Cedric Gibbons

Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890[1] – July 26, 1960) was an Irish-American art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed the Oscar statuette in 1928, but tasked the sculpting to George Stanley, a Los Angeles artist.[2][3] He was nominated 39 times for the Academy Award for Best Production Design and won the Oscar 11 times, both of which are records.[4]

Cedric Gibbons
Gibbons in 1936
Born
Austin Cedric Gibbons

(1890-03-23)March 23, 1890
New York City
DiedJuly 26, 1960(1960-07-26) (aged 70)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeCalvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles
Occupations
  • Art director
  • set decorator
Years active1919–1956
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1930; div. 1941)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1944)​
    Relatives

    Early life
    In addition to his credits as set decorator and art director, Cedric Gibbons is credited for directing one feature film, Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

    Cedric Gibbons was born in New York City in 1890[1] to Irish architect Austin P. Gibbons and American Veronica Fitzpatrick Simmons. The family moved to Manhattan after the birth of their third child.[5] Cedric studied at the Art Students League of New York in 1911.[6] He began working in his father's office as a junior draftsman, then in the art department at Edison Studios under Hugo Ballin in New Jersey in 1915. He was drafted and served in the US Navy Reserves during World War I at Pelham Bay in New York.[7]

    Career

    Gibbons joined Goldwyn Studios, and began a long career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924, when the studio was founded.[8]

    In 1925, when he was first working in the art department at MGM, he was in competition with Romain De Tirtoff for a more substantial position, while working with Joseph Wright, Merrill Pye and Richard Day on some 20 films.[9] Tirtoff is better known as Erte. When studio executive Irving Thalberg summoned Gibbons to work on Ben Hur (1925), he used knowledge of the up-and-coming art moderne (that was to become known as art deco) to advance in the MGM art department.[9]

    Gibbons was one of the original 36 founding members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and designed the Academy Awards statuette in 1928,[3] a trophy for which he himself would be nominated 39 times, winning 11,[10] the last time for Best Art Direction for Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956).

    He retired from MGM as art director and the head of the art department on April 26, 1956, due to ill health with over 1,500 films credited to him; however, other designers did major work on these films, some credited, some not, during Gibbons' tenure as head of the art department.[9] Even so, his actual hands-on art direction is considerable and his contributions lasting.[11][12]

    Personal life and death

    In 1930, Gibbons married actress Dolores del Río and co-designed their house with Douglas Honnold[13] in Santa Monica, an intricate Art Deco residence influenced by Rudolf Schindler.[14][15] The couple divorced in 1941. In October 1944, he married actress Hazel Brooks,[16] with whom he remained until his death.[17]

    Gibbons' niece Veronica "Rocky" Balfe was Gary Cooper's wife and briefly an actress known as Sandra Shaw.[18][19]

    Gibbons' second cousin Frederick "Royal" Gibbons—a musician, orchestra conductor, and entertainer[20] who worked with him at MGM—was the father of Billy Gibbons of the rock band ZZ Top.[21][22]

    Despite holding a US birth certificate,[23] Gibbons claimed on census forms that he was born in Ireland and that his family emigrated to the US during his early childhood.[24][25] His press marriage announcement also stated that he was a native of Ireland.[26] The reasons for this misstatement are unknown.

    Gibbons died in Los Angeles on July 26, 1960, after a long illness at age 70 and was buried under a modest marker at the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.[27] Dorothy Kilgallen, journalist and gossip columnist, a friend of his second wife, reported his age as 65 at the time of his death.

    Legacy

    Gibbons' set designs, particularly those in such films as Born to Dance (1936) and Rosalie (1937), heavily inspired motion picture theater architecture in the late 1930s through 1950s.

    Among the classic examples are the Loma Theater in San Diego, the Crest theaters in Long Beach, California and Fresno, California, and the Culver Theater in Culver City, California, some of which are still extant. The style sometimes is referred to as Art Deco or as Art Moderne. The style is found in the theaters that were managed by the Skouras brothers, whose designer Carl G. Moeller used the sweeping scroll-like details in his creations.[28]

    The iconic Oscar statuettes that Gibbons designed, which were first awarded in 1929, still are being presented to winners at Academy Awards ceremonies each year.

    Gibbons was inducted into the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame in February 2005.[29]

    Academy Awards

    Awards for Art Direction

    Nominations for Art Direction

    See also

    Bibliography
    • "Cedric Gibbons Architect of Style", LA Modernism catalog, May 2006, pp. 16–17 by Jeffrey Head

    Notes

      References
      1. "B-M-1893-0022033 - Historical Vital Records of NYC". Retrieved September 8, 2023.
      2. Nichols, Chris (February 25, 2016). "Meet George Stanley, Sculptor of the Academy Award Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
      3. "Oscar Statuette". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. July 25, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
      4. "Nominee Facts – Most Nominations and Awards" Archived April 2, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; retrieved November 29, 2015.
      5. Pawlak, Debra Ann (January 12, 2012). Bringing up Oscar: The story of the men and women who founded the Academy. ISBN 978-1-60598-216-8.
      6. Hogan, David J. (June 1, 2014). The Wizard of Oz FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Life According to Oz. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4803-9720-0.
      7. Gutner, Howard (September 17, 2019). MGM Style: Cedric Gibbons and the Art of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4930-3858-9.
      8. "Cedric Gibbons, M-G-M Artist, 65". The New York Times. July 27, 1960. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
      9. Gutner, Howard (October 1, 2019). MGM Style: Cedric Gibbons and the Art of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4930-3858-9.
      10. "Cedric Gibbons and Hazel Brooks papers". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
      11. Stephens, Michael L. (September 2, 2015). Art Directors in Cinema: A Worldwide Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1128-0.
      12. "The Architectural Digest Greenroom at the 2013 Oscars". Architectural Digest. January 31, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
      13. Bingen, Steven; Sylvester, Stephen X.; Troyan, Michael (February 25, 2011). MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot. Santa Monica Press. ISBN 978-1-59580-893-6.
      14. "Inside Oscar Statuette Designer Cedric Gibbons' Restored Art Deco Home (Exclusive Photos)". The Hollywood Reporter. May 16, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
      15. "Cedric Gibbons Crafts a California Home That Evokes Hollywood Glamour". Architectural Digest. February 29, 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
      16. "Hazel Brooks". The Los Angeles Times. October 27, 1944. p. 13. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
      17. "Cedric Gibbons and Hazel Brooks papers". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
      18. Meyers, Jeffrey (February 27, 2001). Gary Cooper: American Hero. Cooper Square Press. ISBN 978-1-4616-6098-9.
      19. Frankel, Glenn (February 21, 2017). High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-62040-950-3.
      20. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions. Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1944.
      21. Welling, David (June 30, 2010). Cinema Houston: From Nickelodeon to Megaplex. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77398-1.
      22. Jasinski, Laurie E. (February 22, 2012). Handbook of Texas Music. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-87611-297-7.
      23. "B-M-1893-0022033 - Historical Vital Records of NYC". a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
      24. "Cedric Gibbons discovered in 1930 United States Federal Census". Ancestry.com.
      25. "Adrie Gibbons discovered in 1920 United States Federal Census". Ancestry.com.
      26. "Clipped from Santa Maria Times". Santa Maria Times. August 2, 1930. p. 1.
      27. Wilson, Scott (August 17, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4.
      28. Bitetti, Marge; Ball, Guy (2006). Early Santa Ana. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3100-7.
      29. McNary, Dave (October 26, 2005). "Art Directors paint quintet with honors". Variety. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
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