Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Lyle Reynolds Wheeler , Lyle Wheeler

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Woburn, Massachusetts, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 278

TV Involvements: 1


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lyle Reynolds Wheeler (February 2, 1905 – January 10, 1990) was an American motion picture art director. He received five Academy Awards — for Gone with the Wind (1939), Anna and the King of Siam (1946), The Robe (1953), The King and I (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). Lyle Wheeler studied at the University of Southern California, then worked as a magazine artist and industrial designer. In 1936 he was hired by David O. Selznick to work as a set designer for Selznick's motion picture production company. Wheeler proved to be a creative genius when it came to designing quality sets at reasonable costs and was very much in demand in the industry. By the end of World War II, Wheeler had joined Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, where he remained as chief art director until the end of the 1950s. In a career spanning 40 years, Wheeler created sets for more than 350 motion pictures, many of which are considered film classics. His credits include A Star is Born, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, State Fair, The Dolly Sisters, Forever Amber, The Fan, The Pride of St. Louis, The Seven Year Itch, and Carousel and in particular, Gone With the Wind, for which he drew some of the earliest examples of storyboards for film, illustrating not only the art design, but the framing, composition and even the color for nearly every shot in the film, greatly influencing the production. He also created matte paintings for all the ceilings for the sets as well as large set pieces like the facade of Tara. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction 29 times, winning five. In 1951, he was nominated for four different films, three in 1952 and twice for two films in one year. His television credits include the long-running CBS series, Perry Mason. Late in life, Wheeler suffered financial reverses and was forced to sell his home. He lost his five Academy Award statuettes when he was unable to pay a bill in excess of $30,000 at a storage facility. His 1959 Oscar for The Diary of Anne Frank was purchased and returned to Wheeler in 1989 by a fan. Lyle Wheeler died January 10, 1990, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, of pneumonia. He was cremated, and his ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.

Most Famous Work

Rawhide
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7

Rawhide

(1959) Art Direction
Gone with the Wind
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8

Gone with the Wind

(1939) Art Direction
Journey to the Center of the Earth
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7

Journey to the Center of the Earth

(1959) Art Direction
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
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7

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

(1953) Art Direction
Titanic
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7

Titanic

(1953) Art Direction
The Day the Earth Stood Still
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8

The Day the Earth Stood Still

(1951) Art Direction
The Diary of Anne Frank
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7

The Diary of Anne Frank

(1959) Art Direction
Rebecca
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8

Rebecca

(1940) Art Direction

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1940 Self
Year Character Movie/Tv

Art

Year Role Movie/Tv
1978 Production Design
1977 Art Direction
1975 Production Design
Set Decoration
1972 Production Design
1971 Production Design
Production Design
1970 Production Design
1969 Production Design
1968 Production Design
1967 Production Design
1965 Production Design
1964 Production Design
1963 Production Design
1962 Production Design
1960 Art Direction
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1959 Art Direction
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1958 Art Direction
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1957 Art Direction
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1956 Art Direction
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1955 Art Direction
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1954 Art Direction
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1953 Art Direction
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1952 Art Direction
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1951 Art Direction
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1950 Art Direction
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1949 Art Direction
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1948 Art Direction
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1947 Art Direction
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1946 Art Direction
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1945 Art Direction
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1944 Art Direction
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1943 Art Direction
1941 Art Direction
1940 Art Direction
1939 Art Direction
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1938 Art Direction
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1937 Art Direction
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Art Designer
1936 Set Decoration
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