Swiss artist HR Giger, who designed the terrifying alien creature in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic Alien, died on May 12 at the age of 74.

Actress Sigourney Weaver, star of all four "Alien" films, poses with a man dressed as the famed movie creature

Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger who designed the monster and revolutionary sci-fi sets for the film "Alien" has died, Swiss television reported on Tuesday. He was 74.

Giger, the son of a chemist, was born Hans Rudolf in the eastern Swiss town of Chur in 1940. He died on Monday from injuries he obtained after suffering a fall, SRF said.

Famous for creating the otherworldly creature in Ridley Scott's 1979 horror film "Alien", Giger was awarded an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects in 1980.

Having studied architecture and industrial design in Zurich, Giger's work explores the relationship between the human body and the machine, and he created nightmarish dreamscapes in a style he described as "biomechanical."

In 1998, he opened his own museum in Gruyeres in central Switzerland, which displays many of his own paintings, sculptures and film designs as well as his private art collection, including works by Salvador Dali.

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