Lyle R. Wheeler
Birth Name:
Lyle Reynolds Wheeler
Birth Place:
Woburn, Massachusetts, United States
Profession
Art director, Production designer, Art department, Set decorator
Fast Facts
- Attended the USC School of Architecture, and later received an honorary degree from the institution
- Became an industrial designer before getting involved in the film industry
- Started his career as a magazine illustrator
- Started working for MGM as a layout artist in 1931, and quickly worked his way up the ranks to assistant art director
- Quote: "I had to argue with [David O․] Selznick about everything․ I always won, too, at least in my own mind․"
- Quote: "[on reuniting with his Oscar] "I didn't believe I was ever going to see even one of these again․""
- An art director known for such Golden Age classics as "Gone With the Wind," "Anna and the King of Siam" and "The Diary of Anne Frank․"
- Had a long association with producers David O․ Selznick and Alexander Korda
- An architect outside of the film set, he designed the Beverly Hills Post Office, the Hawthorne Elementary School in Beverly Hills, a fountain at Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards and the decorative exterior of Hoover Dam
- Though his Oscars were auctioned off when he failed to pay a storage bill, a former New York hospital supervisor reunited him with the statue he won for "Anne Frank" a year before his death
Awards
- 1938Oscar - Best Art Direction:Nominated
- 1939Oscar - Best Art Direction:Nominated
- 1940Oscar - Best Art Direction:Winner
- 1941Oscar - Best Art Direction, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1945Oscar - Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1946Oscar - Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1947Oscar - Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White:Winner
- 1948Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1950Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1951Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1952Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1952Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1952Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1952Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1953Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1953Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1953Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1954Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1954Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Winner
- 1954Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1955Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1956Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1956Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1957Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Nominated
- 1957Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Winner
- 1959Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color:Nominated
- 1960Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White:Winner
- 1960Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated
- 1964Oscar - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color:Nominated