Henry Bumstead
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"I've worked 67 years steady. I've never looked for a job, and I've never been fired. I owe it to lots of luck that I've worked with good directors and good scripts and good actresses and actors."---Henry Bumstead to Los Angeles Magazine, November 2004.
Biography
Veteran production designer Henry Bumstead began designing film sets in collaboration with Hans Dreier with three features in 1948: "Saigon," "The Sainted Sisters" and "My Own True Love." They went on to work together on a half-dozen other feature, including "My Friend Irma" 1949 and its 1950 sequel "My Friend Irma Goes West." Bumstead was then teamed with Hal Pereira and that collaboration yielded some 20 features. Perhaps the best-known of their joint efforts were two classic Hitchcock thrillers "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), with its French Morocco milieu, and "Vertigo" (1958), which brought them an Academy Award nod for their San Franciscan settings. (Bumstead later worked with Hitchcock on "Topaz" 1969 and "The Family Plot" 1976.)
For much of the decade between 1962 and 1972, Bumstead teamed with Alexander Golitzen, earning an Oscar for their Southern designs for "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962). Among the other more notable results of their pairing were the South Seas island of "Father Goose" (1964) and the Western towns of the Clint Eastwood vehicle "Joe Kidd" (1972). The designer has also enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with director George Roy Hill, earning a second Oscar for the Roaring Twenties sets of "The Sting" (1973). Bumstead fashioned the dusty towns and period settings for "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975) before taking a more modern approach with the farm team hockey story "Slap Shot" (1977). "The World According to Garp" (1982) encompassed several decades as the lead character goes from youth to adulthood. A similar challenge was to create the period flavors for each segment of "Same Time, Next Year" (1978), which covered some two decades. He revisited Hitchcock territory provided the look for "Psycho III" (1986), directed by star Anthony Perkins. When director Clint Eastwood was putting the design team together for his revisionist Western "Unforgiven" (1992), he tapped Bumstead who was rewarded with yet another Oscar nomination for his efforts. Since then, Bumstead has designed "A Perfect World" (1993), "Absolute Power" and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (both 1997) for Eastwood. In 1998, the octogenarian was honored with a lifetime achievement award by his peers in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Art Directors.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Art Director (Feature Film)
Art Department (Feature Film)
Production Designer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1948
First of ten films in colloboration with fellow designer Hans Dreier; "Saigon", credited as art director
1950
Began working in tandem with Hal Pereira with "The Goldbergs" and "The Redhead and the Cowboy"; together designed some 20 films in all
1956
Initial collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock, "The Man Who Knew Too Much"
1958
With Pereira, designed Hitchcock's "Vertigo"; received first Academy Award nomination
1962
First collaborations with Alexander Golitzen, "The Spiral Road" and "To Kill a Mockingbird"; won Oscar for the latter
1969
Served as production designer on Hitchcock's "Topaz"
1970
First TV-movie credit, "The Movie Murderer" (NBC)
1972
Acting debut in George Roy Hill's "Slaughterhouse Five" (also production designer)
1972
First collaboration with Clint Eastwood, "Joe Kidd"
1973
Earned second Oscar for his period designs for "The Sting", directed by George Roy Hill
1976
Final collaboration with Hichcock, "Family Plot"
1978
Designed "Same Time, Next Year"
1982
Provided the look "The World According to Garp", directed by George Roy Hill
1984
Last screen collaboration with George Roy Hill, "The Little Drummer Girl"
1986
Revisted Hitchcock territory designing "Psycho III". directed by star Anthony Perkins
1988
Appeared in the film "A Time of Destiny"; also served as production designer
1992
Reteamed with Clint Eastwood for the revisionist Western "Unforgiven"; received an Oscar nomination
1993
Worked again with Eastwood on "A Perfect World"
1997
Collaborated with Eastwood on both "Absolute Power" and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"I've worked 67 years steady. I've never looked for a job, and I've never been fired. I owe it to lots of luck that I've worked with good directors and good scripts and good actresses and actors."---Henry Bumstead to Los Angeles Magazine, November 2004.
