Richard Sylbert

{{short description|American production designer and art director (1928–2002)}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2019}} {{use American English|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Richard Sylbert | image = Publicity_Photo_of_Richard_Sylbert.jpg | caption = Publicity Photo of Richard Sylbert | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1928|4|16}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York | death_date = {{death date and age|2002|3|23|1928|4|16}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California | occupation = {{hlist|Production designer|art director|producer}} | years_active = 1953–2002 | nationality = American | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Carol Godshalk|1951|1967}} * {{marriage|[[Susanna Moore]]|1973|1978}} * {{marriage|[[Sharmagne Leland-St. John]]|1991}} }} | partner = | children = 5 | relatives = [[Paul Sylbert]] (twin brother) | signature = }}

'''Richard Sylbert''' (April 16, 1928 – March 23, 2002) was an American [[production designer]] and [[art director]], primarily for [[feature films]].

==Early life== Sylbert was born in [[Brooklyn, New York]], to Samuel and Lily (Lazell) Sylbert, and was the twin brother of Oscar-winning production designer [[Paul Sylbert]]. Richard fought in the [[Korean War]]<ref name="Richard Sylbert bio at VH1.com">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090719211531/http://www.vh1.com/movies/person/100470/bio.jhtml Richard Sylbert bio at VH1.com]</ref> and attended the [[Tyler School of Art]] at [[Temple University]] in [[Elkins Park, Pennsylvania]].<ref>[http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Sh-Sy/Sylbert-Richard.html Richard Sylbert at FilmReference.com]</ref> His grandfather, Ribac, was a journalist in his native [[Romania]] before immigrating to the United States.

==Career== Sylbert began his career in the early days of television, designing productions of ''[[Hamlet]]'' (1953) and ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' (1954) for the ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]''. His first film credit was ''[[Patterns (film)|Patterns]]'' (1956), a big screen adaptation of an [[Emmy Award]]-winning teleplay by [[Rod Serling]]. He went on to design ''[[Baby Doll]]'', ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]'', ''[[The Fugitive Kind]]'', ''[[Murder, Inc. (1960 film)|Murder, Inc.]]'', ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]'', ''[[Walk on the Wild Side (film)|Walk on the Wild Side]]'', ''[[Long Day's Journey into Night (1962 film)|Long Day's Journey into Night]]'', ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'', ''[[The Pawnbroker]]'', ''[[Lilith (film)|Lilith]]'', ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'', ''[[The Graduate]]'', ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]'', ''[[Catch-22 (film)|Catch-22]]'', ''[[Carnal Knowledge (film)|Carnal Knowledge]]'', ''[[Chinatown (1974 film)|Chinatown]]'', ''[[Shampoo (film)|Shampoo]]'', ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]'', ''[[Frances (film)|Frances]]'', ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]'', ''[[Tequila Sunrise (film)|Tequila Sunrise]]'', ''[[Dick Tracy (1990 film)|Dick Tracy]]'', ''[[The Bonfire of the Vanities (film)|The Bonfire of the Vanities]]'', ''[[Carlito's Way]]'', ''[[Mulholland Falls]]'', ''[[My Best Friend's Wedding]]'', and ''[[Trapped (2002 film)|Trapped]]''. He worked multiple times with directors [[Roman Polanski]], [[Elia Kazan]], [[Mike Nichols]], and [[Warren Beatty]].<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020328/ai_n12606695 Richard Sylbert obituary in ''The Independent'', March 28, 2002]</ref>

[[Robert Evans (film producer)|Robert Evans]] named Sylbert his successor when he relinquished his position as production chief at [[Paramount Pictures]] in 1975. Sylbert oversaw ''[[The Bad News Bears]]'', ''[[Nashville (film)|Nashville]]'', and ''[[Days of Heaven]]'' before being replaced in 1978.<ref name="Richard Sylbert bio at VH1.com"/>

Sylbert was nominated for the [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction]] six times and won twice, for ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' and ''Dick Tracy''.<ref name="Oscars1991">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991 |title=The 63rd Academy Awards (1991) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-08-01|work=oscars.org}}</ref> He won the [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design]] for ''Dick Tracy''. He was nominated for an [[Emmy]] for his production design of the set for the long-running television sitcom ''[[Cheers]]''. In 2000, Sylbert was honored with the [[Art Directors Guild]] Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002, Sylbert was to receive the [[Hollywood Film Festival]]'s Life Achievement Award. His widow gave the committee permission to name the award after him in perpetuity and that year it was given to [[Harold Michelson]], his longtime art director and colleague.

Sylbert died of [[cancer]] at the age of 73 at the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital]] in [[Woodland Hills, California]]. At the time of his death, Sylbert was married to Native American poet [[Sharmagne Leland-St. John]], mother of one of his daughters, Daisy Alexandra Sylbert-Torres, a costume designer and [[Echo Park, Los Angeles|Echo Park]] boutique owner. He had three sons, Douglas, Jon and Mark, with his first wife, Carol Godshalk, and another daughter, Lulu, with writer [[Susanna Moore]]. Lulu acted as a child, playing [[Paul Le Mat]]'s half-alien daughter in ''[[Strange Invaders]]''.

