Richard Day (art director)

Richard Day ( born May 9, 1896 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, † May 23, 1972 in Hollywood, Los Angeles) was a Canadian production designer in film.

Life

Richard Day was born in 1896 in Victoria, British Columbia, the son of an architect. His career in Hollywood began when he was discovered by director Erich von Stroheim and as Setdekorateur for the silent film Blind Husbands ( Blind Husbands, 1919) committed. Day was then a close associate of Stroheim and it was followed by other films together, such as greed ( Greed, 1924), The Merry Widow ( The Merry Widow, 1925) or The Wedding March ( The Wedding March, 1928 ), for which Day detail the Vienna Stephansdom nachbaute. In the late 1920s parted their ways and Day henceforth worked as a production designer for a number of other well-known directors such as John Ford, Raoul Walsh, Howard Hawks, William Wyler or Fritz Lang.

Over the years, Day gained a reputation as a particularly imaginative film production designer and he counted alongside MGM's Cedric Gibbons to the masters of his craft. He was a total of twenty nominated Best Production Design for an Oscar in the category. Seven times he was able to win the trophy, including William Wyler's social drama season of love, time to say goodbye ( Dodsworth, 1936), John Ford's social study Green Was My Valley ( How Green Was My Valley, 1941), for the film musical The Queen of Broadway ( My Gal Sal, 1942) and for the two dramas Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951) and on the Waterfront ( on the Waterfront, 1954). For his last feature film, the war film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Day was nominated for an Oscar for the last time. He then retired to his involvement in more than 280 feature films from the film business.

Richard Day died in 1972 at the age of 76 years in Los Angeles and was buried in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Oscar

Nominated:

Won: