William Cameron Menzies (1896-1957) was perhaps the most celebrated art director in all of cinema, so defining the profession that a new and elevated term, "production designer," was coined especially for him. Menzies was the first person to win an Academy Award® for Art Direction (for 1927's The Dove) and for the new category of Production Design (a special Oscar® for 1939's Gone With the Wind). Join TCM each Thursday in January as we salute this brilliant and legendary artist.

The host of this Spotlight is author James Curtis, whose book, William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come, became the first comprehensive study of Menzies and his work when it was published in November 2015. Curtis also has written biographies of Spencer Tracy, W. C. Fields and Preston Sturges.

Born in Connecticut, Menzies began in silent film and first drew major attention for his elaborate set designs for the Douglas Fairbanks adventure The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Two other examples of his early work are TCM premieres: Bulldog Drummond (1929) and Chandu the Magician (1932).

In addition to his spectacular designs for Gone With the Wind, for which he and his collaborators drew around 2,000 detailed watercolor sketches, Menzies actually directed the sequences showing the burning of Atlanta and the hospital scenes, including the famous crane shot of the wounded Confederate soldiers.

Among many other outstanding Menzies credits in our tribute are Alice in Wonderland (1933), Our Town (1940), Kings Row (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

TCM is proud to note that on January 31, the first-ever Art Directors Guild William Cameron Menzies Award will be presented to the host of our network, Robert Osborne.