John gabriel beckman biography of williams
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Some of his decorating work during this period included several stores and houses, murals for the Christian Science Church in Glendale, and interior decoration for Aimee Semple McPherson. The grand opening of the opulent Casino was held Memorial Day, 1929, and Mr. Beckman’s reputation was firmly established.
When the Great Depression dried up his mural commissions, he switched careers and became a set designer for several Hollywood studios, most notably Warner Bros., drawing sets for high profile films such as Mr.
Meanwhile, the noted businessman and entrepreneur William Wrigley, Jr. was in the midst of transforming Avalon into a world-class resort; its crown jewel a grand casino building that was to house a state-of-the-art movie palace and a ballroom of immense size. Wrigley’s close associate, David M. Renton, was in charge of planning and executing this monumental feat in a period of just 14 months.
The scenes spring entirely from Beckman’s own imagination. Renton had visited Grauman’s Chinese Theatre shortly after its opening, and was so impressed by its murals that he arranged for Beckman to meet with Wrigley. Wrigley was impressed by what he saw, and selected Beckman for the commission almost on the spot. The interior murals were painted on heavy material made of jute.
He graduated from Fort Bragg Union High School in 1915.
He attended University of California, Berkeley but did not graduate.
Career
After serving in the Army Air Corps in the U.S. during World War I, Beckman began working in a shipyard. His father had booked him passage out of England on the Titanic, but at the urging of friends who told him the new luxury liner was unsafe, Mr.
Beckman switched to its sister ship, the Olympic. In 1952, Beckman married Layne Grey, and their daughter Jane was born on June 21, 1954. The family relocated to Fort Bragg.
In 1910, Beckman studied in Europe and Russia, returning to the United States in 1912 when his mother became ill. His paintings were exhibited after his death at The Sovereign Collection, Oregon History Center, from November 1995 to February 1996.
His first work in television was as art director for the series Profiles in Courage.
Working with a team of five mural artists and dozens of assistants, he created nine colorful murals for the entrance lobby loggia, art deco murals painted on panels surrounding the audience in the first floor theater, and a fantasia of fauna, mermaids, explorers, and other undersea deities painted on a burlap-like, sound-absorbing fabric in the Casino.
John Gabriel Beckman Explained
John Gabriel Beckman (March 27, 1898 – October 25, 1989) was an American set designer, art director, and production designer. John, his mother, and his siblings were visiting Fort Bragg when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, and it was two weeks before they learned that their father, who had remained in San Francisco, had survived.
He also had jobs at the Hercules Powder Company and Spreckles Sugar Company. He also designed the second-story ballroom with its elaborate ceiling. He split his personal time between a home in Sherman Oaks and a small house in Cambria, an artists colony on California’s central coast, where he could paint.
In later years, having outlived both of his wives, he rented a cottage on the Studio City property of his friend Ross Bellah, head of the art department at Columbia Pictures Television, and worked for Mr.
Bellah on a long list of television series, pilots and movies.