Carmen Dillon

{{Short description|British art director (1908–2000)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Use British English|date=June 2013}} {{Infobox person | image = | image_size = | name = Carmen Dillon | birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|10|25|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Hendon]], [[London]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|4|12|1908|10|25|df=y}} | death_place = [[Hove]], [[East Sussex]] | other_names = | occupation = [[Art director]] | years_active = 1938 - 1979 }} '''Carmen Dillon''' (25 October 1908{{spaced ndash}}12 April 2000) was an English film art director and production designer who won an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for the [[Laurence Olivier|Olivier]] version of ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (1948).<ref name="IMDb.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0226973/awards |title=IMDb.com: Carmen Dillon - Awards |access-date=2008-12-20|work=IMDb.com}}</ref>

==Life== Dillon was born in Hendon to Irish-born Joseph Thomas Dillon and his wife Teresa. She was one of six children, for whom their Catholic parents paid to be well educated. Carmen went to the [[New Hall School|New Hall Convent School]] in Chelmsford. The elder brother died during World War one, one sister became a nun and another brother emigrated. Carmen and her sisters Teresa and [[Agnes Dillon]] (known as Una) were left to fulfil their parent's ambitions for them.<ref name=una>Jean H. Cook, ‘Dillon, Agnes Joseph Madeline [Una] (1903–1993)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/51834, accessed 11 April 2017]</ref>

Dillon initially worked as an architect and designer, and was invited to design the cover for the newly formed [[Electrical Association for Women]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pursell|first=Carroll|date=1999|title=Domesticating Modernity: The Electrical Association for Women, 1924-86|journal=The British Journal for the History of Science|volume=32|issue=1|pages=47–67|doi=10.1017/S0007087498003483|jstor=4027969|issn=0007-0874}}</ref>

However in 1934 she was invited to join the film industry.<ref name="car">Laurie N. Ede, ‘Dillon, Carmen Joseph (1908–2000)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/74014, accessed 11 April 2017]</ref> This built on her enthusiasm for acting and drawing. She became an art director and production designer, and won an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for [[Laurence Olivier]]'s 1948 film of ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]''.<ref name="IMDb.com" /> It was said that for twenty-five years she was the only woman art director in the British film industry.<ref name="Nicholson2008" />

None of the three Dillon sisters married, and they spent 42 years together in a large flat in Kensington. Tess Dillon had led the physics department at [[Queen Elizabeth College]].<ref name="Nicholson2008">{{cite book|author=Virginia Nicholson|title=Singled Out: How Two Million Women Survived Without Men After the First World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fBuVbWDOjJUC&pg=PT262|date=5 June 2008|publisher=Penguin Adult|isbn=978-0-14-102062-4|pages=262–}}</ref> In 1985 Carmen retired to Hove with her sister Una, who had founded [[Dillons Booksellers]].<ref name=una/> Carmen outlived her sister and died in 2000 with no survivors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/28/arts/carmen-dillon-91-art-director-known-for-work-on-british-films.html|title=Carmen Dillon, 91, Art Director Known for Work on British Films|date=2000-04-28|work=New York Times|access-date=2017-04-11|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Selected filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''[[Murder in the Family]]'' (1938) * ''[[The Claydon Treasure Mystery]]'' (1938) * ''[[The Last Barricade]]'' (1938) * ''[[Father O'Nine]]'' (1938) * ''[[French Without Tears (film)|French Without Tears]]'' (1940) *''[[Freedom Radio]]'' (1941) * ''[[Quiet Wedding]]'' (1941) * ''[[Unpublished Story]]'' (1942) * ''[[Secret Mission]]'' (1942) * ''[[Talk About Jacqueline]]'' (1942) * ''[[The Gentle Sex]]'' (1943) * ''[[The Demi-Paradise]]'' (1943) * ''[[The Way to the Stars]]'' (1945) * ''[[Carnival (1946 film)|Carnival]]'' (1946) * ''[[School for Secrets]]'' (1946) * ''[[White Cradle Inn]]'' (1947) * ''[[Vice Versa (1948 film)|Vice Versa]]'' (1948) * ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (1948) * ''[[Woman Hater (1948 film)|Woman Hater]]'' (1948) * ''[[Cardboard Cavalier]]'' (1949) * ''[[The Rocking Horse Winner (film)|The Rocking Horse Winner]]'' (1949) * ''[[The Woman in Question]]'' (1950) * ''[[The Reluctant Widow (film)|The Reluctant Widow]]'' (1950) * ''[[The Browning Version (1951 film)|The Browning Version]]'' (1951) * ''[[Meet Me Tonight]]'' (1952) * ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film)|The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' (1952) * ''[[The Story of Robin Hood (film)|The Story of Robin Hood]]'' (1952) * ''[[The Sword and the Rose]]'' (1953) * ''[[Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue|Rob Roy]]'' (1953) * ''[[Doctor in the House (film)|Doctor in the House]]'' (1954) * ''[[Simon and Laura]]'' (1955) * ''[[One Good Turn (1955 film)|One Good Turn]]'' (1955) * ''[[Doctor at Sea (film)|Doctor at Sea]]'' (1955) * ''[[Richard III (1955 film)|Richard III]]'' (1955) * ''[[The Iron Petticoat]]'' (1956) * ''[[Checkpoint (1956 film)|Checkpoint]]'' (1956) * ''[[The Prince and the Showgirl]]'' (1957) * ''[[Miracle in Soho]]'' (1957) * ''[[A Tale of Two Cities (1958 film)|A Tale of Two Cities]]'' (1958) * ''[[Sapphire (1959 film)|Sapphire]]'' (1959) * ''[[Please Turn Over]]'' (1959) * ''[[Carry on Constable]]'' (1960) * ''[[Make Mine Mink]]'' (1960) * ''[[Watch Your Stern]]'' (1960) * ''[[Raising the Wind (1961 film)|Raising the Wind]]'' (1961) * ''[[The Naked Edge]]'' (1961) * ''[[Twice Round the Daffodils]]'' (1962) * ''[[The Iron Maiden]]'' (1962) *''[[The Battle of the Villa Fiorita]]'' (1965) * ''[[A Dandy in Aspic]]'' (1968) * ''[[Otley (film)|Otley]]'' (1969) * ''[[To Catch a Spy]]'' (1971) * ''[[The Go-Between (1971 film)|The Go-Between]]'' (1971) * ''[[Lady Caroline Lamb (film)|Lady Caroline Lamb]]'' (1972) * ''[[Bequest to the Nation (film)|Bequest to the Nation]]'' (1973) * ''[[Julia (1977 film)|Julia]]'' (1977) * ''[[The Corn Is Green (1979 film)|The Corn Is Green]]'' (1979) {{div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0226973}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Carmen}} [[Category:British film designers]] [[Category:British art directors]] [[Category:1908 births]] [[Category:2000 deaths]] [[Category:People from Cricklewood]] [[Category:Best Production Design Academy Award winners]] [[Category:People educated at New Hall School]] [[Category:British women production designers]]