each of the Star Wars prequel trilogy movies. He worked as a concept sculptor for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and as a model fabricator for both Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
Born on December 6, 1942, Richard Miller was a seasoned sculptor employed by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). While he was employed as a jeweler, a sculptor, and an art instructor at a nearby university, his friend Lorne Peterson, an ILM model-maker, brought him on board as a jeweler for the 1983 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Peterson had seen several of Miller's bronze sculptures and noticed that their style was similar to the concepts that costume designer Nilo Rodis-Jamero had created for Leia Organa's dancing-girl costume.
To produce the dancing-girl costume, Miller employed a wax casting technique, a method typically used in bronze sculpting. Initially, he fashioned the pieces using pliable wax around bendable armature wire. These were then placed in a cooler. Actress Carrie Fisher then wore the pieces against her skin. Her body heat warmed and softened the wax as the armature was shaped to conform to her form. Miller then used the fitted wax pieces to create molds and cast the costume components in a dense urethane rubber, which was subsequently painted gold. On the 2011 Blu-ray edition of Star Wars: The Complete Saga, he detailed his process and showed the structural pieces' flexibility in the "Slave Leia costume" featurette. He also designed Emperor Palpatine's cloak clasp. This clasp was initially sculpted and cast in resin and then finished with a high-gloss black lacquer.
Miller contributed as a concept sculptor on the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. He was a model maker for the 2002 prequel film, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, and for the 2005 final prequel installment, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, as part of the ILM team. He collaborated with artist and concept design supervisor Erik Tiemens of Skywalker Ranch between December 2003 and October 2004 to produce a bas-relief sculpture from Tiemens' drawings. This finished frieze is visible in Palpatine's office in Revenge of the Sith.
- Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- The Art of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- The Art of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars
- Sith Snapshots: History in the Making on StarWars.com (January 26, 2006) (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Sith Snapshots: Sith Sculpture on StarWars.com (April 13, 2006) (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Homing Beacon #168 on StarWars.com (content obsolete and backup link not available)
- Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- The Making of Return of the Jedi
- Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy
- The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, 1999–2005
- Richard Miller at the Internet Movie Database
- Richard Miller ( @richardmillerfx ) on Twitter (backup link (richardmillerfx) not verified!)