R.I.P. ROBERT BOYLE

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If memory serves, I first saw Robert Boyle sitting on a panel at orientation during my first year at AFI.  I heard his name, but quickly forgot it.  I knew he was a production designer, but didn't think twice about it.  All I saw was an 88-year-old man of few words.  But, I soon noticed that, when he did speak… everyone listened.  He was knowledgeable, precise, and, in his own way, magical.  I remember thinking to myself, “Who is this guy and where did they find him?”

When I finally read his bio, I realized what a fool I'd been, of course.  This man wasn't just any production designer.  He had worked on over a hundred movies.  Maybe you’ve heard of some of them.  “North by Northwest.”  “In Cold Blood.”  “The Thomas Crown Affair.”  “Fiddler on the Roof.”  “Cape Fear.”  “The Birds.”  The list goes on… and on… and on…

Boyle was nominated for Best Art Direction four times.  (The Academy finally came to its senses in 2008 and awarded him an Honorary Oscar.)  He had some wonderful collaborators.  Maybe you’ve heard of some of them, too.  Alfred Hitchcock.  Norman Jewison.  Hal Ashby.  Don Siegel.  Arthur Hiller.  Again, the list goes on… and on… and on…

Boyle was still a Distinguished Lecturer in the Production Design program at the American Film Institute Conservatory at the time of his death yesterday of natural causes.  

He was 100-years-old.

Rest in peace, sir.

-Dax

P.S. The following is the trailer for Daniel Raim’s Oscar-nominated documentary about Boyle, “The Man On Lincoln’s Nose.”  Enjoy.Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdmuMGfDqXY

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