# Gene Callahan

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American art director (1923–1990)

**Gene Callahan** (November 7, 1923—December 26, 1990) was an American [art director](/source/Art_director#In_film) as well as [set](/source/Set_designer) and [production designer](/source/Production_designer) who contributed to over fifty films and more than a thousand TV episodes. He received nominations for the [British Academy Film Award](/source/British_Academy_Film_Award) and four [Oscars](/source/Academy_Awards), including two wins (in 1962 and 1964).

## Biography

A native of [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana), **Eugene F. Callahan** had a lifelong association with the state. He kept a home in the capital, [Baton Rouge](/source/Baton_Rouge), where he began his designing career in the 1940s as a student at [Louisiana State University](/source/Louisiana_State_University), and his [penultimate](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penultimate) film assignment was as production designer on *[Steel Magnolias](/source/Steel_Magnolias#Film)*, lensed in [Natchitoches](/source/Natchitoches%2C_Louisiana) in 1989.

Callahan was a prolific contributor to early television, starting with the first full-schedule broadcast season in 1948–49. He worked on numerous live shows during [TV's Golden Age](/source/Golden_Age_of_Television) and continued with filmed episodes through the late 1950s and early 60s. His first film as set decorator was 1959's *[The Fugitive Kind](/source/The_Fugitive_Kind)*, and his fourth assignment, 1961's black-and-white *[The Hustler](/source/The_Hustler)* brought him his first [Academy Award](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Production_Design). 1964 was a banner year for him with two Oscar nominations—*[The Cardinal](/source/The_Cardinal)* in the color category and *[America America](/source/America_America)* in the category of black-and-white films, with the latter winning him his second Oscar. Unlike the 1962 win for *The Hustler*, which he shared with production designer [Harry Horner](/source/Harry_Horner) or his shared nomination for *The Cardinal* with production designer [Lyle R. Wheeler](/source/Lyle_R._Wheeler), the award for *America America*, was his alone. [Elia Kazan](/source/Elia_Kazan)'s acclaimed epic set in turn-of-the-century [Greece](/source/Greece) and [Turkey](/source/Turkey) was nominated for [Best Picture](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture) and [Best Director](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Director), but it was Callahan's epic production values that won the film's only Oscar.

Gene Callahan's professional relationship with Elia Kazan began two years before *America America* and extended to four of Kazan's final five films. The first title, 1961's *[Splendor in the Grass](/source/Splendor_in_the_Grass)*, which introduced [Warren Beatty](/source/Warren_Beatty) to the screen and won an [Oscar](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Screenplay) for [William Inge](/source/William_Inge)'s screenplay, credited Callahan as the set decorator. Eight years later, he was the production designer for Kazan's next film after *America, America*, 1969's *[The Arrangement](/source/The_Arrangement_(1969_film))*, which received almost entirely negative reviews and no Oscar nominations. He did not work on Kazan's next production, 1972's *[The Visitors](/source/The_Visitors_(1972_film))*, another poorly accepted title, but five years later, in 1977, there was one more Oscar nomination for Gene Callahan. *[The Last Tycoon](/source/The_Last_Tycoon#Adaptations)*, Elia Kazan's final directorial effort assigned him the task of recreating 1920s Hollywood as it was portrayed in [F. Scott Fitzgerald](/source/F._Scott_Fitzgerald)'s last, unfinished novel which reimagined the period setting and its driven, doomed protagonist, an [Irving Thalberg](/source/Irving_Thalberg)-like movie producer, portrayed by [Robert De Niro](/source/Robert_De_Niro). The nomination (shared with art director [Jack T. Collis](/source/Jack_T._Collis) and set decorator [Jerry Wunderlich](/source/Jerry_Wunderlich)) was the only one given by the Academy to the film, which in addition to a mixture of good, tepid and negative reviews, was burdened by weak publicity and box office returns.

Gene Callahan died of a [heart attack](/source/Myocardial_infarction) at his home in Baton Rouge, seven weeks after his 67th birthday. His final film, *[The Man in the Moon](/source/The_Man_in_the_Moon_(1991_film))*, a touching coming-of-age story filmed, as in the case of *Steel Magnolias*, in Natchitoches as well as Louisiana's [Kisatchie National Forest](/source/Kisatchie_National_Forest), was released in October 1991, nearly a year after his death.

