Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890[1] – July 26, 1960) was an Americanart director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed theOscar statuette in 1928, but tasked the sculpting toGeorge Stanley, a Los Angeles artist.[2][3] He was nominated 39 times for theAcademy Award for Best Production Design and won the Oscar 11 times, both of which are records.[4]
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 theArt Students League of New York in 1911.[6] He began working in his father's office as a juniordraftsman, then in the art department atEdison Studios underHugo Ballin in New Jersey in 1915. He was drafted and served in theUS Navy Reserves during World War I atPelham Bay in New York.[7]
In 1918, Gibbons joinedGoldwyn Studios, first serving as an assistant toHugo Ballin.[8] In 1924, Goldwyn Studios merged withMetro Pictures andLouis B. Mayer Pictures to becomeMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).[9] In 1925, working in MGM's art department, Gibbons competed withRomain De Tirtoff for a more substantial position, while working with Joseph Wright, Merrill Pye and Richard Day on some 20 films.[10] Tirtoff is better known as Erte. When studio executiveIrving Thalberg summoned Gibbons to work onBen Hur (1925), he used knowledge of the up-and-comingart moderne (that was to become known asart deco) to advance in the department.[11]
Gibbons retired from MGM as art director and the head of the art department on April 26, 1956, due to ill health with over 2,000 films credited to him. He was succeeded byWilliam A. Horning.[13] Even so, his actual hands-on art direction is considerable and his contributions lasting.[14][15]
Gibbons married Gwendolyn Weller in New York City on January 16, 1926, after having known her for one week. (On the marriage certificate, it is stated that he had been born in Dublin, Ireland.) They divorced shortly thereafter on the grounds of "desertion." Gibbons at first failed to pay the promised $6,000 per year alimony.[16][17]
Gibbons' second cousin[citation needed] Frederick "Royal" Gibbons—a musician, orchestra conductor, and entertainer[26] who worked with him at MGM—was the father ofBilly Gibbons of the rock bandZZ Top.[27][28]
Despite holding a US birth certificate,[29] Gibbons claimed on census forms that he was born in Ireland and that his family emigrated to the US during his early childhood.[30][31] His press marriage announcement also stated that he was a native of Ireland.[32] The reasons for this misstatement are unknown.
Gibbons died in Los Angeles on July 26, 1960, after a long illness at age 70. Contemporary publications, including theLos Angeles Times, reported at the time that he had died at age 65.[33] He was interred under a modest marker at theCalvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.[34]
Gibbons' set designs, particularly those in such films asBorn to Dance (1936) andRosalie (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 asArt Deco or asArt Moderne. The style is found in the theaters that were managed by theSkouras brothers, whose designer Carl G. Moeller used the sweeping scroll-like details in his creations.[35]
The iconic Oscar statuettes that Gibbons designed, which were first awarded in 1929, still are being presented to winners atAcademy Awards ceremonies each year.
