Wayne Fitzgerald Biography

American film *le designer (1930–2019)

Wayne Fitzgerald (March 19, 1930 – September 30, 2019) was an American film *le designer. Over a career that spanned 55 years, he designed close to five hundred motion picture and television main and end *le sequences for top directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, John Huston, Mike Nichols, Robert Redford, Roman Polanski, Arthur Penn, Michael Cimino, Warren Beatty, Herbert Ross, John Hughes, and Quentin Tarantino.

Film *le work

A native of Los Angeles, Fitzgerald graduated from Art Center College of Design in 1951, and went to work at Pacific *le & Art Studio. His first major motion picture *le design was for MGM's Raintree County (1957). He worked on a great many *les during his 17-year tenure at Pacific *le, becoming head of the art and design department. During that time, Pacific *le did all the motion picture *le work for Warner Bros., MGM, and 20th Century Fox, as well as some for Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures, plus independents. Neither Pacific *le nor its employees received *le design credit. As a result, Fitzgerald did not receive credit for many of his early designs, such as The Three Faces of Eve (1957), Imitation of Life (1959), Pillow Talk (also 1959), The Music Man (1962), My Fair Lady (1964); or for early television shows such as Maverick (1957), Mister Ed (1961), and The Beverly Hillbillies (1962).

In addition to providing an entertaining background for the credits, Fitzgerald's *les often set the mood. For The Music Man he directed a group of 35 technicians who built sets and painted and animated the musical instruments and marching band. He then shot and edited the sequence.

In the film Max Dugan Returns (1983), the *le character does not appear for half an hour. Fitzgerald's *les with Bob Kurtz animation provided a background for the character. For Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Fitzgerald used old snapshots and a quick-cut style driven by sound that melded seamlessly with film editor Dede Allen's editorial style. The photos established the mood and look of the 1930s, and referenced the fact that Bonnie and Clyde were known for taking snapshots of themselves, which they sent to the press. Until the music starts to fade in, the only sound is the click of a Brownie camera.

While working together on Bonnie and Clyde, Warren Beatty convinced Fitzgerald to strike out on his own. He left his job as head of the art department at Pacific *le and formed Wayne Fitzgerald FilmDesign. Chinatown (1974), Nine to Five (1980), Footloose (1984), Total Recall (1990), to name a few, followed. In addition to opening *les, Fitzgerald shot second unit and edited montage sequences for Rocky III and Tootsie (both 1982).

Fitzgerald also continued to design *les for prime time television shows Night Gallery (1971), McMillan & Wife (1971), Dallas (1978 - 1988), Matlock (1986), and Columbo (1971–75). He won an Emmy Award in 1987 for The Bronx Zoo.

He also designed for the daytime soap operas The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS) 1987 (EMMY 1987), One Life to Live (ABC) 1984, and The Guiding Light (CBS) 1991 (EMMY 1992), and again in 2002 with his son Eric, Fitzgerald, also a *le designer.

In 1993, he briefly joined the digital graphic design firm, Pittard-Sullivan. It became Pittard-Sullivan-Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's last work with the company was in 1995, after which he reformed his company, Wayne Fitzgerald FilmDesign, Inc.

In 1995, Fitzgerald designed the logo for the Motion Picture Editors Guild.

Personal life

Fitzgerald was a member of the Directors Guild of America. He was a two-term governor in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, representing *le designers, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He lectured at UCLA and AFI, and participated in panel discussions in Los Angeles and New York. He also taught at Art Center College of Design.

Fitzgerald died September 30, 2019, aged 89.

Filmography

Select Pacific *le (1956–1968) *les

Wayne Fitzgerald/FilmDesign (1968–1993)

Pittard/Sullivan/Fitzgerald (1993–1995)

  • Groundhog Day (1993)
  • Grumpy Old Men (1993)
  • Wyatt Earp (1994)
  • Maverick (1994)
  • Waterworld (1995)

Wayne Fitzgerald/Filmdesign (1995–2003)

Awards

Fitzgerald won a Primetime Emmy with David Oliver Pfeil for outstanding main *le design on The Bronx Zoo in 1987. He won Daytime Emmys for The Bold and the Beautiful in 1987, and The Guiding Light in 1992. He was nominated for Daytime Emmys in 1994 with Judy Korin for Days of Our Lives, and with Eric Fitzgerald in 2003 for The 50th Anniversary Season of The Guiding Light.

References

    External links

    • Wayne Fitzgerald at IMDb
    • Wayne Fitzgerald at the TCM Movie Database
    • New York Times Filmography at http://movies.nytimes.com/person/217173/Wayne-Fitzgerald/filmography
    • Awards for Wayne Fitzgerald at IMDb
    • "Great Panes" an article on Pacific *le http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20030504-9999_1a4gl*.html
    • Total Recall (1990) *le sequence at The Art of the *le Sequence http://www.artofthe*le.com/2008/04/01/total-recall/


    • https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-09-30/wayne-fitzgerald-hollywood-movie-*les-dead
    • https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/movies/wayne-fitzgerald-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1
    • https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/02/pillow-talk-to-bonnie-and-clyde-the-greatest-wayne-fitzgerald-main-*les
    • https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wayne-fitzgerald-dead-main-*le-designer-pillow-talk-godfather-part-ii-total-recall-was-89-1214053
    Wayne Fitzgerald