Born in London, England. Technician and designer of special effects in numerous movies from the 1930s to the 1990s. Famed for his realistic matte paintings, he first gained recognition for designing the frightening special effects in Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS (1963), the same year he began a long association with Universal. He played a bit part in Mel Brooks's HIGH ANXIETY (1977), which fondly parodied the films of Hitchcock, with whom Whitlock had often worked. Whitlock shared Academy Awards® for the visual effects in EARTHQUAKE (1974) and THE HINDENBURG (1975) and an Emmy® for the effects in the miniseries A.D. (1985). Here's an example of Whitlock's work: THE PROBLEM - In this scene from EARTHQUAKE, Miles is starting up his bike to look for Rosa in the middle of a destroyed Los Angeles, but the lush green trees on the left of this shot give away the secret that they are shooting this scene on the Universal Backlot. Sooo.... THE SOLUTION - Albert Whitlock painted a matte of a long street trailing off into the distance to cover the trees in the Universal backlot, completing the illusion. Note how the painted buildings closely resemble the backlot buildings on the left. THE FIX - And here is how the shot looks composited (in a reasonable approximation).  Nominated for Special Visual Effects 1967: TOBRUK (w. Howard A. Anderson, Jr.)  Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects 1974: EARTHQUAKE (w. Frank Brendel & Glen Robinson)  Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects 1975: THE HINDENBURG (w. Glen Robinson) 1 nomination, 2 Special Achievement Awards