George Davis (art director)
American art director (1914–1998)
George Davis (April 17, 1914 – October 3, 1998) was an American art director and was the supervising art director at MGM from 1959 to 1970. He won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction for his work on The Robe in 1954 and for The Diary of Anne Frank in 1960.
Career
Davis began his career as a sketch artist at Warner Brothers Studio. He joined the U.S. Marines during World War II and was discharged as a colonel. He then began work at 20th Century Fox with his first film being Joseph L. Mankiewicz 's fantasy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir in 1947, a director for whom he frequently worked including House of Strangers (1949), No Way Out (1950) and 5 Fingers (1952).
He received the first of 17 Academy Award nominations in 1951 for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White for All About Eve , also directed by Mankiewicz.
He won his first Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Color in 1954 for his work on The Robe . He was also heavily involved in some of the other big religious productions of the 1950s, such as David and Bathsheba (1951), Demetrius and the Gladiators and The Egyptian (both 1954).
In 1959 he joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became the studio's supervising art director following the death of William A. Horning , with Hans Peters as his assistant.[ 2]
He won his second Academy Award in 1960 for Best Art Direction, Black-and-White for The Diary of Anne Frank which was made during his time at Fox.
At the Academy Awards in 1963, he was nominated for three films - The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm , Mutiny on the Bounty and Period of Adjustment .
His 17th and last nomination was for The Shoes of the Fisherman in 1969.
Other notable films include Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955), Funny Face (1957), Cimarron (1960), How the West Was Won (1963), Twilight of Honor (1963), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), The Americanization of Emily (1964), A Patch of Blue (1965), Mr. Buddwing (1966).
He also worked extensively in TV on such shows as The Twilight Zone and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. .
Davis was also the initial project manager of Tokyo Disneyland , designed the General Motors exhibit at the 1964 New York World's Fair and the primary designer of Park City, Utah .[citation needed ]
He was married to Barbara Louise Davis (née Davies) who died in 1990 at the age of 73. They had 2 children (Karen Louise Hoy, born 1940 and George Christopher Davis, born 1943). He lived in the same home in Santa Monica, California, from 1948 to his death in 1998.
Awards
Davis won Oscars for his work on The Robe (1953) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). He was nominated an additional 15 times.
Partial filmography
References
External links
1927–1939 Interior Decoration 1940–1946 Black & White / Color separate
1940 (bw): Cedric Gibbons , Paul Groesse / (c): Vincent Korda
1941 (bw): Richard Day , Nathan Juran , Thomas Little / (c): Cedric Gibbons , Urie McCleary , Edwin B. Willis
1942 (bw): Richard Day , Joseph C. Wright , Thomas Little / (c): Richard Day , Joseph C. Wright , Thomas Little
1943 (bw): James Basevi , William S. Darling , Thomas Little / (c): Alexander Golitzen , John B. Goodman , Russell A. Gausman , Ira S. Webb
1944 (bw): Cedric Gibbons , William Ferrari , Paul Huldschinsky , Edwin B. Willis / (c): Wiard Ihnen , Thomas Little
1945 (bw): Wiard Ihnen , A. Roland Fields / (c): Hans Dreier , Ernst Fegté , Samuel M. Comer
1946 (bw): William S. Darling , Lyle R. Wheeler , Thomas Little , Frank E. Hughes / (c): Cedric Gibbons , Paul Groesse , Edwin B. Willis
1947–1956 renamed Art Direction - Set Decoration Black & White / Color separate
1947 (bw): John Bryan , Wilfred Shingleton / (c): Alfred Junge
1948 (bw): Roger K. Furse , Carmen Dillon / (c): Hein Heckroth , Arthur Lawson
1949 (bw): Harry Horner , John Meehan , Emile Kuri / (c): Cedric Gibbons , Paul Groesse , Edwin B. Willis , Jack D. Moore
1950 (bw): Hans Dreier , John Meehan , Samuel M. Comer , Ray Moyer / (c): Hans Dreier , Walter Tyler , Samuel M. Comer , Ray Moyer
1951 (bw): Richard Day , George James Hopkins / (c): Cedric Gibbons , E. Preston Ames , Edwin B. Willis , F. Keogh Gleason
1952 (bw): Cedric Gibbons , Edward Carfagno , Edwin B. Willis , F. Keogh Gleason /(c): Paul Sheriff , Marcel Vertès
1953 (bw): Cedric Gibbons , Edward Carfagno , Edwin B. Willis , Hugh Hunt / (c): Lyle R. Wheeler , George Davis , Walter M. Scott , Paul S. Fox
1954 (bw): Richard Day / (c): John Meehan , Emile Kuri
1955 (bw): Hal Pereira , Tambi Larsen , Samuel M. Comer , Arthur Krams / (c): William Flannery , Jo Mielziner , Robert Priestley
1956 (bw): Cedric Gibbons , Malcolm F. Brown , Edwin B. Willis , F. Keogh Gleason / (c): Lyle R. Wheeler , John DeCuir , Walter M. Scott , Paul S. Fox
1957–1958 1959–1966 Black & White / Color separate
1959 (bw): Lyle R. Wheeler , George Davis , Walter M. Scott , Stuart A. Reiss / (c): William A. Horning (posthumous award ), Edward Carfagno , Hugh Hunt
1960 (bw): Alexandre Trauner , Edward G. Boyle /(c): Alexander Golitzen , Eric Orbom (posthumous award ), Russell A. Gausman , Julia Heron
1961 (bw): Harry Horner , Gene Callahan / (c): Boris Leven , Victor A. Gangelin
1962 (bw): Alexander Golitzen , Henry Bumstead , Oliver Emert /(c): John Box , John Stoll , Dario Simoni
1963 (bw): Gene Callahan / (c): John DeCuir , Jack Martin Smith , Hilyard M. Brown , Herman A. Blumenthal , Elven Webb , Maurice Pelling , Boris Juraga , Walter M. Scott , Paul S. Fox , Ray Moyer
1964 (bw): Vassilis Photopoulos /(c): Gene Allen , Cecil Beaton , George James Hopkins
1965 (bw): Robert Clatworthy , Joseph Kish /(c): John Box , Terence Marsh , Dario Simoni
1966 (bw): Richard Sylbert , George James Hopkins / (c): Jack Martin Smith , Dale Hennesy , Walter M. Scott , Stuart A. Reiss
1967–1980
1967: John Truscott , Edward Carrere , John W. Brown
1968: John Box , Terence Marsh , Vernon Dixon , Ken Muggleston
1969: John DeCuir , Jack Martin Smith , Herman A. Blumenthal , Walter M. Scott , George James Hopkins , Raphaël Bretton
1970: Urie McCleary , Gil Parrondo , Antonio Mateos , Pierre-Louis Thévenet
1971: John Box , Ernest Archer , Jack Maxsted , Gil Parrondo , Vernon Dixon
1972: Rolf Zehetbauer , Jurgen Kiebach , Herbert Strabel
1973: Henry Bumstead , James W. Payne
1974: Dean Tavoularis , Angelo P. Graham , George R. Nelson
1975: Ken Adam , Roy Walker , Vernon Dixon
1976: George C. Jenkins , George Gaines
1977: John Barry , Norman Reynolds , Leslie Dilley , Roger Christian
1978: Paul Sylbert , Edwin O'Donovan , George Gaines
1979: Philip Rosenberg , Tony Walton , Edward Stewart , Gary J. Brink
1980: Pierre Guffroy , Jack Stephens
1981–2000 2001–present
International National People