Lyle R. Wheeler(1905-1990)
- Art Director
- Production Designer
- Art Department
He was known as the 'dean of Hollywood art directors'. Lyle Wheeler
worked on more than 350 films, winning five Academy Awards ("Gone with
the Wind", "Anna and the King of
Siam"', The Robe (1953), The King and I (1956)
and
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959))
and was nominated for twenty-four others. The former magazine
illustrator and industrial designer (also a graduate in architecture
from the University of Southern California) started at MGM in 1931 as a
layout artist and soon worked his way up to becoming assistant art
director under Cedric Gibbons. From the
mid-1930s he began to work for David O. Selznick
as a set designer and quickly proved his creative flair.
His first picture as associate art director was
The Garden of Allah (1936) (replacing
Sturges Carne). Wheeler applied the new
Technicolor dye transfer process to its fullest advantage, giving the
finished product sharper definition and enhanced richness of colour. In
1939, he worked with production designer
William Cameron Menzies on
Gone with the Wind (1939). He
created the sets for Tara and was responsible for the burning of
Atlanta (suggesting to set ablaze the old
King Kong (1933) and
The King of Kings (1927) sets
on the backlot). A long time later, he reminisced, saying "I had to
argue with Selznick about everything. ..I always won, too, at least in
my own mind" (People,March 27 1989). Wheeler became supervising art
director at 20th Century Fox in 1944 and head of the studio's art
department three years later. During his tenure, he worked on some of
the most sumptuous-looking films of the period, including
Leave Her to Heaven (1945),
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
and
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) -- and, of course -- 'The King and I' with its visually stunning
interiors. His outstanding black-and-white films are all characterised
by sharp, clean lines, notable examples being
Rebecca (1940),
Laura (1944) and
All About Eve (1950). He was also capable of
creating amazing sets, as exemplified by the avant-garde nightclub in
Selznick's
The Young in Heart (1938). One
of Wheeler's few regrets was the fact that one of his masterpieces,
Anna and the King of Siam (1946),
had to be shot in black & white because of a painter's strike.
Financial problems forced Wheeler to sell his house in Pacific
Palisades in 1982 and putting his five Academy Awards into storage.
Unable to cover the rent for that storage, the Oscars, hidden within
eleven boxes marked 'Wheeler' were eventually auctioned off, selling
for $175. Through the efforts of a sympathetic individual, Lyle was
eventually reunited with at least one of them.
worked on more than 350 films, winning five Academy Awards ("Gone with
the Wind", "Anna and the King of
Siam"', The Robe (1953), The King and I (1956)
and
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959))
and was nominated for twenty-four others. The former magazine
illustrator and industrial designer (also a graduate in architecture
from the University of Southern California) started at MGM in 1931 as a
layout artist and soon worked his way up to becoming assistant art
director under Cedric Gibbons. From the
mid-1930s he began to work for David O. Selznick
as a set designer and quickly proved his creative flair.
His first picture as associate art director was
The Garden of Allah (1936) (replacing
Sturges Carne). Wheeler applied the new
Technicolor dye transfer process to its fullest advantage, giving the
finished product sharper definition and enhanced richness of colour. In
1939, he worked with production designer
William Cameron Menzies on
Gone with the Wind (1939). He
created the sets for Tara and was responsible for the burning of
Atlanta (suggesting to set ablaze the old
King Kong (1933) and
The King of Kings (1927) sets
on the backlot). A long time later, he reminisced, saying "I had to
argue with Selznick about everything. ..I always won, too, at least in
my own mind" (People,March 27 1989). Wheeler became supervising art
director at 20th Century Fox in 1944 and head of the studio's art
department three years later. During his tenure, he worked on some of
the most sumptuous-looking films of the period, including
Leave Her to Heaven (1945),
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
and
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) -- and, of course -- 'The King and I' with its visually stunning
interiors. His outstanding black-and-white films are all characterised
by sharp, clean lines, notable examples being
Rebecca (1940),
Laura (1944) and
All About Eve (1950). He was also capable of
creating amazing sets, as exemplified by the avant-garde nightclub in
Selznick's
The Young in Heart (1938). One
of Wheeler's few regrets was the fact that one of his masterpieces,
Anna and the King of Siam (1946),
had to be shot in black & white because of a painter's strike.
Financial problems forced Wheeler to sell his house in Pacific
Palisades in 1982 and putting his five Academy Awards into storage.
Unable to cover the rent for that storage, the Oscars, hidden within
eleven boxes marked 'Wheeler' were eventually auctioned off, selling
for $175. Through the efforts of a sympathetic individual, Lyle was
eventually reunited with at least one of them.