Gene Callahan (production designer)
Eugene "Gene " Callahan ( born November 7, 1923 in Louisiana, † December 26, 1990 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) was an American art director and production designer, who twice won the Academy Award for Best Production Design and twice more for these Oscar as well as a BAFTA film Award was nominated for best Production Design.
Life
Callahan began working as an art director and production designer in the film industry in Hollywood in 1953 with the television movie King Lear and worked until his death in the production of almost sixty films.
His first Oscar he won in 1962 with Harry Horner for Best Production Design in the black and white film The Hustler ( 1961) by Robert Rossen starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and Piper Laurie in the lead roles.
At the Academy Awards in 1964 he won both the Academy Award for Best Production Design in the black and white movie The Unbreakable (1963 ), directed by Elia Kazan with Stathis Giallelis, Frank Wolff and Elena Karam and was also with Lyle R. Wheeler for an Academy Award for Best Production Design nominated in a color film, and indeed for The Cardinal (1963 ) by Otto Preminger starring Tom Tryon, Carol Lynley and Dorothy Gish as the main character. For The Unbreakable Greek painter and stage designer Vassilis Photopoulos had designed about 75 sets, but director Kazan had him removed from the credits, so instead just Gene Callahan was called, who then accepted the Oscar for best set design alone.
Another nomination for the Academy Award for Best Production Design, he received in 1977 with Jack T. Collis and Jerry Wunderlich for The Last Tycoon ( 1976) by Elia Kazan starring Robert De Niro, Ingrid Boulting and Tony Curtis.
1979 Callahan was also nominated Willy Holt and Carmen Dillon for the BAFTA Film Award for Best Production Design in Julia ( 1977) by Fred Zinnemann with Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Robards.