Robert F Boyle (RIP), Designed Many Classics

Sad news to report. Robert F Boyle, a four time Oscar nominee for Art Direction and Alfred Hitchcock's Production Designer during the Tippi Hedren years, passed away on Sunday at 100 years of age. He nearly made it to 101.

Here he is at the February 2008 Oscars with Nicole Kidman when he was 98.


When I published the list of Oldest Living Oscar Nominees last month, I didn't mean it as a morbid countdown, but as a tribute to these enduring artists and I hope it reads that way, even as they depart. We all must pass on eventually. Boyle had been the oldest of them all. May Luise Rainier, now the oldest at 100, live as long as Methusaleh.

Among Doyle's credits are classics like North by Northwest (Oscar nomination), Fiddler on the Roof (Oscar nomination), In Cold Blood, The Thomas Crown Affair and Cape Fear (the originals). In the last ten years of his career (roughly the 1980s) he mainly worked on female star comedy vehicles like The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Troop Beverly Hills and Private Benjamin.

Clockwise from left: North by Northwest, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Cape Fear and Fiddler on the Roof

Clockwise from top left: The Thomas Crown Affair, The Birds, Marnie, and Staying Alive

He had a long and rich career. May we all find such great use of our talents.
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