George Jenkins
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Biography
A versatile and prolific production designer, George Jenkins learned his craft as assistant to famed stage designer Jo Mielziner. After a brief period as an art director in Hollywood (on such films as "The Best Years of Our Lives" 1946 and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" 1947), he spent much of the 1950s dividing his time between the Broadway stage and television. During that decade, Jenkins worked as a color specialist at both NBC and CBS as well as designed such plays and musicals as "The Desk Set" (1954), "The Happiest Millionaire" (1957) and a revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" (1958).
Jenkins twice worked onstage with director Arthur Penn and writer William Gibson on "Two for the Seesaw" (1958) and "The Miracle Worker" (1959). Penn hired the designer to recreate his work on the 1962 film version of "The Miracle Worker." At that point, Jenkins' feature work accelerated and he contributed meticulous and original settings for a number of fine films. For "Wait Until Dark" (1967), he assisted in creating the contemporary Greenwich Village apartment of Audrey Hepburn's character. In contrast, "1776" (1972) required designs that implied Colonial America while "Funny Lady" (1975) featured extravagant Broadway-style musical numbers. Jenkins enjoyed a long and successful screen collaboration with director Alan J Pakula dating from "Klute" (1971). He shared an Oscar for his recreation of the newsrooms of THE WASHINGTON POST and other capitol settings in "All the President's Men" (1976). Perhaps his most challenging work for Pakula came with "Sophie's Choice" (1982) which required a recreation of 1950s Brooklyn as well as Nazi concentration camps. Jenkins final screen work included the courtroom settings for Pakula's "Presumed Innocent" (1990).
Filmography
Art Director (Feature Film)
Production Designer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1934
Worked as an interior and industrial designer
1943
Broadway debut as set and lighting designer, "Early to Bed"
1946
Feature debut, credited for art direction, "The Best Years of Our Lives"
1949
Last feature work for over a decade, art direction on "Roseanna McCoy"
1957
Received first Tony nominations for "The Happiest Millionaire" and "Too Late the Philarope"
1959
Designed the stage production "The Miracle Worker"; earned a Tony nomination
1962
Returned to features as art director for Arthur Penn's "The Miracle Worker"
1965
Worked again with Penn on "Mickey One"
1971
First collaboration with director Alan J Pakula, "Klute"
1975
Was production desinger on the film musical "Funny Lady"
1976
Final Broadway production, "Sly Fox"
1976
Shared Oscar for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration for Pakula's "All the President's Men"
1979
Shared Oscar nomination for production design on "The China Syndrome"
1984
TV-movie debut, "The Dollmaker"
1990
Last film credit and final collaboration with Pakula, "Presumed Innocent"
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