Alexander Golitzen(1908-2005)
- Art Director
- Production Designer
- Art Department
Alexander Golitzen was a legendary art director, a field in which most
worker's names remain relatively unknown. His prolific work in hundreds
of films, predominantly at Universal, made his name familiar to many
film-goers, at least among those who read credits. Possibly only
Cedric Gibbons, at MGM, shared a similar fame. Golitzen was nominated for
Academy Awards fourteen times, winning on three occasions.
Golitzen's family, noble descendants of princes of Lithuania, fled Moscow following the Russian Revolution, so he found himself in America at the age of 16. The family settled in Seattle and Alexander earned a degree in architecture from the University of Washington. He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and became an assistant to the fellow Russian-born art director, Alexander Toluboff at MGM working as an illustrator for La reine Christine (1933). He became an art director in 1935, and went on to work at various studios for independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn and Walter Wanger. His older sister, Natalie Galitzine, appeared in two Hollywood films, including Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings.
Golitzen was Oscar-nominated for his work on Hitchcock's Correspondant 17 (1940) before Wanger brought Golitzen to work with him at Universal on the film Les mille et une nuits (1942) for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination. He continued to show his flair for the design of Technicolor films at this studio, and won his first academy award the very next year for Le fantôme de l'opéra (1943).
In 1954 Alexander was named Supervising Art Director at Universal, a title he held until his retirement in 1974. Although considered a genius for his work in color films, with his contributions adding considerably to the impact of diverse film subjects, including westerns, musicals, and even the science fiction film, Les Survivants de l'infini (1955), he was also adept in black & white, earning an Oscar for Du silence et des ombres... (1962). Golitzen also did some notable work for television series such as The Twilight Zone (1959) and One Step Beyond (1959). He retired on a high note, with his very last work, on the film Tremblement de terre (1974), being Oscar-nominated.
Golitzen's family, noble descendants of princes of Lithuania, fled Moscow following the Russian Revolution, so he found himself in America at the age of 16. The family settled in Seattle and Alexander earned a degree in architecture from the University of Washington. He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and became an assistant to the fellow Russian-born art director, Alexander Toluboff at MGM working as an illustrator for La reine Christine (1933). He became an art director in 1935, and went on to work at various studios for independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn and Walter Wanger. His older sister, Natalie Galitzine, appeared in two Hollywood films, including Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings.
Golitzen was Oscar-nominated for his work on Hitchcock's Correspondant 17 (1940) before Wanger brought Golitzen to work with him at Universal on the film Les mille et une nuits (1942) for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination. He continued to show his flair for the design of Technicolor films at this studio, and won his first academy award the very next year for Le fantôme de l'opéra (1943).
In 1954 Alexander was named Supervising Art Director at Universal, a title he held until his retirement in 1974. Although considered a genius for his work in color films, with his contributions adding considerably to the impact of diverse film subjects, including westerns, musicals, and even the science fiction film, Les Survivants de l'infini (1955), he was also adept in black & white, earning an Oscar for Du silence et des ombres... (1962). Golitzen also did some notable work for television series such as The Twilight Zone (1959) and One Step Beyond (1959). He retired on a high note, with his very last work, on the film Tremblement de terre (1974), being Oscar-nominated.
