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- Director
- Production Designer
- Producer
Harry Horner was born in Bohemia (now Czech Republic), but spent most
of his early life in Austria. In 1934, he graduated from the University
of Vienna with a degree in architecture. Along the way, he also managed
to study dramatic arts, directing and costume design, making his stage
debut as an actor with the
Max Reinhardt Theatre Company. He
joined the troupe during their 1936 tour of the United States as
assistant to Reinhardt.Putting every facet of his training to use, he
worked variously as actor ("Iron Men", 1936), associate musical
director and conductor ("The Eternal Road", 1937); and, finally, scenic
designer ("All the Living", 1938).
In 1940, Horner became a naturalised American citizen and went to
Hollywood, having formed an association with the noted production
designer
William Cameron Menzies. He
assisted Menzies on the generational drama
Our Town (1940), then joined the U.S.
Army Air Force on specialised duties to work on morale-building
projects, such as
Stage Door Canteen (1943) (as
production designer). Under air force supervision, he then created the
sets for Winged Victory (1944),
based on a Moss Hart play about pilot
recruitment and training. Following the war, Horner divided his time
between the stage and Hollywood. He won the first of two Academy Awards
for The Heiress (1949) (in
collaboration with John Meehan),
having done meticulous and painstaking research on period detail,
collecting numerous contemporary photographs. Three years later, he
branched out into directing with the cult sci-fi
Red Planet Mars (1952), followed
by the stylish film noir
Beware, My Lovely (1952)
(eliciting power-house performances from his stars
Robert Ryan and
Ida Lupino).
Throughout the remainder of the decade, Horner remained active as a
designer on Broadway, including the play "Tovarich" (which he also
staged). He also turned his attention to designing and directing for
both the Metropolitan and the San Francisco Opera, as well as finding
time to direct a number of early television episodes. For the big
screen, he worked as production designer on diverse projects, always at
his best on famous literary adaptations, such as
Born Yesterday (1950) and
Separate Tables (1958), and
winning his second Academy Award for the gritty
Robert Rossen drama,
The Hustler (1961). As with all his
assignments, he conducted extensive research on the milieu by visiting
countless pool halls in order to imbue both picture and characters with
the necessary complexity and realism. Horner was nominated for a third
Oscar for
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969).
He was inducted into the Art Director's Guild Hall of Fame in 2006.