Robert F. Boyle
Encyclopedia
Robert Francis Boyle was an American film
art director
and production designer
.
Born in Los Angeles
, Boyle trained as an architect
, graduating from the University of Southern California
(USC). When he lost his job in that field during the Great Depression
, Boyle found work in films as an extra
. In 1933 he was hired as a draftsman in the Paramount Pictures
art department, headed by supervising art director Hans Dreier
. Beginning with Cecil B. DeMille
's The Plainsman
, Boyle went on to work on a variety of pictures as a sketch artist, draftsman and assistant art director before becoming an art director at Universal Studios
in the early 1940s.
Boyle collaborated several times with Alfred Hitchcock
, first as an associate art director for Saboteur
(1942) and later as a full-fledged production designer for North by Northwest
(1959), The Birds
(1963), and Marnie
(1964). Denied permission to shoot footage on Mount Rushmore
, Hitchcock turned to Boyle to create realistic replicas of the stone heads. Boyle abseiled down the monument, photographing its contours in detail, before constructing “just enough to put the actors on so we could get down shots, up shots, side shots, whatever we needed.” Almost two decades earlier, Boyle had delivered the Statue of Liberty
reproduction that was used in the climactic scene of Saboteur. For The Birds, Boyle was put in charge of the title characters. He later recalled, “We needed to find out which birds we could use best, and finally settled on two types: sea gulls, which were very greedy beasts that would always fly toward the camera if there was a piece of meat, and crows, which had a strange sort of intelligence.” Boyle described his relationship with Hitchcock: “It was a meeting of equals: the director who knew exactly what he wanted, and the art director who knew how to get it done."
When director Norman Jewison
failed in his attempts to get the necessary submarine
that was at the epicenter of his The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
storyline, Boyle built a working model from styrofoam and fiberglass.
Boyle's other credits include It Came from Outer Space
, Cape Fear
, In Cold Blood
, Fiddler on the Roof
, Portnoy's Complaint
, Winter Kills
, Mame
, W.C. Fields and Me
, The Shootist
, Private Benjamin
, Staying Alive
, and Troop Beverly Hills
.
During the course of his career, Boyle was nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction
but never won. In 1997 he received the Art Directors Guild
's Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was voted an Honorary Academy Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
, "in recognition of one of cinema's great careers in art direction," which he received during the 80th Academy Awards
ceremony on February 24, 2008. At the age of 98, Boyle became the oldest winner ever of an Honorary Award
in the history of the Academy Awards. Despite being in ill health and arriving to the ceremony in a wheelchair, Boyle insisted on walking onstage, alongside Nicole Kidman
, to receive the honor.
Boyle was the subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary
short The Man on Lincoln's Nose
(2000).
Boyle died on August 1, 2010 in Los Angeles from natural causes.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
and production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
.
Born in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Boyle trained as an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, graduating from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC). When he lost his job in that field during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Boyle found work in films as an extra
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
. In 1933 he was hired as a draftsman in the Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
art department, headed by supervising art director Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier was a film art director.Born in Bremen, Germany, Dreier began his career in German film in 1919 and by the end of the 1920s had relocated to Hollywood....
. Beginning with Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's The Plainsman
The Plainsman
The Plainsman is a 1936 American Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. The film presents a highly fictionalized account of the adventures and relationships between Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and General George Custer, with a...
, Boyle went on to work on a variety of pictures as a sketch artist, draftsman and assistant art director before becoming an art director at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in the early 1940s.
Boyle collaborated several times with Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, first as an associate art director for Saboteur
Saboteur (film)
Saboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942) and later as a full-fledged production designer for North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
(1959), The Birds
The Birds (film)
The Birds is a 1963 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few...
(1963), and Marnie
Marnie (film)
Marnie is a 1964 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on the novel of the same name by Winston Graham. The film stars Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. The original film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.-Plot:...
(1964). Denied permission to shoot footage on Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
, Hitchcock turned to Boyle to create realistic replicas of the stone heads. Boyle abseiled down the monument, photographing its contours in detail, before constructing “just enough to put the actors on so we could get down shots, up shots, side shots, whatever we needed.” Almost two decades earlier, Boyle had delivered the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
reproduction that was used in the climactic scene of Saboteur. For The Birds, Boyle was put in charge of the title characters. He later recalled, “We needed to find out which birds we could use best, and finally settled on two types: sea gulls, which were very greedy beasts that would always fly toward the camera if there was a piece of meat, and crows, which had a strange sort of intelligence.” Boyle described his relationship with Hitchcock: “It was a meeting of equals: the director who knew exactly what he wanted, and the art director who knew how to get it done."
