Anton Furst
Anthony Francis "Anton" Furst (6 May 1944 – 24 November 1991) was an English production designer who won an Academy Award for overseeing design of Gotham City and the Batmobile in Tim Burton's Batman (1989).[1][2]
Life and career
Furst was born in London, England and trained at the Royal College of Art, London.[3]
He designed two award-winning television films, Just One Kid and It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow, for director/producer John Goldschmidt. Furst also dabbled as a special effects technician on movies such as Alien. Paul Mayersberg introduced him to a young artist named Nigel Phelps, whom Furst quickly hired after seeing his portfolio. Phelps would become Furst's primary draftsman that he would verbally dictate to, after the initial drawing was completed Furst would add only details and accents on occasion.[4] The debut of this partnership was for Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves (1984), the charcoal illustrations of the sets caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick and a young Tim Burton. Kubrick hired Furst's company to create convincing Vietnam War settings, without leaving England, for Full Metal Jacket (1987). Burton tried to convince Furst to work on Beetlejuice at this time, but decided to do High Spirits instead, which was being shot in England. In 1990, Jon Peters convinced Furst to sign an exclusive contract with Columbia Pictures, promising him work as a director. Furst's directorial debut was to be MidKnight, a medieval musical fantasy starring Michael Jackson, but after extensive design work and planning the film never materialized. Furst's Columbia contract also prevented him and his employees from working on Batman Returns (1992). His final credited film was Awakenings (1990).[1]
Death
Furst killed himself on 24 November 1991. He had separated from his wife and begun taking Halcion, a sleeping drug that had been banned in Britain due to its possible side effects of amnesia, paranoia and depression. His drinking also became more of a problem.[5] He was scheduled to check into rehab in 1992. On the night of November 24, 1991, he told his friends he was going to the car to fetch his cigarettes. Instead, he jumped off an eight-story parking deck.[6]
He was survived by a daughter, Vanessa King; a son, Nicholas Sergei Furst; his mother, Pamela Furst; and a sister, Jane Wearne.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Anton Furst, 47, Dies; Designer of 'Batman', The New York Times, November 26, 1991
- ^ "The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ "Anton Furst, 47, the Set Designer For 'Batman' and 'Awakenings'", The New York Times, November 27, 1991. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
- ^ Ettedgui, Peter (1999). Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series). ISBN 0240804007. Published in 1999, Focal Press
- ^ When hell burst through the pavement and grew: Anton Furst conjured up Batman's Gotham City. In England he was a creator of dreams. But in Hollywood his dreams ended. Simon Garfield reports
- ^ "GlennShadix.com - The Clock Series - Anton Furst". Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
External links
- Anton Furst at IMDb
- Anton Furst at the TCM Movie Database
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Interior Decoration
- 1927/1928: William Cameron Menzies
- 1929/1929: Cedric Gibbons
- 1929/1930: Herman Rosse
- 1930/1931: Max Rée
- 1931/1932: Gordon Wiles
- 1932/1933: William S. Darling
- 1934: Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope
- 1935: Richard Day
- 1936: Richard Day
- 1937: Stephen Goosson
- 1938: Carl Jules Weyl
- 1939: Lyle R. Wheeler
Black & White
/ Color separate
- 1940 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse / (c): Vincent Korda
- 1941 (bw): Richard Day, Nathan Juran, Thomas Little / (c): Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis
- 1942 (bw): Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright, Thomas Little / (c): Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright, Thomas Little
- 1943 (bw): James Basevi, William S. Darling, Thomas Little / (c): Alexander Golitzen, John B. Goodman, Russell A. Gausman, Ira S. Webb
- 1944 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari, Paul Huldschinsky, Edwin B. Willis / (c): Wiard Ihnen, Thomas Little
- 1945 (bw): Wiard Ihnen, A. Roland Fields / (c): Hans Dreier, Ernst Fegté, Samuel M. Comer
- 1946 (bw): William S. Darling, Lyle R. Wheeler, Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes / (c): Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis
Art Direction
- Set Decoration
Black & White
/ Color separate
- 1947 (bw): John Bryan, Wilfred Shingleton / (c): Alfred Junge
- 1948 (bw): Roger K. Furse, Carmen Dillon / (c): Hein Heckroth, Arthur Lawson
- 1949 (bw): Harry Horner, John Meehan, Emile Kuri / (c): Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore
- 1950 (bw): Hans Dreier, John Meehan, Samuel M. Comer, Ray Moyer / (c): Hans Dreier, Walter Tyler, Samuel M. Comer, Ray Moyer
