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Harold Michelson is a Actor, Storyboard, Continuity, Production Design and Art Direction American born on 15 february 1920 at New York City (USA)

Harold Michelson

Harold Michelson
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Nationality USA
Birth 15 february 1920 at New York City (USA)
Death 1 march 2007 (at 87 years) at Woodland Hills (USA)

Harold Michelson (February 15, 1920 - March 2, 2007) was an American production designer and art director. In addition, he worked as an illustrator and/or storyboard artist on numerous films from the 1940s through the 1990s.

Biography

A native of New York City, Michelson worked with the Bureau of Printing in Washington, D.C. after graduating high school. He then served as a bombardier-navigator in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, flying more than 40 missions over Germany.

After the war, Michelson became an illustrator. He worked on magazines while attending the Art Students League of New York before moving on to Chicago and Los Angeles, where he illustrated movie posters. He ultimately became an illustrator for Columbia Pictures before being traded to Paramount Pictures, where he worked as illustrator and storyboard artist on The Ten Commandments, among other films. He then worked as a storyboard artist on Ben-Hur for MGM and Spartacus for Universal Pictures.

Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, he worked as either illustrator or storyboard artist on such classic films as West Side Story, The Birds, Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate. During the 1970s, he was an illustrator for films like Fiddler on the Roof and Cross of Iron; in the 1980s, he worked on Firestarter and The Cotton Club and was a visual consultant on the 1986 remake of The Fly.

His career as an art director started in television, beginning with NBC's Matinee Theatre and moving on to such programs as Gomer Pyle, USMC and The Andy Griffith Show. He would go on to serve as art director on several films, and also began working as production designer with the 1971 Cannes Film Festival Jury Grand Prize-winning film Johnny Got His Gun, all the while continuing his career as an illustrator and storyboard artist.

Michelson shared his first Academy Award nomination for his production designs on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, contributing to the interior and exterior design on the newly refit USS Enterprise. He shared a second nomination for his art direction on the 1983 film Terms of Endearment. He also worked on two films for Mel Brooks, first as production designer on History of the World: Part I and later as art director for Spaceballs. Michelson's other art direction credits include the films Mommie Dearest, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Dick Tracy.

In more recent years, Michelson served as a consultant for producer Danny DeVito on films such as Hoffa and Death to Smoochy. In 1999 Michelson was honored with the Art Director Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2002, he received the Outstanding Achievement in Production Design award from the Hollywood Film Festival.

Michelson died at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement home in 2007 following a long illness.

Best films

Ben-Hur (1959)
(Storyboard)
WarGames (1983)
(Continuity)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
(Art Direction)
Dick Tracy (1990)
(Art Direction)
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
(Production Illustrator)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
(Storyboard)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Harold Michelson (24 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Graveyard Shift, 1h29
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Natural horror films, Mise en scène d'un rongeur, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors David Andrews, Dr. Stephen Macht, Brad Dourif, Andrew Divoff, Frank Welker, Harold Michelson
Rating49% 2.454312.454312.454312.454312.45431
When an abandoned textile mill is reopened, several employees meet mysterious deaths. The link between the killings being that they all occurred between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.—the graveyard shift. The sadistic mill foreman (Stephen Macht) has chosen newly hired drifter John Hall (David Andrews) to help a group clean up the mill's rat-infested basement. The workers find a subterranean maze of tunnels leading to the cemetery—and a bear-sized, hairless, bat-like creature that hunts at night. In the end, Hall is able to kill the giant bat when it gets caught in the grinding wheels of a cotton picker and crushed to death.

Scriptwriter

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 2h11
Directed by Mike Nichols
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Films about alcoholism, Films about families, Medical-themed films, Films about drugs, Films about sexuality, Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Roles Storyboard
Rating79% 3.998493.998493.998493.998493.99849
Set on the campus of a small New England college, the film focuses on the volatile relationship of associate history professor George and his hard-drinking wife Martha, the daughter of the college president. George and Martha engage in dangerous emotional games with one another. After they return home drunk from a party, Martha reveals she has invited a young married couple, whom she met at the party, for a drink. The guests arrive – Nick, a biology professor (who Martha thinks teaches math), and his wife, Honey. As the four drink, Martha and George engage in scathing verbal abuse in front of Nick and Honey. The younger couple is first embarrassed and later enmeshed. They stay.
Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur (1959)
, 3h34
Directed by William Wyler
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Historical, Peplum
Themes Films set in Africa, Seafaring films, Christmas films, Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Transport films, Films based on the Bible, Films about Jews and Judaism, Road movies, Portrayals of Jesus in film, Chase films, Films about virginity
Actors Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott
Roles Storyboard
Rating80% 4.0489054.0489054.0489054.0489054.048905
In AD 26, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a wealthy prince and merchant in Jerusalem, who lives with his mother, Miriam (Martha Scott); his sister, Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell); their loyal slave, Simonides (Sam Jaffe); and his daughter, Esther (Haya Harareet), who loves Ben-Hur but is betrothed to another. His childhood friend, the Roman citizen Messala (Stephen Boyd), is now a tribune. After several years away from Jerusalem, Messala returns as the new commander of the Roman garrison. Messala believes in the glory of Rome and its imperial power, while Ben-Hur is devoted to his faith and the freedom of the Jewish people.

