ADG Perspective

March-April 2016

Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/629850

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 63 of 67

62 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 6 milestones JOHN MANSBRIDGE 1917 – 2016 John B. Mansbridge, the two-time Oscar ® -nominated Production Designer and former head of the live-action Art Department at Walt Disney Studios, known for his work on such films as Tron, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and many other Disney projects, passed away January 11, 2016. He was 98. Born to Jack Mansbridge and Wanda Anderson in Geddes, South Dakota, Mr. Mansbridge served as an uncredited draftsman on Citizen Kane for Art Director Perry Ferguson in the RKO Art Department under six-time Oscar nominee Van Nest Polglase. He married Colleen Cuccia in Sherman Oaks, CA, served in the Army from 1945 to 1946, and enjoyed a successful career of fifty-five years working in the motion picture Industry. He was brought to Disney in the 1950s by Mr. Polglase's frequent collaborator, Production Designer Carroll Clark, a seven-time Oscar nominee known for such films as Notorious, Mary Poppins and The Absent-Minded Professor. He would prove to be Mansbridge's mentor. At Disney, Mr. Mansbridge became the Supervising Art Director for live-action feature films, and his long career there resulted in Academy Award ® nominations for Best Art Direction for Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1972, and The Island at the Top of the World in 1975. He also won an Emmy ® for Outstanding Art Direction for the series Beauty and the Beast in 1987. Mansbridge's other television credits include the classic series The Adventures of Superman and Disneyland and the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone. Among his many films as Art Director and Production Designer are The Return of the Fly, The Incredible Journey, The Happiest Millionaire, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Love Bug, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Barefoot Executive, The Million Dollar Duck, Now You See Him, Now You Don't, The World's Greatest Athlete, Superdad, The Strongest Man in the World, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Freaky Friday, The Shaggy D.A., Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Pete's Dragon, Return From Witch Mountain, The Black Hole, Herbie Goes Bananas, Tex, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Country, and Tim Burton's debut film, Frankenweenie. John is survived by his son Mark W. Mansbridge, also an Art Director and Production Designer, and his stepsons Bruce A. and Timothy F. Dent. He lived in Palm Springs, CA, and was preceded in death by his daughter Robin Garver and his wife Colleen Mansbridge.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of ADG Perspective - March-April 2016