David Wood Townsend (November 2, 1891 – August 5, 1935) was an American art director.

Career

1919 secretary/treasurer of

Otis B. Thayer Otis Bryant Thayer (1862 – August 16, 1935) was an American actor, director, producer and owner of silent era film production companies. Before his film career he was a stage actor and operatic comedian. By 1910, he piloted the Chicago base ...

Art-O-Graf The Art-O-Graf Film Company was an American film production and distribution company founded by Otis B. Thayer that operated between 1919 and 1923 during the silent era. Four time Academy Awards nominee Vernon L. Walker started his career as the ...

film company in Denver.
1920 sales manager of

film company in Denver.
1921 vice president of

film company in Denver.

From 1919 through 1921, Art-o-Graf produced the following films: " Miss Arizona (1919 Film)", "

Wolves of the Street (1920 Film) ''Wolves of the Street'' (also known as ''The Wolves of Wall Street'' or ''Wolves in Wall Street'') is a 1920 American silent Western film directed by Otis B. Thayer and starring Edmund Cobb and Vida Johnson. The film was shot in Steamboat Sp ...

", " The Desert Scorpion", " Finders Keepers (1921 Film)", and

Out of the Depths (1921 Film) ''Out of the Depths'' is a 1921 American silent Western film based on a book by author Robert Ames Bennet and directed by Otis B. Thayer and Frank Reicher, starring Edmund Cobb and Violet Mersereau. The film was shot in Denver, Colorado by T ...

.

1922 President of the "Mountain Plains Enterprise Film Company" in Denver. There were plans by the "Mountain Plains Enterprise Company" to build "Sunshine Studios" at Tim McCoy's Owl Creek Dude ranch in order to shoot a film titled, "The Dude Wrangler" written by Caroline Lockhart. The project was abandoned. He was also still listed as a scenario writer for Art-O-Graf Film company.

His work with MGM:

1927 "

Frisco Sally Levy ''Frisco Sally Levy'' (a.k.a. "Véspera de Natal") is a lost 1927 comedy silent film directed by William Beaudine and starring Sally O'Neil and Roy D'Arcy, which was released on April 2, 1927.Tillie the Toiler" (art director), " Foreign Devils (1927 film)" (art director), " Spring Fever (1927 film)" (sets), "

The Bugle Call ''The Bugle Call'' is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by Edward Sedgwick and starring Jackie Coogan and Claire Windsor, which was released on August 6, 1927. The Lost Film Files database lists this film as being lost. Plot Bill ...

" (sets), " The Callahans and the Murphys" (sets), "

Rookies (1927 film) ''Rookies'' (aka ''Red, White and Blue'') is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Sam Wood and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film pairs the comedy teaming of Karl Dane and George K. Arthur as the stars of ''Rookies''. Becaus ...

" (sets), " Slide, Kelly, Slide" (sets), " The Taxi Dancer" (sets), " Winners of the Wilderness" (sets)
1933 " The Prizefighter and the Lady" (art director)
1934 "

You Can't Buy Everything ''You Can't Buy Everything'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Charles Reisner and Sandy Roth and starring May Robson, Jean Parker and Lewis Stone. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Working titles of the fi ...

" (art director), " The Show-Off" (art director) " Death on the Diamond" (associate art director), " Hide-Out" (associate art director), " Murder in the Private Car" (associate art director), "

The Thin Man (film) ''The Thin Man'' is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy-mystery directed by W. S. Van Dyke and based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a leisure-class ...

" (associate art director)
1935 " China Seas (film)" (associate art director), " Murder in the Fleet" (associate art director), " The Winning Ticket" (associate art director)
1936 " The Robin Hood of El Dorado" (art director)

Personal life and death

David Wood Townsend was born in Hoskins, Wayne County, Nebraska, the son of Glenn Eli Townsend and Bertha A. (Towberman) Townsend. Grandson of David Wood Townsend and Mary Ellen (Brown) Townsend. Great-grandson of Eli Townsend and Abigial Mosher (Wood) Townsend.''Los Angeles Times,'' August 6, 1935, "Crash Kills Film Expert, David Townsend, Art Aide, Dead and Three Injured as Car Falls in Canyon" pg A2
In 1910, at the age of 19, Townsend was living with his parents and grandfather whom he was named after in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

.
In 1913, Townsend married

Lillian Francis Rennick Lillian or Lilian can refer to: People * Lillian (name) or Lilian, a given name Places * Lilian, Iran, a village in Markazi Province, Iran In the United States * Lillian, Alabama * Lillian, West Virginia * Lillian Township, Custer Count ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

. He and Lillian had two children together, Edward Glenn Townsend and Harriet L. (Townsend) Pim Ayers.
In 1915 he was secretary/treasurer for his father's company, G. E. Construction in Norfolk,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

and was still living in that area by 1917.
In 1919 he worked for the Art-O-Graf Film Company of Colorado.
In 1922 he was President of the "Mountain Plains Enterprise Film Company" in Denver.
In 1926, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and began work for the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

Studios as an art director and set designer.
On August 5, 1935 while scouting locations at Sonora Pass for the film, " The Robin Hood of El Dorado," the car he was riding in with Lowell L. Ralph, Mrs. Lottie Mundello, and Miss Agnes McMullen, went off the road and plunged 200 feet below. Townsend was killed instantly, while the other three passengers, who were thrown from the car, survived.Reno Evening Gazette, August 10, 1935, "Townsend Rites to be in South."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, David 1891 births 1935 deaths American art directors