Santa Monica, Calif. – Hollywood art director George Jenkins, who won an Oscar for his work on “All the President’s Men,” died April 6. He was 98.
Jenkins designed and lighted sets on Broadway during the 1940s before heading to Hollywood at the behest of producer Samuel Goldwyn.
Jenkins’ first work there was on “The Best Years of Our Lives,” which won the Academy Award for best picture. He went on to work on more than 30 pictures as an art director or production designer.
His Oscar-winning work on “All the President’s Men” included re-creating the newsroom where Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein broke the Watergate scandal.
“It was absolutely faithful; he had re-created it down to the trash on our desks,” Bernstein told the Los Angeles Times.
His design for the 1979 film “The China Syndrome” earned him a second Oscar nomination.
Jenkins was also art director for the 1962 movie “The Miracle Worker.” Other films included “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Bishop’s Wife,” “Wait Until Dark,” “Klute,” “1776,” “The Paper Chase,” “The Parallax View” and “Funny Lady.”
