Alexander Golitzen
Alexander Golitzen, (
Moscow,
February 28,
1908 -
San Diego,
July 26,
2005) oversaw
art direction on more than 300 movies.
Alexander Golitzen was born in Moscow, but fled the country with his family during the
Russian Revolution. Travelling via
Siberia and
China, they arrived in
Seattle, where Alexander graduated from
high school. He then attended the
University of Washington, where he achieved a degree in
architecture.
He started his art direction career in
Los Angeles, as an assistant to
Alexander Toluboff, an art director for
MGM. He started working with
Walter Wanger (a
producer) in
1939 and they worked together for many movies. Starting in
1942, and continuing for the next 30 years, he became a unit
art director, and later a supervising art director at
Universal, overseeing dozens of productions.
Alexander Golitzen earned an
Oscar nomination for
Foreign Correspondent (
1940), and received an Oscar (shared with
John B. Goodman) for
Phantom in
1943.
He was nominated for an
Academy Award for his work on
Sundown (
1941),
Arabian Nights (
1942),
The Climax (
1944),
Flower Drum Song (
1961),
That Touch of Mink (
1962),
Gambit (
1966),
Thoroughly Modern Millie (
1967),
Sweet Charity (
1969),
Airport (
1970), and
Earthquake (
1974).
Alexander was married for 72 years to Frances, who survived him. They had a daughter Chyntia, a son Peter, five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
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IMDb entry.
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Obituary.
