Jack Kine, Pioneer of television special effects, dead at 83
The Independant
John Cornwell Kine, special effects artist: born London 20 September 1921; married 1949 Gladys Martin (died 2001; two daughters); died Worminghall, Buckinghamshire 14 January 2005.
Jack Kine was a true pioneer of television. As the co-founder in 1954 of the BBC Visual Effects Department, he worked on many landmark productions, inventing techniques that stood the burgeoning industry in good stead for decades to come.
Kine was born within the sound of the Bow Bells, his boyhood friendship with his neighbour, the artist Hilda Boswell, encouraging his talent for painting. He left school to become an apprentice architectural model-maker and scenic artist for four years until 1937. His interest in the new medium of television was piqued when the BBC set up shop just down the road and he got a job as a junior artist, “slapping paint on backdrops and thoroughly enjoying it for £2 a week”.
Miniature scenic modelling (MAP technical publication)
