He started doing his own movies with stop-motion action after seeing the original KING KONG. He work can be seen in such classics as: IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955), 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957), ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966), the SINBAD trilogy, and his last film CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981). What he may be best remembered for is 1963's JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. His work influenced many of Hollywood's best; including: Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, and John Landis to name a few.
Harryhausen won the Academy Award for special effects in 1949 for MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. In 1992, he won the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for "technological contributions [which] have brought credit to the industry." He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, the first year it honored non-literary contributors.
Our thoughts go to his family, friends, and all the fans he had. He will be missed. Truly an end of an era.