Williams Electronics Artist and Pinball Designer Python Anghelo has Died

Python Vladimir Anghelo, an artist who worked on games like Joust, Bubbles and a host of pinball machines, has died after battling cancer.

According to his friend Paul Kiefert on his GoFundMe page, Anghelo died this afternoon, passing away peacefully.

Anghelo was born in Transylvania, Romania in 1954 at the age of 17. He worked as an animator for Disney until his mid-20s, which is when he started working at Williams Electronics to create the artwork for the arcade game, Joust. Anghelo continued to work at Williams Electronics, designing pinball machines, until he left in 1994 to work for Capcom's pinball division. Shortly after, Capcom shut down their pinball division.

In Feb. 2014, a GoFundMe was started in order to help Anghelo raise money for his cancer treatments, with a goal of $20,000. A total of $19,149 was raised. Kiefert said in an update: "Over the past couple years I've been fortunate enough to know the man behind the legend and become part of a team that was able to give him great joy in his last months on this earth. I can say with 100% certainty that with the help of this great Pinball Community we were able deliver great joy and happiness during his final time on this earth and that the legend most people knew will continue to be honored for generations to come.

From the bottom of my heart I thank you for being a part of delivering this happiness to Python."

The remaining money that was raised will be used to pay any of Anghelo's final bills and any final arrangements he requested. Our thoughts go out to his loved ones.