John (Jack) Edward Otterson (August 25, 1905 – December 22, 1991) 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 was nominated for eight

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

in the category Best Art Direction. He worked on 300 films between the years of 1934 and 1953.

Biography

Otterson was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

on August 25, 1905. He was educated at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, where he was an editor of a campus humor magazine ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it is the oldest humor magazine in the United States."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/history/ ''The Record'' is c ...

'' with writer Geoffrey T. Hellman, writer and film critic

Dwight Macdonald Dwight Macdonald (March 24, 1906 – December 19, 1982) was an American writer, critic, philosopher, and activist. Macdonald was a member of the New York Intellectuals and editor of their leftist magazine '' Partisan Review'' for six years. He ...

and Hollywood photographer Jerome Zerbe.''Yale Banner and Pot Pourri''. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1927. p. 229.

Death

Otterson died in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on December 22, 1991.

Awards

Otterson was nominated for eight Academy Awards for Best Art Direction: * '' The Magnificent Brute'' (1936) * '' You're a Sweetheart'' (1937) * '' Mad About Music'' (1938) * '' First Love'' (1939) * ''

The Boys from Syracuse ''The Boys from Syracuse'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play '' The Comedy of Errors'', as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemp ...

'' (1940) * ''

The Flame of New Orleans ''The Flame of New Orleans'' is a 1941 American historical comedy film directed by René Clair and starring Marlene Dietrich and Bruce Cabot in his first comedy role. The supporting cast features Roland Young, Andy Devine and Franklin Pangborn. ...

'' (1941) * ''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'' (1942) * '' The Spoilers'' (1942)

Selected filmography

* '' The Missing Guest'' (1938) * ''

'' (1942) * '' The Spoilers''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Otterson, Jack 1905 births 1991 deaths American art directors Artists from Pittsburgh The Yale Record alumni