- In "The Godfather," Flowers employed his formula for blood to lend a touch of realism to the gore. He mixed Karo syrup (for consistency), dish soap (for ease of washing the stuff out), red dye No. 2, and, as the piece de resistance, blue dye No. 1, which brought the proper color balance to Technicolor film.
- Children: daughter Peggy and son James.
- While working on the set of "The Godfather" he discovered a formula for fake blood. He used Karo syrup, dish soap and red and blue dye, which combined gave blood a real-life consistency. He also created a special jacket worn in gunfight scenes that produced blood in small, pulsating spurts.
- At his first job, he once spent 19 nights polishing a dance floor used by Mickey Rooney.
- In "1941," Flowers devised the effect of the Ferris wheel rolling into the Pacific Ocean by using a miniature Ferris wheel and the indoor water tank that Esther Williams frequented in many of her aquatic scenes in her movies.
- Flowers and Logan R. Frazee collaborated to create an apparatus that used miniature planes to simulate the bank and roll of planes in aerial combat. They dubbed the apparatus the "guillotine" for the shape and look of it. Frazee and Flowers shared a technical achievement Oscar for their creation.
- In order to avoid paying out at the very least an extra $200,000 for the rebuilding of the two-story house set that topples over a cliff in "1941," Steven Speilberg wanted to capture the destruction in one take. Flowers had never done this kind of effect before, but managed to convince Speilberg "on average" the house would fall without a hitch. To the relief and delight of everyone and probably to his great surprise the house did just what Flowers had said it would.
- For the Pearl Harbor attack in "Tora! Tora! Tora!" he positioned more than 100 gigantic smoke pots in strategic locations around the harbor. Each pot was ignited manually and managed not only to replicate the explosions but also to obscure any fixtures in the harbor that postdated the attack and could have belied the film's authenticity.
- For gunfight scenes, Flowers invented a jacket that pumps blood in a regulated and pulsating manner, simulating the pumping action of a ruptured artery. The effect can be seen in "The Godfather" where Sonny (James Caan) has been riddled with bullets and lays dying; his wounds pump the blood in a manner consistent with a dying man's fading heartbeat.
- Again working with Logan R. Frazee, Flowers created the climactic flood on the roof of "The Towering Inferno." They put in place four tanks of water and sent more than 3,000 gallons of water rushing onto the set.
- For the melee during the capsizing of the ship in "The Poseidon Adventure," Flowers fired at the stunt actors water from six water cannons and three high-pressure pumps.
- He began his career at MGM as a greensman and then moved to props and then to special effects.
- One of several persons who was omitted from being included in the "In Memoriam" segment of the 74th Annual Academy Awards in March of 2002. Flowers, who won two Oscars, was mysteriously left out causing outrage and sadness from his family. Other persons who were also left out of the segment include Dorothy McGuire and Peggy Lee, both actresses were also nominated for Oscars.
- Granddaughters: Julie and Jeanine.
- Grandson: Jim.
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