- 1951 (bw): Richard Day, George James Hopkins / (c): Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason
- 1952 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason /(c): Paul Sheriff, Marcel Vertès
- 1953 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt / (c): Lyle R. Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox
- 1954 (bw): Richard Day / (c): John Meehan, Emile Kuri
- 1955 (bw): Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Samuel M. Comer, Arthur Krams / (c): William Flannery, Jo Mielziner, Robert Priestley
- 1956 (bw): Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm F. Brown, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason / (c): Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir, Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox
Black & White
/ Color separate
- 1959 (bw): Lyle R. Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, Stuart A. Reiss / (c): William A. Horning (posthumous award), Edward Carfagno, Hugh Hunt
- 1960 (bw): Alexandre Trauner, Edward G. Boyle /(c): Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom (posthumous award), Russell A. Gausman, Julia Heron
- 1961 (bw): Harry Horner, Gene Callahan / (c): Boris Leven, Victor A. Gangelin
- 1962 (bw): Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead, Oliver Emert /(c): John Box, John Stoll, Dario Simoni
- 1963 (bw): Gene Callahan / (c): John DeCuir, Jack Martin Smith, Hilyard M. Brown, Herman A. Blumenthal, Elven Webb, Maurice Pelling, Boris Juraga, Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox, Ray Moyer
- 1964 (bw): Vassilis Photopoulos /(c): Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, George James Hopkins
- 1965 (bw): Robert Clatworthy, Joseph Kish /(c): John Box, Terence Marsh, Dario Simoni
- 1966 (bw): Richard Sylbert, George James Hopkins / (c): Jack Martin Smith, Dale Hennesy, Walter M. Scott, Stuart A. Reiss
- 1967: John Truscott, Edward Carrere, John W. Brown
- 1968: John Box, Terence Marsh, Vernon Dixon, Ken Muggleston
- 1969: John DeCuir, Jack Martin Smith, Herman A. Blumenthal, Walter M. Scott, George James Hopkins, Raphaël Bretton
- 1970: Urie McCleary, Gil Parrondo, Antonio Mateos, Pierre-Louis Thévenet
- 1971: John Box, Ernest Archer, Jack Maxsted, Gil Parrondo, Vernon Dixon
- 1972: Rolf Zehetbauer, Jurgen Kiebach, Herbert Strabel
- 1973: Henry Bumstead, James W. Payne
- 1974: Dean Tavoularis, Angelo P. Graham, George R. Nelson
- 1975: Ken Adam, Roy Walker, Vernon Dixon
- 1976: George C. Jenkins, George Gaines
- 1977: John Barry, Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, Roger Christian
- 1978: Paul Sylbert, Edwin O'Donovan, George Gaines
- 1979: Philip Rosenberg, Tony Walton, Edward Stewart, Gary J. Brink
- 1980: Pierre Guffroy, Jack Stephens
- 1981: Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley; Michael D. Ford (set)
- 1982: Stuart Craig, Robert W. Laing; Michael Seirton (set)
- 1983: Anna Asp
- 1984: Patrizia von Brandenstein; Karel Černý (set)
- 1985: Stephen B. Grimes; Josie MacAvin (set)
- 1986: Gianni Quaranta, Brian Ackland-Snow; Brian Savegar, Elio Altramura (set)
- 1987: Ferdinando Scarfiotti; Bruno Cesari, Osvaldo Desideri (set)
- 1988: Stuart Craig; Gérard James (set)
- 1989: Anton Furst; Peter Young (set)
- 1990: Richard Sylbert (art); Rick Simpson (set)
- 1991: Dennis Gassner (art); Nancy Haigh (set)
- 1992: Luciana Arrighi (art); Ian Whittaker (set)
- 1993: Allan Starski (art); Ewa Braun (set)
- 1994: Ken Adam (art); Carolyn Scott (set)
- 1995: Eugenio Zanetti (art)
- 1996: Stuart Craig (art); Stephenie McMillan (set)
- 1997: Peter Lamont (art); Michael D. Ford (set)
- 1998: Martin Childs (art); Jill Quertier (set)
- 1999: Rick Heinrichs (art); Peter Young (set)
- 2000: Timmy Yip (art)
- 2001: Catherine Martin (art); Brigitte Broch (set)
- 2002: John Myhre (art); Gordon Sim (set)
- 2003: Grant Major (art); Dan Hennah and Alan Lee (set)
- 2004: Dante Ferretti (art); Francesca Lo Schiavo (set)
- 2005: John Myhre (art); Gretchen Rau (set)
- 2006: Eugenio Caballero (art); Pilar Revuelta (set)
- 2007: Dante Ferretti (art); Francesca Lo Schiavo (set)
- 2008: Donald Graham Burt (art); Victor J. Zolfo (set)
- 2009: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg (art); Kim Sinclair (set)
- 2010: Robert Stromberg (art); Karen O'Hara (set)
- 2011: Dante Ferretti (art); Francesca Lo Schiavo (set)
- 2012: Rick Carter (art); Jim Erickson (set)
- 2013: Catherine Martin (art); Beverley Dunn (set)
- 2014: Adam Stockhausen (art); Anna Pinnock (set)
- 2015: Colin Gibson (art); Lisa Thompson (set)
- 2016: David Wasco (art); Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (set)
- 2017: Paul Denham Austerberry (art); Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin (set)
- 2018: Hannah Beachler (art); Jay Hart (set)
- 2019: Barbara Ling (art); Nancy Haigh (set)
- 2020: Donald Graham Burt (art); Jan Pascale (set)
- 2021: Patrice Vermette (art) and Zsuzsanna Sipos (set)
- 2022: Christian M. Goldbeck (art) and Ernestine Hipper (set)
- 2023: James Price and Shona Heath (art); Zsuzsa Mihalek (set)