{{short description|Irish set decorator}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Josie MacAvin | birth_name = Josephine MacAvin | birth_date = 23 April 1919 | birth_place = Dublin, Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2005|1|26|1919|4|23}} | death_place = [[Monkstown, Dublin]], Ireland | occupation = Set decorator | years_active = 1943–2002 }} [[File:MacAvin_gravestone.jpg|thumb|MacAvin's gravestone, [[Glasnevin Cemetery]]]] '''Josephine "Josie" MacAvin''' (23 April 1919 – 26 January 2005)<ref name=":1">Maume, Patrick (2011). [https://www.dib.ie/biography/mcavin-josie-josephine-a9392 "McAvin, Josie (Josephine)"], ''Dictionary of Irish Biography''.</ref> was an Irish dancer, [[set decorator]] and [[art director]]. She won an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]], and was nominated two more times, in the category [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]. She also won a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie|Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special]] for her work as [[set dresser]] on the miniseries [[Scarlett (miniseries)|''Scarlett'']] (1994).
==Early life== MacAvin was born in Dublin, the daughter of John Patrick MacAvin<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000031497/|title=Census of Ireland, 1911|date=1911|publisher=National Archives, Ireland|access-date=2022-08-09|url-status=live|archive-date=2022-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809083742/http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000031497/}}</ref> and Mollie MacAvin (née Callaghan). Her father was a cattle exporter, and one of the last [[Sheriff of Dublin City|High Sheriffs of Dublin]].<ref name=":1" /> Her cousin Maureen Halligan was an actress and casting director, and invited MacAvin to join her new theatre company.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Finn |first=Clodagh |date=2025-03-01 |title=Clodagh Finn: Meet Josie MacAvin — Ireland's unsung Oscar-winning set designer |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-41583634.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Irish Examiner |language=en}}</ref>
== Career == MacAvin taught physical education as a young woman.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> She began in show business as a [[ballerina]], performing with the Irish Ballet Club at the [[Gate Theatre, Dublin|Gate Theatre]] in 1943.<ref>''The Irish Times'' (Tuesday, June 29, 1943), page 3.</ref> In the 1950s she was [[stage director]] and company manager of the Dublin Players, who toured the U.S. with plays by [[Sean O'Casey]], [[George Bernard Shaw]] and [[Lennox Robinson]].<ref>''The Irish Times'' (Wednesday, June 22, 1955), page 6.</ref><ref>''The Irish Times'' (Tuesday, May 19, 1959), page 6.</ref>
MacAvin's film work spanned six decades, beginning her film career as [[set decorator]] with ''[[Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film)|Shake Hands with the Devil]]'' (1959), filmed in [[Dublin]] and at [[Ardmore Studios]], [[Bray, County Wicklow|Bray]]. She won an Oscar for Best Art Direction for ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' (1985), and was nominated for her work on ''[[Tom Jones (1963 film)|Tom Jones]]'' (1963) and ''[[The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (film)|The Spy Who Came in from the Cold]]'' (1965).<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life and legacy == MacAvin died in 2005, in [[Monkstown, Dublin|Monkstown]], at the age of 85.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dwyer |first=Michael |date=29 January 2005 |title=Oscar winner Josie McAvin (85) dies |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/oscar-winner-josie-mcavin-85-dies-1.410374 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> She donated her Oscar and Emmy statuettes for permanent display at the [[Irish Film Institute]], [[Dublin]]. She also left books, photographs, and other papers to the Irish Film Institute.<ref name=":0" /> Her grave is in [[Glasnevin Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barry |first=Aoife |date=2014-05-01 |title=Heard of Josie MacAvin? She's Ireland's only Emmy AND Oscar winner |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/josie-macavin-glasnevin-1441578-May2014/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=TheJournal.ie |language=en}}</ref>
==Selected filmography==
=== Film ===
* ''Shake Hands with the Devil'' (1959) * ''Tom Jones'' (1963) * ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' (1965) * ''[[A Walk with Love and Death]]'' (1969) * ''[[Ryan's Daughter]]'' (1970) * ''[[Made (1972 film)|Made]]'' (1972) * ''[[The Mutations]]'' (1974) * ''[[Educating Rita (film)|Educating Rita]]'' (1983) * ''[[The Dresser (1983 film)|The Dresser]]'' (1983) * ''[[Cal (1984 film)|Cal]]'' (1984) * ''[[Steaming (film)|Steaming]]'' (1985) * ''Out of Africa'' (1985) * ''[[Eat the Peach]]'' (1986) * ''[[Lionheart (1987 film)|Lionheart]]'' (1987) * ''[[The Dead (1987 film)|The Dead]]'' (1987) * ''[[The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne]]'' (1987) * ''[[The Field (1990 film)|The Field]]'' (1990) * ''[[Far and Away]]'' (1992) * ''[[Michael Collins (film)|Michael Collins]]'' (1996) * ''[[The Butcher Boy (1997 film)|The Butcher Boy]]'' (1997) * ''[[Evelyn (2002 film)|Evelyn]]'' (2002)
=== Television ===
* ''The Manions of America'' (1981) * ''Scarlett'' (1994) * ''[[The Tale of Sweeney Todd]]'' (1998) * ''[[Emily Pollifax|The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax]]'' (1999) * ''Yesterday's Children'' (2000) * ''[[David Copperfield (2000 film)|David Copperfield]]'' (2000) * ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (2002 film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' (2001)
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0531357|Josie MacAvin}}
{{Academy Award Best Production Design}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macavin, Josie}} [[Category:Set decorators]] [[Category:Best Production Design Academy Award winners]] [[Category:1919 births]] [[Category:2005 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery]] [[Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners]]