## References

- ["Gene Callahan, 67, A Film Art Director" (*The New York Times* obituary, December 28, 1990)](https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D6103AF93BA15751C1A966958260)

## External links

- [Gene Callahan](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130194/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [Gene Callahan at Turner Classic Movies](https://web.archive.org/web/20121021151957/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=27245&apid=57525&category=filmographySynopsis&action=more)

v t e Academy Award for Best Production Design Interior Decoration (1927–1939) 1927/1928: William Cameron Menzies 1928/1929: Cedric Gibbons 1929/1930: Herman Rosse 1930/1931: Max Rée 1931/1932: Gordon Wiles 1932/1933: William S. Darling 1934: Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope 1935: Richard Day 1936: Richard Day 1937: Stephen Goosson 1938: Carl Jules Weyl 1939: Lyle R. Wheeler Black & White / Color (1940–1946) 1940 (bw): Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse / (c): Vincent Korda 1941 (bw): Richard Day, Nathan Juran, and Thomas Little / (c): Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, and Edwin B. Willis 1942 (bw): Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright, and Thomas Little / (c): Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright, and Thomas Little 1943 (bw): James Basevi, William S. Darling, and Thomas Little / (c): Alexander Golitzen, John B. Goodman, Russell A. Gausman, and Ira S. Webb 1944 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari, Paul Huldschinsky, and Edwin B. Willis / (c): Wiard Ihnen and Thomas Little 1945 (bw): Wiard Ihnen and A. Roland Fields / (c): Hans Dreier, Ernst Fegté, and Samuel M. Comer 1946 (bw): William S. Darling, Lyle R. Wheeler, Thomas Little, and Frank E. Hughes / (c): Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, and Edwin B. Willis Art Direction–Set Decoration Black & White / Color (1947–1956) 1947 (bw): John Bryan and Wilfred Shingleton / (c): Alfred Junge 1948 (bw): Roger K. Furse and Carmen Dillon / (c): Hein Heckroth and Arthur Lawson 1949 (bw): Harry Horner, John Meehan, and Emile Kuri / (c): Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis, and Jack D. Moore 1950 (bw): Hans Dreier, John Meehan, Samuel M. Comer, and Ray Moyer / (c): Hans Dreier, Walter Tyler, Samuel M. Comer, and Ray Moyer 1951 (bw): Richard Day and George James Hopkins / (c): Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis, and F. Keogh Gleason 1952 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, and F. Keogh Gleason /(c): Paul Sheriff and Marcel Vertès 1953 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, and Hugh Hunt / (c): Lyle R. Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, and Paul S. Fox 1954 (bw): Richard Day / (c): John Meehan and Emile Kuri 1955 (bw): Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Samuel M. Comer, and Arthur Krams / (c): William Flannery, Jo Mielziner, and Robert Priestley 1956 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm F. Brown, Edwin B. Willis, and F. Keogh Gleason / (c): Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir, Walter M. Scott, and Paul S. Fox 1957–1958 1957: Ted Haworth and Robert Priestley 1958: William A. Horning, E. Preston Ames, Henry Grace, and F. Keogh Gleason Black & White / Color (1959–1966) 1959 (bw): Lyle R. Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, and Stuart A. Reiss / (c): William A. Horning (posthumous award), Edward Carfagno, and Hugh Hunt 1960 (bw): Alexandre Trauner and Edward G. Boyle / (c): Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom (posthumous award), Russell A. Gausman, and Julia Heron 1961 (bw): Harry Horner and Gene Callahan / (c): Boris Leven and Victor A. Gangelin 1962 (bw): Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead, and Oliver Emert /(c): John Box, John Stoll, and Dario Simoni 1963 (bw): Gene Callahan / (c): John DeCuir, Jack Martin Smith, Hilyard