Gene Allen, the Oscar®-winning production designer behind My Fair Lady, A Star is Born and Les Girls, will be inducted into the Art Directors Guild (ADG) Hall of Fame at the 21st Annual Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Awards, announced today by ADG Council chairperson Marcia Hinds and awards producer Thomas Wilkins. The ceremony will be held Saturday, February 11, 2017 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland.
In making the announcement, Hinds said, “We celebrate Gene as a legendary and iconic production designer. Gene made an enormous contribution to the art of production design and art direction through his love of color, form and dramatic design. He was a visionary, a leader in the industry, an advocate of the profession and an inspiration to us all.”
Allen, who passed away at the age of 97 last year, made his mark not only as a production designer but as a respected executive within the industry. He served three terms as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1983 to 1985), was executive director for the Art Directors Guild for 27 years (1970 to 1997) and served four two-year terms as IATSE VP.
Allen got his start in 1936 as a “blueprint boy” in Warner Bros. art department, but studio layoffs led to his enlistment in the LAPD and Navy during World War II. He rejoined Hollywood in 1948 as a sketch artist and quickly rose through the ranks to art director, earning his first Oscar nomination for A Star Is Born. His stunning production design on My Fair Lady won him one of the film’s eight Academy Awards®.
Other production design credits include At Long Last Love, The Cheyenne Social Club and The Chapman Report. His credits as an art director include Let’s Make Love, A Breath of Scandal, Heller in Pink Tights, Merry Andrew, Back from Eternity, Bhowani Junction and Les Girls, which earned him his second Oscar nomination.
The latter part of Allen’s career saw him serving in executive roles at the Motion Picture Academy and ADG, which honored him with a Special Achievement Award in 1997. He held memberships with the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America and served on numerous industry-related boards including the Motion Picture Industry Pension Plan and the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Allen was a recognized watercolor painter whose work was exhibited in many galleries, more recently the ADG’s Gallery 800 in North Hollywood.
Last year’s ADG Hall of Fame inductees, which are only given posthumously, were production designer Carmen Dillon, production and costume designer Patricia Norris, production designer and illustrator Dorothea Holt Redmond and art director and set designer Dianne Wager.
As previously announced, ADG will present four Lifetime Achievement Awards to Emmy®-winning production designer René Lagler, scenic artist Albert Obregon, Emmy-nominated set designer Cate Bangs and sr. illustrator Joseph Musso.
Producers of this year’s ADG Awards (#ADGawards) are production designers Tom Wilkins and Tom Walsh. Online voting will be held December 12, 2016-January 4, 2017. Nominations will be announced on January 5, 2017. Final online balloting will be held January 12-February 9, and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Saturday, February 11. ADG Awards are open only to productions, when made within the U.S., by producers signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.
