20 Facts About Cedric Gibbons

Austin Cedric Gibbons was an American art director for the film industry.

Cedric Gibbons made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s.

Cedric Gibbons was nominated 39 times for the Academy Award for Best Production Design and won the Oscar 11 times, both of which are records.

Cedric Gibbons was born in New York City in 1890 to Irish architect Austin P Gibbons and American Veronica Fitzpatrick Simmons.

Cedric Gibbons studied at the Art Students League of New York in 1911.

Cedric Gibbons began working in his father's office as a junior draftsman, then in the art department at Edison Studios under Hugo Ballin in New Jersey in 1915.

Cedric Gibbons was drafted and served in the US Navy Reserves during World War I at Pelham Bay in New York.

In 1918, Cedric Gibbons joined Goldwyn Studios, first serving as an assistant to Hugo Ballin.

In 1925, working in MGM's art department, Cedric Gibbons competed with Romain De Tirtoff for a more substantial position, while working with Joseph Wright, Merrill Pye and Richard Day on some 20 films.

Cedric Gibbons was one of the original 36 founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and designed the Academy Awards statuette in 1928.

Cedric Gibbons was nominated 39 times for Best Art Direction, and won 11.

Cedric 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.

Cedric Gibbons married Gwendolyn Weller in New York City on January 16,1926, after having known her for one week.

Cedric Gibbons co-designed their house with Douglas Honnold in Santa Monica, an intricate Art Deco residence influenced by Rudolf Schindler.

Cedric Gibbons's press marriage announcement stated that he was a native of Ireland.

Cedric Gibbons died in Los Angeles on July 26,1960, after a long illness at age 70.

Cedric Gibbons was interred under a modest marker at the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.

Cedric Gibbons' set designs, particularly those in such films as Born to Dance and Rosalie, heavily inspired motion picture theater architecture in the late 1930s through 1950s.

The iconic Oscar statuettes that Cedric Gibbons designed, which were first awarded in 1929, still are being presented to winners at Academy Awards ceremonies each year.

Cedric Gibbons was inducted into the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame in February 2005.