When director Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...
failed in his attempts to get the necessary submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
that was at the epicenter of his The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
storyline, Boyle built a working model from styrofoam and fiberglass.
Boyle's other credits include It Came from Outer Space
It Came from Outer Space
It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 science fiction 3-D film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake. It was Universal's first film to be filmed in 3-D.- Plot :...
, Cape Fear
Cape Fear (1962 film)
Cape Fear is a 1962 film starring Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergen. It was adapted by James R. Webb from the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson, and released on April 12, 1962...
, In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood (film)
In Cold Blood is a 1967 film based on Truman Capote's book of the same name. Richard Brooks prepared the adaptation and directed the film. Some scenes were filmed on the locations of the original events, in Garden City and Holcomb, Kansas including the Clutter residence...
, Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof (film)
Fiddler on the Roof is the 1971 film adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name, with music composed by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, about Tevye and his Daughters. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three...
, Portnoy's Complaint
Portnoy's Complaint (film)
Portnoy's Complaint is a 1972 American dramedy film written and directed by Ernest Lehman. His screenplay is based on the bestselling 1969 novel of the same name by Philip Roth.-Plot synopsis:...
, Winter Kills
Winter Kills
Winter Kills is a black comic novel exploring the assassination of a U.S. President. The novel parallels the real life assassination of John F. Kennedy and the various conspiracy theories that surround the event.-Plot summary:...
, Mame
Mame (film)
Mame is a 1974 musical film based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Gene Saks, written by Paul Zindel, and starring Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur.Warner Bros...
, W.C. Fields and Me
W.C. Fields and Me
W.C. Fields and Me is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Rod Steiger and Valerie Perrine. The screenplay by Bob Merrill is based on a memoir by Carlotta Monti, mistress of W.C. Fields for the last 14 years of his life....
, The Shootist
The Shootist
The Shootist is a 1976 Western starring John Wayne in his final film role. It was based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. Scott Hale and Miles Hood Swarthout wrote the screenplay...
, Private Benjamin
Private Benjamin
Private Benjamin is a 1980 American comedy film starring Goldie Hawn. The film was one of the biggest box office hits of 1980, and also spawned a short-lived television series. The film is ranked 82 on the American Film Institute's "100 Funniest Movies" poll, and 59 on Bravo's "100 Funniest...
, Staying Alive
Staying Alive
Staying Alive is the 1983 film sequel to Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta as dancer Tony Manero, with Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes, Joyce Hyser, Steve Inwood, Julie Bovasso, and dancers Viktor Manoel, Kate Ann Wright, Kevyn Morrow and Nanette Tarpey...
, and Troop Beverly Hills
Troop Beverly Hills
Troop Beverly Hills is a 1989 American comedy film. Produced by Weintraub Entertainment Group and directed by Jeff Kanew, it starred Shelley Long, Craig T...
.
During the course of his career, Boyle was nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
but never won. In 1997 he received the Art Directors Guild
Art Directors Guild
The Art Directors Guild is an American labor union and branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees representing almost 2,000 motion picture and television professionals....
's Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was voted an Honorary Academy Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
, "in recognition of one of cinema's great careers in art direction," which he received during the 80th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
ceremony on February 24, 2008. At the age of 98, Boyle became the oldest winner ever of an Honorary Award
Academy Honorary Award
The Academy Honorary Award, instituted in 1948 for the 21st Academy Awards , is given by the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of...
in the history of the Academy Awards. Despite being in ill health and arriving to the ceremony in a wheelchair, Boyle insisted on walking onstage, alongside Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, to receive the honor.
Boyle was the subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
short The Man on Lincoln's Nose
The Man on Lincoln's Nose
The Man on Lincoln's Nose is a 2000 short documentary film directed by Daniel Raim. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.-Cast:* James D. Bissell - Himself* Robert F. Boyle - Himself* Henry Bumstead - Himself...
(2000).
Boyle died on August 1, 2010 in Los Angeles from natural causes.