M. Brown, Herman A. Blumenthal, Elven Webb, Maurice Pelling, Boris Juraga, Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox, and Ray Moyer 1964 (bw): Vassilis Photopoulos / (c): Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, and George James Hopkins 1965 (bw): Robert Clatworthy and Joseph Kish /(c): John Box, Terence Marsh, and Dario Simoni 1966 (bw): Richard Sylbert and George James Hopkins / (c): Jack Martin Smith, Dale Hennesy, Walter M. Scott, and Stuart A. Reiss 1967–1980 1967: John Truscott, Edward Carrere, and John W. Brown 1968: John Box, Terence Marsh, Vernon Dixon, and Ken Muggleston 1969: John DeCuir, Jack Martin Smith, Herman A. Blumenthal, Walter M. Scott, George James Hopkins, and Raphaël Bretton 1970: Urie McCleary, Gil Parrondo, Antonio Mateos, and Pierre-Louis Thévenet 1971: John Box, Ernest Archer, Jack Maxsted, Gil Parrondo, and Vernon Dixon 1972: Rolf Zehetbauer, Jurgen Kiebach, and Herbert Strabel 1973: Henry Bumstead and James W. Payne 1974: Dean Tavoularis, Angelo P. Graham, and George R. Nelson 1975: Ken Adam, Roy Walker, and Vernon Dixon 1976: George C. Jenkins and George Gaines 1977: John Barry, Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, and Roger Christian 1978: Paul Sylbert, Edwin O'Donovan, and George Gaines 1979: Philip Rosenberg, Tony Walton, Edward Stewart, and Gary J. Brink 1980: Pierre Guffroy and Jack Stephens 1981–2000 1981: Norman Reynolds and Leslie Dilley (art); Michael D. Ford (set) 1982: Stuart Craig and Robert W. Laing (art); Michael Seirton (set) 1983: Anna Asp (art) 1984: Patrizia von Brandenstein (art); Karel Černý (set) 1985: Stephen B. Grimes (art); Josie MacAvin (set) 1986: Gianni Quaranta and Brian Ackland-Snow (art); Brian Savegar and Elio Altramura (set) 1987: Ferdinando Scarfiotti (art); Bruno Cesari and Osvaldo Desideri (set) 1988: Stuart Craig (art); Gérard James (set) 1989: Anton Furst (art); Peter Young (set) 1990: Richard Sylbert (art); Rick Simpson (set) 1991: Dennis Gassner (art); Nancy Haigh (set) 1992: Luciana Arrighi (art); Ian Whittaker (set) 1993: Allan Starski (art); Ewa Braun (set) 1994: Ken Adam (art); Carolyn Scott (set) 1995: Eugenio Zanetti (art) 1996: Stuart Craig (art); Stephenie McMillan (set) 1997: Peter Lamont (art); Michael D. Ford (set) 1998: Martin Childs (art); Jill Quertier (set) 1999: Rick Heinrichs (art); Peter Young (set) 2000: Timmy Yip (art) 2001–present 2001: Catherine Martin (art); Brigitte Broch (set) 2002: John Myhre (art); Gordon Sim (set) 2003: Grant Major (art); Dan Hennah and Alan Lee (set) 2004: Dante Ferretti (art); Francesca Lo Schiavo (set) 2005: John Myhre (art); Gretchen Rau (set) 2006: Eugenio Caballero (art); Pilar Revuelta (set) 2007: Dante Ferretti (art); Francesca Lo Schiavo (set) 2008: Donald Graham Burt (art); Victor J. Zolfo (set) 2009: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg (art); Kim Sinclair (set) 2010: Robert Stromberg (art); Karen O'Hara (set) 2011: Dante Ferretti (art); Francesca Lo Schiavo (set) 2012: Rick Carter (art); Jim Erickson (set) 2013: Catherine Martin (art); Beverley Dunn (set) 2014: Adam Stockhausen (art); Anna Pinnock (set) 2015: Colin Gibson (art); Lisa Thompson (set) 2016: David Wasco (art); Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (set) 2017: Paul Denham Austerberry (art); Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin (set) 2018: Hannah Beachler (art); Jay Hart (set) 2019: Barbara Ling (art); Nancy Haigh (set) 2020: Donald Graham Burt (art); Jan Pascale (set) 2021: Patrice Vermette (art) and Zsuzsanna Sipos (set) 2022: Christian M. Goldbeck (art) and Ernestine Hipper (set) 2023: James Price and Shona Heath (art); Zsuzsa Mihalek (set) 2024: Nathan Crowley (art); Lee Sandales (set) 2025: Tamara Deverell (art); Shane Vieau (set)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gene Callahan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Callahan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Callahan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.