Ken Adam(1921-2016)
- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
Ken Adam was a British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for Dr. Folamour ou : comment j'ai appris à ne plus m'en faire et à aimer la bombe (1964).
His first major screen credit was as production designer on the British thriller Soho quartier dangereux (1956). In 1961 he was hired for the first James Bond film, James Bond 007 contre Dr. No (1962).
Adam did not work in the second James Bond film, Bons Baisers de Russie (1963) because he was working in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Folamour ou : comment j'ai appris à ne plus m'en faire et à aimer la bombe (1964). This enabled him to make his name with his innovative, semi-futuristic sets for further James Bond films, such as Goldfinger (1964), Opération Tonnerre (1965), On ne vit que deux fois (1967), Les diamants sont éternels (1971), L'Espion qui m'aimait (1977), and his last Bond film was Moonraker (1979).
Adam returned to work with Kubrick on Barry Lyndon (1975), for which he won an Oscar. He also worked in Ipcress - Danger immédiat (1965) and its sequel Mes funérailles à Berlin (1966), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Le Limier (1972), and La folie du roi George (1994), for which he won his second Oscar for Best Art Direction.
In 2003, Adam was knighted for services to the film industry and Anglo-German relations.
He died on 10 March 2016 at his home in London at the age of 95.
His first major screen credit was as production designer on the British thriller Soho quartier dangereux (1956). In 1961 he was hired for the first James Bond film, James Bond 007 contre Dr. No (1962).
Adam did not work in the second James Bond film, Bons Baisers de Russie (1963) because he was working in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Folamour ou : comment j'ai appris à ne plus m'en faire et à aimer la bombe (1964). This enabled him to make his name with his innovative, semi-futuristic sets for further James Bond films, such as Goldfinger (1964), Opération Tonnerre (1965), On ne vit que deux fois (1967), Les diamants sont éternels (1971), L'Espion qui m'aimait (1977), and his last Bond film was Moonraker (1979).
Adam returned to work with Kubrick on Barry Lyndon (1975), for which he won an Oscar. He also worked in Ipcress - Danger immédiat (1965) and its sequel Mes funérailles à Berlin (1966), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Le Limier (1972), and La folie du roi George (1994), for which he won his second Oscar for Best Art Direction.
In 2003, Adam was knighted for services to the film industry and Anglo-German relations.
He died on 10 March 2016 at his home in London at the age of 95.