Director

WarGames
WarGames (1983)
, 1h54
Directed by John Badham
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure
Themes Films about computing, Jeu, Politique, Sécurité informatique, Films about video games, Political films, Arme nucléaire
Actors Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, Ally Sheedy, Barry Corbin, Michael Madsen
Roles Continuity
Rating70% 3.5497153.5497153.5497153.5497153.549715
During a surprise drill of a nuclear attack, many United States Air Force Strategic Missile Wing missileers prove unwilling to turn a required key to launch a missile strike. Such refusals convince John McKittrick (Dabney Coleman) and other systems engineers at NORAD that missile launch control centers must be automated, without human intervention. Control is given to a NORAD supercomputer, WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), programmed to continuously run military simulations and learn over time.

Art

Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy (1990)
, 1h45
Directed by Warren Beatty, Hayao Miyazaki, Robert Zemeckis
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Mafia films, Gangster films
Actors Warren Beatty, Madonna, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, James Caan, Glenne Headly
Roles Art Direction
Rating61% 3.0995753.0995753.0995753.0995753.099575
At an illegal card game, a young street urchin (Charlie Korsmo) witnesses the massacre of a group of mobsters named Shoulders (Stig Eldred), Stooge (Jim Wilkey), the Rodent (Neil Summers), the Brow (Chuck Hicks) and Little Face (Lawrence Steven Meyers) at the hands of Flattop (William Forsythe) and Itchy (Ed O'Ross), two of the hoods on the payroll of Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice (Al Pacino). Big Boy's crime syndicate is aggressively taking over small businesses in the city. Detective Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty) catches the urchin (who calls himself "Kid") in an act of petty theft. After rescuing him from a ruthless host, Tracy temporarily adopts him with the help of his girlfriend, Tess Truehart (Glenne Headly).
Spaceballs
Spaceballs (1987)
, 1h32
Directed by Mel Brooks
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Adventure, Comic science fiction
Themes Films about films, Space adventure films, Dans l'espace, Comedy science fiction films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Political films, Space opera, Films about extraterrestrial life, Robot films, Films about royalty
Actors Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga, Mel Brooks, Dick Van Patten
Roles Art Direction
Rating70% 3.548243.548243.548243.548243.54824
Planet Spaceball, led by the incompetent President Skroob, has wasted all of its air. Skroob schemes to steal air from the planet Druidia by kidnapping Princess Vespa, the daughter of King Roland on the day of her pre-arranged wedding to the narcoleptic Prince Valium. Skroob sends the villainous Dark Helmet to complete this task with Spaceball One, an impossibly huge ship helmed by Colonel Sandurz. Before they can arrive, Vespa herself abandons her marriage and flees the planet in her personal Mercedes spaceship along with her Droid of Honor, Dot Matrix.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 1h33
Directed by John Hughes
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Transport films, Films about automobiles, Aviation films, Rail transport films, Road movies, Buddy films
Actors Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean, Kevin Bacon, Dylan Baker
Roles Art Direction
Rating75% 3.7976853.7976853.7976853.7976853.797685
Neal Page is trying to return to his family for Thanksgiving in Chicago after being on a business trip in New York City, but is held up by an advertising executive who spends the entirety of the meeting looking at the three pictures to choose to launch their ad. On their way out, he tries to find a cab and successfully hails one, but is beaten to the punch by another man (Kevin Bacon in a cameo appearance). Del Griffith, a traveling salesman, interferes by leaving his trunk by the side of the road causing Neal to trip while racing a man for a cab, then inadvertently snatching the taxi ride that Neal bought from an attorney. The two meet again on the flight from JFK Airport to O'Hare; the plane is diverted to Wichita due to a blizzard in Chicago. What should have been a 1-hour and 45-minute New York-to-Chicago flight turns into a three-day ordeal, in which everything that can go wrong does.
Terms of Endearment, 2h12
Directed by James L. Brooks
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance
Themes Films about families, Medical-themed films, Films about sexuality, Films about cancer
Actors Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
Roles Art Direction
Rating73% 3.698143.698143.698143.698143.69814
Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) are both searching for deep romantic love. Beginning with Emma's early childhood, Aurora reveals how difficult and caring she can be by nearly climbing into Emma's crib in order to make sure her daughter is breathing—only to be reassured when Emma starts crying (after being woken up). After the death of Aurora's husband and Emma's father Rudyard (A. Brooks), Aurora and Emma develop an extremely close love-hate mother/daughter relationship as Emma grows up.
Mommie Dearest, 2h9
Directed by Frank Perry
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography, Comedy, Horror
