William Novey (1948–1991) was an American special effects guru in Hollywood, Head of Special Effects at Walt Disney Imagineering in the 1970s, and co-founder of Art & Technology, Inc. with Disney executive Joe Garlington in the 1980s.[1]
Bill Novey | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1948 |
| Died | August 1, 1991 |
| Occupation(s) | Special Effects Master / Head of Special Effects at Walt Disney Imagineering/ co-founder of Art & Technology, Inc. |
| Spouse | Jody Van Meter |
At Disney, Novey was tasked with overseeing 6000 special effects in the Epcot Center near Orlando, Florida and Tokyo Disneyland.[2] He invented over 300 projectors and helped inspire a new wave of special effects and technological innovations including the first use of holograms and vector-scanning laser projections in a theme park.[3]
At Art & Technology, Novey developed a number of memorable special effects and high-tech exhibits seen in various theme parks around the world, including the first ever motion-simulator in a museum.[4]
Personal life
editHe was born William E. Novey in 1948 in Downers Grove, Illinois.
Novey earned bachelor's degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, and a Master's in Theater Technology from California Institute of the Arts.
He was married to entertainment executive Jody Van Meter.[citation needed]
He died in 1991 at age 43 from Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.[6] He is buried at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills.[7]
In October 2008, a bench was donated in Novey's honor in the Garden Walk at the library in his hometown of Downers Grove, Illinois with an inscription that reads: “William E. Novey, Who Made the World a Happier Place."[8]
References
edit- ^ Maureen, Santini. "Special Effects Bring Epcot Alive". The Gainesville Sun.
- ^
- Ruben, Judith (23 January 2010). "Concerning Theme Park Special Effects". Judith Rubin Etc. Blog.
- Willis, Deb (October 2012). "Happy 30th Birthday Epcot". All Ears.Net - Sharing the Magic.
- ^
- Wade, Sampson (12 May 2010). "Imagineer Rock Hall Remembers". Mouse Planet.
- Shapiro, Eben. "All About Theme Park Spinoffs; Need a Fantasy?". New York Times Newspaper.
- ^ Rubin, Judith. "Art & Technology : Bill Novey and the Business of Theme Park Special Effects". Bloop Loop.
- ^ *Patent Genius Org. "William E. Novey Patents". Patent Genius. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- Justia Legal. "Patents By Inventor William E. Novey". Justia Patents.
- USPTO. "Solid state timer-stepper". Archived from the original on 2016-12-08.
- ^ Kania, Carol. "Discoveries" (PDF). Downers Grove Public Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-30.
- ^ Find a Grave. "William Novey". Find a Grave.
- ^ Kania, Carol. "Discoveries" (PDF). Downers Grove Public Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-30.