Angelo P. Graham, 69 or 70, Oscar-winning art director and production designer

[Chuck]

Oscar-winning art director and production designer Angelo P. Graham,
whose credits include THE GODFATHER PART II, BEVERLY HILLS COP and MRS.
DOUBTFIRE, died a month ago today; he was either 69 or 70. Media outlets
have yet to report his death, but he is listed on the Academy of Motion
Pictures Arts and Sciences' Memoriam page
(http://www.oscars.org/about/memoriam), and a search for Graham at the
organization's Academy Awards Database
(http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/) reveals he passed away on Nov. 7,
2017. Neither his age nor his birthdate are given by the database, but
his entry in Michael L. Stephens' book ART DIRECTORS IN CINEMA gives his
birth year as 1947.

Working alongside production designer Dean Tavoularis and set decorator
George Nelson, Graham provided the art direction for classic '70s films
such as LITTLE BIG MAN (1970) and THE GODFATHER PART II (1974), the
latter of which won the trio an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set
Decoration. The team collaborated with GODFATHER director Francis Ford
Coppola on several more films, most notably APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), for
which they received another Oscar nomination. The team was also
nominated for an Oscar for their work on William Friedkin's THE BRINK'S
JOB (1978) and later worked together on the 1982 films HAMMETT and THE
ESCAPE ARTIST, both of which were executive produced by Coppola.

Graham and Nelson also worked on a several films together without
Tavoularis, including Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY (1972), Norman
Jewison's F.I.S.T. (1978) and Matthew Robbins' *BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
(1987). Meanwhile, Graham and Tavoularis collaborated without Nelson on
multiple films, most notably Coppola's ONE FROM THE HEART (1981) and
Philip Kaufman's RISING SUN (1993).

Graham's first film as production designer was John Badham's WARGAMES
(1983), and the effort garnered him a BAFTA Film nomination for Best
Production Design/Art Direction. His next assignment was designing Barry
Levinson's baseball drama THE NATURAL (1984); this film earned Graham
his fourth and final Oscar nomination, which he shared with co-
production designer Mel Bourne and set decorator Bruce Weintraub.

Subsequently, Graham created the production designs for three acclaimed
hit films directed by Martin Brest: BEVERLY HILLS COP (1984), MIDNIGHT
RUN (1988) and the Oscar-winning SCENT OF A WOMAN (1992). He was also
the production designer of Chris Columbus' comedies MRS. DOUBTFIRE
(1993) and NINE MONTHS (1995), both of which feature the late Robin
Williams. Graham worked with Williams one last time as the art director
of Francis Ford Coppola's JACK (1996), which also marked Graham's final
collaboration with both Coppola and Dean Tavoularis. Graham's final
screen credit was as an art director on Robert Redford's THE LEGEND OF
BAGGER VANCE (2000).

For a complete list of Graham's credits, check out his IMDb page at
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0333908.

[Anglo.Saxon]

Chuck wrote:
> Oscar-winning art director and production designer Angelo P. Graham,
>

Just reading through those films makes me depressed but at the same time,
grateful. Grateful for living in such an era, first, and second, that I got
to see them all, and read the books from whence they came. Little Big Man
was the funniest book I ever read and I turn around, Bang! There it is up on
the screen with Hoffman. The Godfather's colors and moods were so
mesmerizing. All those guys crammed into a few years. Everyone at the top of
their game.

[Michael OConnor]

The film adaptation of The Natural was good too, until they deviated from the end of the book where Roy Hobbs struck out with the replacement bat after his Wonderboy bat broke and the Knights lost the game and he would forever be remembered not as a hero who helped win the pennant but instead as the guy who threw the big game.

[Anglo.Saxon]

I'm more the head twisting 360 degrees. I was reading the book and got to
the part where the secretary was coming down the stairs, up-side down on all
fours backwards. With her tongue flicking. I reflexively threw the fkg book
across the room into the wall. Damn.

Then all the subsequent movies became a cartoon of the originals and I doubt
there's a soul on earth under 65 who remembers how horrifying it was. How
original it all was. Paris, Texas. How raw and deconstructed can a film be
in America.

Nowadays it feels like for the first time in history, we have no past. It's
100% future. Last week, not a soul remembers last month. I swear the nuclear
bombs could be bursting in air and there would be millions of Likes for
people on socials who are organizing an Anti-Hate movement in support of
people who want to ...... oh. Wait. They already went there. The
self-amputee movement that identifies as legless. Emergency Room doctors are
having a helluva time with them.
I digress.

[gary.pand...@gmail.com]

Angelo was a dear friend of mine. He was 85 years old when he passed.