Steven Spielberg's father, Arnold Spielberg, has passed away at the age of 103.
Steven and Arnold Spielberg
The Hollywood director's dad died of natural causes on Tuesday (25.08.20), surrounded by his family, including the filmmaker, in Los Angeles.
The late electrical engineer helped to design the GE-200 mainframe computer in 1959, and he's also credited with creating the first computer-controlled "point of sale" cash register.
In a touching tribute to their father, Steven and his siblings - Anne, Sue, and Nancy - said it's because of him that they "love to research, expand their mind, keep their feet on the ground, but reach for the stars [and] look up".
The 73-year-old director also admitted that whenever he sees a games console or an iPad, he's reminded that without his dad's invention and ingenuity, they may never have existed.
He said: "When I see a PlayStation, when I look at a cell phone - from the smallest calculator to an iPad - I look at my dad and I say, 'My dad and a team of geniuses started that.'"
According to Variety, the siblings told their dad at his bedside: "Thank you for my life. I love you, Dad, Daddy, Daddelah. And then so then, and then so then, what happens next..."
On his passion for technology - which started when he was just six when he made his own makeshift lab - Sue said: "He made friends over the radio. He heard from people he never knew existed.
"He connected with strangers and this affability is something he carried over into real life, often befriending another person in line at Starbucks or the table next to him."
Arnold is also survived by his four step-children, 11 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
The Spielberg family hope to host a memorial to Arnold in 2021, but have been forced to delay their plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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