Themes Films about children, Films about families, Films about television, Films about child abuse
Actors Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Mara Hobel, Rutanya Alda, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva
Roles Art Direction
Rating65% 3.2988653.2988653.2988653.2988653.298865
Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) is a driven actress and compulsively clean housekeeper who tries to control the lives of those around her as tightly as she controls herself. To prepare for a work day at MGM Studios, she rises at 4:00 a.m. and engages in a strict morning ritual: scrubbing her face and arms with soap and boiling hot water, then plunging her face into a bowl of rubbing alcohol and ice to close the pores. When Helga (Alice Nunn), a new maid, thinks she has Joan's living room in spotless condition, Joan finds one minor detail that she overlooked and loses her temper.
History of the World: Part I, 1h32
Directed by Mel Brooks, Brian W. Cook
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Films set in Africa, La préhistoire, Films about religion, Musical films, Portrayals of Jesus in film, Children's films, Histoire de France, French Revolution films
Actors Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Mel Brooks, Harvey Korman, Gregory Hines
Roles Production Design
Rating67% 3.399823.399823.399823.399823.39982
The film is a parody of the historical spectacular film genre anthology, including the sword and sandal epic and the period costume drama subgenres. The four main segments consist of stories set during the Stone Age, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution. Other intermediate skits include reenactments of the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Last Supper.
Can't Stop the Music, 2h4
Directed by Nancy Walker
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Musical films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Paul Sand, Tammy Grimes, Paula Trueman, Randy Jones
Roles Art Direction
Rating42% 2.10892.10892.10892.10892.1089
Songwriter Jack Morell (Steve Guttenberg)-a reference to Village People creator Jacques Morali-gets a break DJing at local disco Saddle Tramps. His roommate Sam Simpson (Valerie Perrine), a supermodel newly retired at the peak of her success, sees the response to a song he wrote for her ("Samantha") and agrees to use her connections to get him a record deal. Her connection, ex-boyfriend Steve Waits (Paul Sand), president of Marrakech Records (a reference to Village People record label Casablanca Records), is more interested in getting back with her than in Jack's music (and more interested in taking business calls than in wooing Samantha), but agrees to listen to a demo.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 2h6
Directed by Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Robert Wise, Stephen Collins, Gene Roddenberry, Persis Khambatta
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Action, Adventure
Themes Space adventure films, Dans l'espace, Films set in the future, Films about extraterrestrial life, Political films, Space opera, Films about extraterrestrial life, Robot films
Actors William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols
Roles Production Design
Rating64% 3.2007953.2007953.2007953.2007953.200795
In 2273, a Starfleet monitoring station, Epsilon Nine, detects an alien force, hidden in a massive cloud of energy, moving through space towards Earth. The cloud destroys three of the Klingon Empire's new K't'inga-class warships and the monitoring station en route. On Earth, the starship Enterprise is undergoing a major refit; her former commanding officer, James T. Kirk, has been promoted to Admiral and works in San Francisco as Chief of Starfleet Operations. Starfleet dispatches Enterprise to investigate the cloud entity as the ship is the only one in intercept range, requiring her new systems to be tested in transit.
Cross of Iron, 2h13
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War, Action, Historical
Themes Politique, Political films
Actors James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason, David Warner, Senta Berger, Klaus Löwitsch
Roles Art Direction
Rating73% 3.697573.697573.697573.697573.69757
The movie opens with German children's song "Hänschen klein" mixed with black-and-white footage of prewar and war scenes. It then segues to color and a German platoon raid on a Russian forward outpost led by Sergeant Rolf Steiner (James Coburn), during which his men capture a young Russian boy-soldier (Slavko Štimac).
Mame
Mame (1974)
, 2h12
Directed by Gene Saks
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Théâtre, Musical films, Films based on plays, Films based on musicals
Actors Lucille Ball, Beatrice Arthur, Robert Preston, Bruce Davison, Jane Connell, Joyce Van Patten
Roles Art Direction
Rating59% 2.9507352.9507352.9507352.9507352.950735
At the reading of the will of young Patrick Dennis's (Kirby Furlong) father, a trustee, Mr. Babcock (John McGiver), reveals that Patrick is to be left in the care of his aunt, Mame Dennis (Lucille Ball), as well as his nanny, Agnes Gooch (Jane Connell). Taking a train to New York City (Main Title Including St. Bridget), Babcock and the boy arrive at Mame's home, where they walk into a wild party that Mame is giving for a holiday she herself created (It's Today). Patrick asks if he may slide down her banister, then reveals his true identity. Mame introduces the boy to her friends, including a renowned stage actress (and famous lush), Vera Charles (Beatrice Arthur).