Samuel M. Comer

Samuel "Sam" Como (* July 27, 1893, † December 27, 1974 in La Jolla, California ) was an American production designer, who won the Oscar for Best Production Design four times.

Biography

Comer began his career as a set designer in the film industry in Hollywood 1934 Here is my Heart by Frank Tuttle and created in the course of his more than thirty years of activity the screenshots for 300 film and television productions.

At the Academy Awards in 1942, he was together with Hans Dreier and Robert Usher for the first time for the black and white film The Golden Gate ( 1941) nominated for the Academy Award for Best Production Design. Another nomination with Dreier and Roland Anderson followed in 1943 for the black and white film favorite, dictation, and again three and Usher for the black and white film No Time for Love ( No Time for Love, 1943) at the Academy Awards 1945. Moreover, he was together with three Anderson and Ray Moyer in 1946 for the black and white film Love Letters ( Love Letters, 1945) nominated.

Together with Dreier and Ernst swept he received in 1945 for the color film The Pirate and the Lady (1944 ) his first Oscar for Best Production Design.

At the Academy Awards in 1947 he was nominated once again with Dreier, Walter H. Moyer and Tyler for the Academy Award for Best Production Design in a black and white film, and indeed for a lady with a past ( Kitty, 1945).

In 1951, he won two Oscars and indeed the one with three, and Tyler Moyer for the color film Samson and Delilah (1949 ) and another with three, Moyer and John Meehan for the black and white film Sunset Boulevard (1950).

At the Academy Awards in 1955 he was nominated Best Production Design for three Oscars in the category, but this time got no trophy. The nominations were with Hal Pereira, Anderson and Moyer for the color movie Red Garters (1954 ) as well as for the black and white films Sabrina (1954 ), this together with Pereira, Tyler and Moyer, as well as with Pereira, Anderson and Grace Gregory for The Country Girl.

In 1956 he not only won another Oscar with Pereira, Tambi Larsen and Arthur Krams for the black and white film The Rose Tattoo (1955 ) but was also with Pereira, Krams and J. McMillan Johnson for the Academy Award for Best Production Design in the color film nominated above the roofs of Nice.

At the Academy Awards 1957 Como was again nominated for two Oscars for Best Production Design: On the one hand with Pereira, A. Earl Hedrick and Frank R. McKelvy for the black and white film also heroes can cry (1956 ), on the other hand for the color film The Ten Commandments ( 1956) together with Pereira, Tyler, Moyer and Albert Nozaki. Another nomination for the Oscar was in 1958 along with Pereira, George W. Davis and Moyer for Funny Face (1957 ) as well as with Pereira, Henry Bumstead and McKelvy for Vertigo - From the Realm of the Dead (1958).

In 1960 he was again with Pereira, Tyler and Krams for the scene image in the black and white film Many are called (Career, 1959) was nominated for an Oscar. At the Academy Awards in 1961 Como was once again nominated for two Oscars. This time with Pereira, Anderson and Arrigo Breschi for the color film It Started in Naples ( It started in Naples, 1960) as well as with Pereira, Tyler and Krams for the black and white film Visit to a Small Planet ( Visit to a Small Planet, 1960). Two more Oscar nominations also followed in 1962 on the one hand, together with Pereira, Tyler and Krams for the color film Summer and Smoke ( Summer and Smoke, 1961), on the other hand, with Pereira, Anderson and Moyer for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961 ), also a black and white film.

At the Academy Awards in 1963, he was nominated by Pereira, Anderson and McKelvy for an Oscar for the scene image in the black and white film The Pigeon That Took Rome ( 1962). Last Sam Comer received in 1964 three nominations: With Pereira, Anderson and James W. Payne for the color film, when my bedroom could talk (1963 ), together with Pereira, Anderson and Grace Gregory for the black and white film love with a stranger ( Love with the Proper Stranger, 1963) as well as with Pereira, Tambi Larsen and Robert R. Benton for the black and white film Hud (1963).

Sam Comer worked during his career as a production designer with famous directors like Mitchell Leisen, William Dieterle, Cecil B. DeMille, Billy Wilder, George Marshall, George Seaton, Alfred Hitchcock, Daniel Mann, Stanley Donen, Joseph Anthony, Melville Shavelson, Norman Taurog, Peter Glenville, Blake Edwards, Bud Yorkin, Robert Mulligan and Martin Ritt together.

Recently the father of film actress Anjanette Comer created the screenshots for television series such as Outlaw (1965 ) and Bonanza (1965 to 1967).