Person

Willy Holt

Art · 1921–2007 · Quincy, Florida, USA

Willy Holt (30 November 1921 – 22 June 2007) was an American production designer, art director and actor who lived in France for many years. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Is Paris Burning?, and won a César Award for Best Production Design for Au revoir, les enfants. Willy Holt was born in Quincy, Florida, in 1921, the son of an American military photographer and his French wife. After his parents divorced his mother returned with him to her home country, where he was naturalised as a French citizen in 1923. He graduated with a baccalauréat from the Lycée Fermat in Toulouse during the early years of the Occupation. Holt was married for four years to the actress Micheline Bourday, subsequently marrying the actress Martine Pascal in 1958. He and Pascal had two children. Holt was a member of the French Resistance and was arrested at Grenoble railway station in December 1943 while transferring money on behalf of anti-Nazi Resistance fighters. He was interned at Auschwitz, via the Drancy internment camp. He survived the death march from Auschwitz to Buchenwald, where he was one of those liberated on 13 April 1945. Holt wrote about his wartime experiences in his 1995 book Femmes en deuil sur camion. After briefly working as a fashion designer, Holt was hired to work in television in 1946. His set designs for several television shows led to further work in cinema, initially as an art director. As befitted his Franco-American origins, Holt worked on several productions in both countries, collaborating with a number of internationally renowned film directors such as John Frankenheimer, Stanley Donen, Otto Preminger, Robert Parrish, Fred Zinnemann, Bertrand Blier, Woody Allen, Michael Ritchie, Louis Malle and Roman Polanski. Source: Article "Willy Holt" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

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  Les enragés

  Production Design

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  The Ninth Gate

  Andrew Telfer

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  The Day of the Jackal

  Set Designer

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  Bitter Moon

  Production Design

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  Is Paris Burning?

  Production Design

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  Au Revoir les Enfants

  Production Design

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  The Train

  Production Design

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  Love and Death

  Art Direction

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  The Gypsy

  Production Design

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  Zelig

  Rally Chancellor

• 1999The Ninth GateAndrew Telfer
• 1998A Shadowed Gaze
• 1996My ManProduction Design
• 1993The Thirst for GoldProduction Design
• 1992Bitter MoonProduction Design
• 1990May FoolsProduction Design
• 1987Au Revoir les EnfantsProduction Design
• 1986A State of EmergencyProduction Design
• 1985TargetProduction Design
• 1985Les enragésProduction Design
• 1983A Friend of VincentProduction Design
• 1983ZeligRally Chancellor
• 1983The RuffianProduction Design
• 1982Five Days One SummerProduction Design
• 1982Santa Claus Is a StinkerProduction Design
• 1981A Business of MenProduction Design
• 1981For a Cop's HideL'homme qui a tué Fanch Tanguy
• 1979The Other One's MugProduction Design
• 1979An Almost Perfect AffairArt Direction
• 1977JuliaProduction Design
• 1975The GypsyProduction Design
• 1975Love and DeathArt Direction
• 1974The Marseille ContractProduction Design
• 1974The Down-in-the-Hole GangProduction Design
• 1973The Day of the JackalSet Designer
• 1972The AnnuityProduction Design
• 1970The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a GunArt Direction
• 1969StaircaseArt Direction
• 1968The SergeantProduction Design
• 1967Two for the RoadArt Direction
• 1966Is Paris Burning?Production Design
• 1964The TrainProduction Design
• 1954Le Petit PoucetConcept Artist