Ian Whittaker, the British actor turned Oscar-winning set decorator known for his work on such films as Alien, Howards End, Tommy and Anna and the King, died Oct. 16 of prostate cancer, The Guardianreported. He was 94.
Whittaker also served as set dresser on Charlie Chaplin’s A Countess From Hong Kong (1967), James Clavell’s To Sir, With Love (1967), Tony Richardson’s The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and Jim Sharman’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and as art director on Michael Ritchie’s Downhill Racer (1969) and Derek Jarman’s The Tempest (1979).
He collaborated with director Ken Russell on nine features, from the 1971 releases The Music Lovers, The Boy Friend and The Devils to Tommy (1975), Lisztomania (1975) — both featuring The Who’s Roger Daltrey — and the Rudolf Nureyev-starring Valentino (1977).
Whittaker received his Oscar — shared with his production designer Luciana Arrighi, with whom he partnered on 16 films — for his work on the lavish Merchant Ivory production Howards End (1992).
They also were nominated for The Remains of the Day (1993), another beautiful period piece from James Ivory, Ismail Merchant and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and for the Andy Tennant-helmed Anna and the King (1999), starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat.
Whittaker landed his first Oscar nom for Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece Alien (1979) — he used pieces of old washing machines and spray-painted them white for the interior of the Nostromo spacecraft — and later was the set decorator on the Prince musical Under the Cherry Moon (1986), Highlander (1986) and Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility (1995).
Ian Roy Whittaker was born in London on July 13, 1928. His father, Hugh, was a stage manager and later a personal assistant to Oscar-winning Disraeli actor George Arliss; his mother, Hettie, was a musical theater performer.
Whittaker studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art alongside Roger Moore, then appeared with Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in a legendary 1945 stage production of Oedipus Rex.
After service in the military, he acted for director Lewis Gilbert in the films Cosh Boy (1953), The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954), Reach for the Sky (1956) and Sink the Bismarck! (1960).
A painter and decorator on the side, he looked for an art department gig and was hired by John Boorman on Having a Wild Weekend (1965), starring The Dave Clark Five. He hardly ever acted again.
His résumé also included The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea (1976), The Watcher in the Woods (1980), Dragonslayer (1981), The Razor’s Edge (1984), The Emerald Forest (1985), Madame Sousatzka (1988), Being Julia (2004) and Julian Fellowes’ From Time to Time (2009), his final credit.
Survivors include his longtime partner, Mick Hickman.
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