I've heard of him. Was also surprised to learn of his role when I did learn of him though.
Sad in a way, but it happens to everyone eventually.
It's more weird to think that he was still alive. Like, this industry that I've seen grown and evolve so fast and become such a huge beast, from basic graphics to high fidelity real time realistic environments all started with this guy, who was still alive in my lifetime, showing that although this industry is older than me it is actually extremely young.
Madness.