Norman Reynolds (26 March 1934 – April 2023) was a British production designer and director, best known for his work on the
original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
''.
Reynolds was born in
Willesden
Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, on 26 March 1934.
[''Norman Reynolds: Visualizing Victorian England"'', Starlog #104, February 1986, pp 29-31.]
Reynolds directed two episodes of the
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winning ''
Amazing Stories
''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...
'' TV series, "The Pumpkin Competition" and "Gather Ye Acorns". He was a
second unit director
Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stag ...
for ''
Alive
Alive may refer to:
*Life
Books, comics and periodicals
* ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler
* '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka
* '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...
'' and ''
The Exorcist III
''The Exorcist III'' is a 1990 American psychological horror film written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the third installment in the ''Exorcist'' series, an adaptation of Blatty's ''Exorcist'' novel ''Legion'' (1983), and the fin ...
''.
On 6 April 2023, it was announced that Reynolds had died over the preceding weekend, at the age of 89.
Awards
Won
*1978
Academy Award for Best Production Design
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...
- ''
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' (shared with
John Barry,
Leslie Dilley
Leslie Dilley (born 1941) is a Welsh art director and production designer. During his film career from the 1970s to 2000s, he won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction twice for '' Star Wars'' (1977) and '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981). ...
, and
Roger Christian)
*1982
BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design, formerly known as Best Art Direction (1965–1976), which is presented to production designers (including art directors and set decorators), given out by the B ...
- ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
'' (shared with Leslie Dilley and
Michael D. Ford)
*1982
Academy Award for Best Production Design
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...
- ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
'' (shared with Leslie Dilley and Michael D. Ford)
Nominated
*1977
Academy Award for Best Production Design
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...
- ''
The Incredible Sarah
''The Incredible Sarah'' is a 1976 British drama film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Glenda Jackson. It presents a dramatization of the acting career of Sarah Bernhardt.
Cast
* Glenda Jackson as Sarah Bernhardt
* Daniel Massey as ...
'' (shared with
Elliot Scott
Elliot Scott (19 July 1915 – 29 October 1993) was an English art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Academy Award for Best Production Design, Best Art Direction.
Selected filmography
Scott was nominated f ...
)
*1981
Academy Award for Best Production Design
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...
- ''
The Empire Strikes Back
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...
'' (shared with Leslie Dilley,
Harry Lange,
Alan Tomkins and Michael D. Ford)
*1984
Academy Award for Best Production Design
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...
- ''
Return of the Jedi
''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...
'' (shared with
Fred Hole
Fred Hole (8 May 1935 – 4 February 2011) was an English art director#In film, art director. He was nominated for an Academy Awards, Academy Award in the category Academy Award for Best Production Design, Best Art Direction for the film ''R ...
,
James L. Schoppe, Michael D. Ford)
*1988
Academy Award for Best Production Design
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...
- ''
Empire of the Sun
''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology '' ...
'' (shared with
Harry Cordwell)
*1988
BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design, formerly known as Best Art Direction (1965–1976), which is presented to production designers (including art directors and set decorators), given out by the B ...
- ''
Empire of the Sun
''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology '' ...
'' (shared with Harry Cordwell)
Selected filmography
As art director
*''
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut'' (2006)
*''
Superman II
''Superman II'' is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo and David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment in the ''Superman'' film seri ...
'' (1980)
*''
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
'' (1978)
*''
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' (1977)
*''
The Incredible Sarah
''The Incredible Sarah'' is a 1976 British drama film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Glenda Jackson. It presents a dramatization of the acting career of Sarah Bernhardt.
Cast
* Glenda Jackson as Sarah Bernhardt
* Daniel Massey as ...
'' (1976)
*''
Lucky Lady
''Lucky Lady'' is a 1975 American comedy-drama film directed by Stanley Donen and starring Liza Minnelli, Gene Hackman, Burt Reynolds and Robby Benson. Its story takes place in 1930 during Prohibition in the United States.
The film is notable fo ...
'' (1975)
*''
The Old Curiosity Shop
''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is one of two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 to 1841. It was so popular that New York r ...
'' (1975)
*''
The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 an ...
'' (1974)
As production designer
*''
Bicentennial Man
''The Bicentennial Man'' is a Novella, novelette in the Robot series (Asimov), ''Robot'' series by American writer Isaac Asimov. According to the foreword in ''Robot Visions'', Asimov was approached to write a story, along with a number of other ...
'' (1999)
*''
Sphere
A sphere () is a Geometry, geometrical object that is a solid geometry, three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...
'' (1998)
*''
Mission: Impossible'' (1996)
*''
Clean Slate'' (1994)
*''
Alive
Alive may refer to:
*Life
Books, comics and periodicals
* ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler
* '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka
* '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...
'' (1993)
*''
Alien 3
''Alien 3'' (stylized as ''A''LIEN³) is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, from a story by Vincent Ward. It stars Sigourney Weaver, reprising her r ...
'' (1992)
*''
Avalon
Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
'' (1990)
*''
Mountains of the Moon'' (1990)
*''
Empire of the Sun
''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology '' ...
'' (1987)
*''
Young Sherlock Holmes
''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of "''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear''") is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...
'' (1985)
*''
Return to Oz
''Return to Oz'' is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is an ...
'' (1985)
*''
Return of the Jedi
''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...
'' (1983)
*''
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
'' (1981)
*''
The Empire Strikes Back
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...
'' (1980)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Norman
1934 births
2023 deaths
Artists from London
Best Art Direction Academy Award winners
Best Production Design BAFTA Award winners
British film designers
Businesspeople from London
People from Willesden