Hal Gausman

Hal Gausman
Gausman's set direction from Mary Poppins
Born	Hal Gordon Gausman (1917-11-13)November 13, 1917 Los Angeles, California
Died	June 10, 2003(2003-06-10) (aged 85) Oxnard, California
Occupation	Set decorator
Years active	1952–1989

Hal Gordon Gausman^[1] (November 13, 1917 - June 10, 2003) was an American set decorator. He was nominated for five Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.^[2]

Biography[edit]

Gausman was born in Los Angeles, California in 1917, as the second son to Harvey Elwood Gausman (1886–1944) and his wife, Maude F. Coffy. His older brother was Harvey Elwood Gausman, Jr. (1913–1981).

Gausman married in 1947, and moved to Oxnard, California. He was hired by Walt Disney in 1961, to be the set decorator for The Absent-Minded Professor. Having done set decorations for films since 1952, Gausman took the offer, and since then has done set decorations for films including Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Escape to Witch Mountain, Back to the Future, and Jaws: The Revenge. For the second-to-last aforementioned film, a picture of him was used for Mayor Red Thomas in the 1955 sequences, while Buck Flower played another character named Red in the scene where Marty is back in 1985; Flower would reprise his role in Back to the Future Part II.

Gausman retired from set decorations in 1989, and died at home on June 10, 2003.^[3] He was 85 years old.

Selected filmography[edit]

Gausman was nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:

• The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
• The Island at the Top of the World (1974)
• The Untouchables (1987)^[4]

Additional film credits include:

• Animal House (1978)
• The Blues Brothers (1980)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Hal Gausman at IMDb
• Hal Gausman at AllMovie