J. Michael Riva (June 28, 1948 – June 7, 2012) was an American
production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
.
Early and personal life
John Michael Riva was born in Manhattan, to William Riva, a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
set designer, and
Maria Elisabeth Sieber, a German-born actress and the daughter of
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
. Riva had three brothers (
John Peter, John Paul and John David). Riva attended the prep school
Institute Le Rosey in Switzerland for six years before attending
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
.
Married to Wendy Mickell, he had four sons, Jean-Paul, Mikey, Daniel, and Adam.
[''Country Home'', Volume 25, Issues 1-6, p.100]
Career
Riva had a long and prestigious career as an art director and production designer on numerous films, including the 1985 film ''The Color Purple
''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. '', for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in art director#In film, film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. Th ...
.[ Other credits include '']The Goonies
''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by Steven Spielberg. In the film, kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astori ...
'' (1985), ''Lethal Weapon
''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and co-produced by Joel Silver. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darle ...
'' (1987), ''A Few Good Men
''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom Cru ...
'' (1992), ''Spider-Man 3
''Spider-Man 3'' is a 2007 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by Raimi, his older brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent. It is the final installment in Raimi's ...
'' (2007), ''Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
'' (2008) and ''Iron Man 2
''Iron Man 2'' is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to ''Iron Man (2008 film), Iron Man'' (2008) and List of Marve ...
'' (2010).The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' and ''Django Unchained
''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Chri ...
'', were released posthumously. He was the production designer for the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, as well as for the 74th and 79th Academy Awards
The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2006 and took place February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...
in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He won a Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for his work on the latter.[
]
Death
Riva suffered a stroke on June 1, 2012, in , during production of ''Django Unchained''. He died in a hospital there on June 7, 2012, at age 63.[ ''Django'' director ]Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
commented, "Michael became a dear friend on this picture, as well as a magnificent, talented colleague."[
]
Filmography
Films
;All as production designer unless stated otherwise
Television
;All as production designer unless stated otherwise
References
http://vimeo.com/3559547
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riva, J. Michael
1948 births
2012 deaths
People from Manhattan
American production designers
American people of German descent
Emmy Award winners