{{Short description|British set decorator (1942–2013)}} {{about|the British set decorator|the American cartoonist|Stephanie McMillan}} {{Infobox person | name = Stephenie McMillan | image = Cropped_Photo_of_Stephenie_McMillan.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Stephenie Lesley Gardner | birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|7|20|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Ilford]], [[Essex]], England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|8|19|1942|7|20|df=y}} | death_place = [[Weston Longville]], [[Norfolk]], England | occupation = Set decorator | years_active = 1984–2012 | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Russell Miller|1963|end = divorced}}|{{marriage|Ian McMillan|1978|end = divorced}}}} | partner = [[Phil Hardy (journalist)|Phil Hardy]] ({{circa|1993}}–2013; her death) | children = 2 | known_for = ''[[The English Patient (film)|The English Patient]]''<br/>''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]''}}
'''Stephenie Lesley McMillan''' (née '''Gardner'''; 20 July 1942 – 19 August 2013)<ref name=Death>{{cite news|last=Gerber|first=Marisa|title=Stephenie McMillan, Oscar-winning set decorator, dies at 71|url=http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-stephenie-mcmillan-20130822,0,1067116.story|access-date=9 September 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=21 August 2013}}</ref> was a British set decorator.
==Background== Born in [[Ilford]], [[Essex]], on 20 July 1942,<ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = McMillan [née Gardner], Stephenie Lesley (1942–2013), set decorator|last = May|first = Alex|date = 1 January 2017|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/109254}}</ref> but raised in [[Chigwell]], she graduated from the Woodford County High School for Girls. She worked as a secretary in offices of Stillman & Eastwick-Field, a London-based architecture firm.<ref>[http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Essex-Oscar/story-12635199-detail/story.html?sp=normal&1377202141238#axzz2cjOJoP6c "Essex and Oscar" at thisistotalessex.co.uk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925163606/http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Essex-Oscar/story-12635199-detail/story.html?sp=normal&1377202141238 |date=2013-09-25 }}</ref>
==Career== McMillan was a set decorator for advertisements before moving into film in the 1980s.<ref name = ODNB/> She was best known for working on all the ''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' films.<ref name="Whitlock2013">{{cite book|last=Whitlock|first=Cathy|title=Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_eI956j1mP4C&pg=PA366|access-date=12 April 2013|date=5 February 2013|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-224160-3|page=366}}</ref>
She received three [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations for [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|the first]], [[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|fourth]], and [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1|seventh]] films, as well as a [[65th British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA]] and [[17th Critics' Choice Awards|Critics Choice Award]] nomination for the [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2|eighth]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a364820/orange-bafta-film-awards-2012-winners-list-in-full.html|title=Orange BAFTA Film Awards 2012 winners list|last=Reynolds|first=Simon|date=12 February 2012|work=[[Digital Spy]]|publisher=Hearst Magazines UK|access-date=22 August 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/12/hugo-the-artist-top-nominees-for-critics-choice-awards.html "'Hugo', 'The Artist' top nominees for Critics Choice Awards"], L.A. Times blog (December 2011)</ref> in the series, which went on to win the American Art Directors Guild's Contribution to Cinematic Imagery in 2012.
Between the years 1984 and 2012, she worked as set decorator on 28 films. 16 of these were in collaboration with noted production designer [[Stuart Craig]], including ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'' (1988), ''[[Shadowlands (1993 film)|Shadowlands]]'' (1993), ''[[The English Patient (film)|The English Patient]]'' (1996), for which she won an Oscar,<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Neil|first=Thomas|title=Movie awards: the ultimate, unofficial guide to the Oscars, Golden Globes, critics, Guild & Indie honors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHeGJfp4QLsC|access-date=12 April 2013|year=2003|publisher=Perigee Book|isbn=978-0-399-52922-1|page=676}}</ref> ''[[Chocolat (2000 film)|Chocolat]]'' (2000) and all of the eight ''Harry Potter'' films. Her last film was the Coen brothers-scripted ''[[Gambit (2012 film)|Gambit]]'' (2012).
McMillan excelled at handling the decoration of large sets. In a February 2011 interview, she said: "I have been so lucky to have had the opportunity to dress these brilliant and huge sets [for the Harry Potter series] with enough time and money to do it properly, so I feel I don't really have any excuse for not getting it right. To have a set that is right for the director and makes the actors feel comfortable, that's really what I strive for."<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/27/oscars-2011-technical-awards "Oscars 2011: Will the Brits win big in the technical categories?"], ''The Guardian'', 27 February 2011.</ref>
After completing the Harry Potter film series, McMillan and Craig collaborated on the designs for the Harry Potter theme park in [[Orlando, Florida]], and 'The Magical World of Harry Potter', which Warner built at its studios at [[Leavesden, Hertfordshire]], which opened in April 2012. Thomas Welsh, a former President of the Art Director's Guild, told the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'': "An eye for even the smallest details—and an understanding of how they swayed the story line — set her body of work apart." McMillan likened winning her Oscar "to being elevated to the peerage". {{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}
==Personal life and death== In 1963, she married Russell Miller.<ref name = ODNB/> The couple had two children and later divorced.<ref name = ODNB/> In 1978, she married Ian McMillan.<ref name = ODNB/> After their divorce, she began a relationship with writer [[Phil Hardy (journalist)|Phil Hardy]], which lasted twenty years.<ref name = ODNB/><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/27/stephenie-mcmillan|title = Stephenie McMillan obituary|last = Craig|first = Stuart|authorlink = Stuart Craig|date = 27 August 2013|accessdate = 9 September 2025|work = [[The Guardian]]}}</ref>
McMillan died at her home in [[Weston Longville]], [[Norfolk]], from complications of [[ovarian cancer]], on 19 August 2013, aged 71.<ref name = ODNB/><ref name=Death/>
==See also== * [[List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain]] ==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0573328}} * [http://guru.bafta.org/stephenie-mcmillan-interview 21 November 2012 Interview] with the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] {{AcademyAwardBestArtDirection 1981–2000}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Stephenie}} [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:2013 deaths]] [[Category:Best Production Design Academy Award winners]] [[Category:English set decorators]] [[Category:People from Chigwell]] <!-- where she was raised --> [[Category:Deaths from ovarian cancer in England]]