Eugene "Gene" Allen (June 17, 1918 – October 7, 2015) was an American
art director
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
. He followed his father and became a Los Angeles Police officer after he was laid off from his first job as a sketch artist. After serving in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Allen went to art school to pursue his career. He won an
Oscar in 1965 for Best Art Direction for ''
My Fair Lady'',
and was nominated for ''
A Star Is Born'' in 1955
and for ''
Les Girls'' in 1958.
He served as
President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences from 1983 to 1985 and received a Special Achievement Award from the
Art Directors Guild in 1997. Allen died on October 7, 2015, at the age of 97.
''Variety'', Gene Allen Academy President dead
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
1918 births
2015 deaths
People from Los Angeles
Presidents of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Los Angeles Police Department officers
American art directors
Best Art Direction Academy Award winners
United States Navy personnel of World War II
{{US-artdirector-stub