Walter M. Scott
Encyclopedia
Walter M. Scott was an Academy Award
-winning set decorator who worked on films such as The Sound of Music
and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
.
Scott enjoyed a spectacular career in Hollywood, working on over 280 films. He won six Academy Awards for set decoration, and was nominated for an additional fifteen.
He started off working in B-movie
s in 1939, and by 1945 he had graduated to higher profile projects such as The Dolly Sisters
.
His first Academy Award nomination came in 1950 for Joseph L. Mankiewicz
's drama All About Eve
.
Scott's six Academy Awards were for the elaborate reconstruction of Ancient Rome
in both The Robe
(1953
) and the big-budget Cleopatra
(1963
), for his equally elaborate recreation of the Siamese
royal household for The King and I
in 1956
, for a much starker portrayal of the tiny cramped spaces occupied by a Dutch Jewish family in wartime Holland in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959
), for the futuristic settings of Fantastic Voyage
in 1966
, and for a rich tapestry of turn-of-the-century colour in Hello, Dolly! in 1969
.
His last film was Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
in 1973
.
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning set decorator who worked on films such as The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
.
Scott enjoyed a spectacular career in Hollywood, working on over 280 films. He won six Academy Awards for set decoration, and was nominated for an additional fifteen.
He started off working in B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s in 1939, and by 1945 he had graduated to higher profile projects such as The Dolly Sisters
The Dolly Sisters
The Dolly Sisters is a 1945 American biographical film about the Dolly Sisters, identical twins who became famous as entertainers on Broadway and in Europe in the early years of the twentieth century. It starred Betty Grable as Jenny and June Haver as Rosie.-Cast:*Betty Grable as Yansci "Jenny"...
.
His first Academy Award nomination came in 1950 for Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
's drama All About Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
.
Scott's six Academy Awards were for the elaborate reconstruction of Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in both The Robe
The Robe (film)
The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
(1953
1953 in film
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) and the big-budget Cleopatra
Cleopatra (1963 film)
Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...
(1963
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
), for his equally elaborate recreation of the Siamese
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
royal household for The King and I
The King and I (1956 film)
The King and I is a 1956 musical film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Walter Lang and produced by Charles Brackett and Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I, based in turn on the book Anna and the King...
in 1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
, for a much starker portrayal of the tiny cramped spaces occupied by a Dutch Jewish family in wartime Holland in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
), for the futuristic settings of Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it....
in 1966
1966 in film
The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...
, and for a rich tapestry of turn-of-the-century colour in Hello, Dolly! in 1969
1969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
.
His last film was Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies is a 1973 adventure-comedy film, with a story by Steven Spielberg. The film centers on a stunt pilot and his son as they fly around the United States in the 1920s, and their adventures along the way.-Background:Steven Spielberg had developed the story of a flyer...
in 1973
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....
.