==Film and television credits== {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year ! Title ! Credit type ! class="unsortable"| Notes |- | 1953 | ''Hamlet'' | Production designer | ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]'' telefeature |- |1954 | ''[[King Richard II (1954 film)|King Richard II]]'' | Production designer | ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' telefeature |- | 1956 | ''[[Baby Doll]]'' | Art director | |- | 1960 | ''[[Murder, Inc. (1960 film)|Murder, Inc.]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1961 | ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1961 | ''[[The Young Doctors (film)|The Young Doctors]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1961 | ''[[The Connection (1961 film)|The Connection]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1962 | ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1962 | ''[[Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962 film)|Long Day's Journey Into Night]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1962 | ''[[Walk on the Wild Side (film)|Walk on the Wild Side]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1963 | ''[[All the Way Home (1963 film)|All the Way Home]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1963 | ''[[East Side/West Side]]'' | Production designer | 1963–1964 TV series |- | 1964 | ''[[Lilith (film)|Lilith]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1964 | ''[[The Pawnbroker (film)|The Pawnbroker]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1965 | ''[[How to Murder Your Wife]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1966 | ''[[Grand Prix (1966 film)|Grand Prix]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1966 | ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' | Production designer | [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)]] shared with [[George James Hopkins]] |- | 1967 | ''[[The Graduate]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1968 | ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1969 | ''[[The April Fools]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1970 | ''[[Catch-22 (film)|Catch-22]]'' | Production designer | |- |- | 1971 | ''[[Carnal Knowledge (film)|Carnal Knowledge]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1972 | ''[[Fat City (film)|Fat City]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1973 | ''[[The Day of the Dolphin]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1974 | ''[[Chinatown (1974 film)|Chinatown]]'' | Production designer | Academy Award nominee |- | 1975 | ''[[The Fortune]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1975 | ''[[Last Hours Before Morning]]'' | Production designer | TV movie |- | 1975 | ''[[Shampoo (film)|Shampoo]]'' | Production designer | Academy Award nominee |- | 1976 | ''[[Partners (1976 film)|Partners]]'' | Production designer | Canadian feature. He was also credited for the 1982 film of same title. |- | 1979 | ''[[Players (1979 film)|Players]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1981 | ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]'' | Production designer | Academy Award nominee for Art Direction-Set Decoration; co-nominee [[Michael Seirton]] |- | 1982 | ''[[Partners (1982 film)|Partners]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1982 | ''[[Frances (film)|Frances]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1982 | ''[[Cheers]]'' | Production designer | 1982–1993 TV series |- | 1983 | ''[[Breathless (1983 film)|Breathless]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1984 | ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]'' | Production designer | Academy Award nominee |- | 1986 | ''[[Under the Cherry Moon]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1987 |[[Heartbeat (Helen Reddy song)|"Heartbeat" (video)]] | Production designer | |- | 1988 | ''[[Tequila Sunrise (film)|Tequila Sunrise]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1988 | ''[[Shoot to Kill (1988 film)|Shoot to Kill]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1990 | ''[[Dick Tracy (1990 film)|Dick Tracy]]'' | Production designer | [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Academy Award for Best Art Direction]] shared with set decorator [[Rick Simpson]] |- | 1990 | ''[[The Bonfire of the Vanities]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1991 | ''[[Mobsters (film)|Mobsters]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1993 | ''[[Carlito's Way]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1993 | ''[[Ruby Cairo]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1996 | ''[[Blood and Wine]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1996 | ''[[Mulholland Falls]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1997 | ''[[My Best Friend's Wedding]]'' | Production designer | |- | 1997 | ''[[Red Corner]]'' | Production designer | |- | 2002 | ''[[Unconditional Love (2002 film)|Unconditional Love]]'' | Production designer | |- | 2002 | ''[[Trapped (2002 film)|Trapped]]'' | Production designer | |- |}

==Bibliography== * {{cite book | last = LoBrutto | first = Vincent | title = The Filmmaker's Guide to Production Design | year = 2002 | publisher = Allworth Press | location = New York | isbn = 978-1-58115-224-1 }} * {{cite book | last1 = Sylbert | first1 = Richard | last2 = Townsend | first2 = Sylvia | last3 = Leland-St. John-Sylbert | first3 = Sharmagne | author-link3 = Sharmagne Leland-St. John | title = Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood Artist | year = 2006 | publisher = Praeger | location = Westport, CT | isbn = 978-0-275-98690-2 }} * {{cite book | last = Whitlock | first = Cathy | title = Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction | year = 2010 | publisher = Harper Collins | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-06-088122-1 }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0843129}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022122712/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=187865/ Richard Sylbert] * [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/30/movies/richard-sylbert-73-designer-of-oscar-winning-film-sets.html?scp=1&sq=richard%20sylbert&st=cse/ NY Times]

{{Navboxes |title = Awards for Richard Sylbert |list = {{AcademyAwardBestArtDirection 1961–1980}} {{BAFTA Award for Best Production Design}} }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylbert, Richard}} [[Category:Best Production Design Academy Award winners]] [[Category:Best Production Design BAFTA Award winners]] [[Category:American production designers]] [[Category:American art directors]] [[Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:1928 births]] [[Category:2002 deaths]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]] [[Category:American identical twins]] [[Category:Identical twin males]] [[Category:Erasmus Hall High School alumni]]