Celebrity Biographies
Gil Parrondo
Gil Parrondo was not quite convinced to be defined as artistic director, so he always asked to be addressed as decorator. “I don’t direct anything,” he usually explained. The renowned professional, the first Spaniard to win two Oscars, died in Madrid on Christmas Eve 2016, at the age of 95. He stayed active until the end. “ We all know that when we work with Gil we become young again”, wrote José Luis Garci, of whom he was a regular collaborator, on ABC. “Like when you see “Casablanca”. Like when twenty-year-old girls fell for you. Gil and “Casablanca”, two legends ”.
Gil Parrondo y Rico-Villademoros (Luarca, Asturias, June 17, 1921) left very young to study in Madrid. There, he studied painting and architecture at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, at the same time that he became a great movie fan and became interested in creating sets.
He began his journey as a decoration assistant at the end of the Civil War, in films by Eduardo García Maroto and Florián Rey . After becoming an assistant to the German Sigfrido Burmann, she collaborates in various Cifesa productions, such as Locura de amor and Alba de América . He first appeared in the credits as artistic director in 1951 with Antonio del Amo’s Day after Day . He also did this work in Jeromín , by Luis Lucia , in 1953.
Gil Parrondo lavished himself on the numerous American co-productions shot in Spain, on titles such as Doctor Zhivago , by David Lean , Alexander the Great , by Robert Rossen ; Pride and Passion , by Stanley Kramer , most notably in numerous works by Samuel Bronston, such as 55 Days at Peking and Nicholas Ray ‘s King of Kings ; El Cid and The Fall of the Roman Empire , by Anthony Mann ; and The Fabulous World of the Circus , by Henry Hathaway . He was under the command of the legendary Orson Welles in Mr. Arkadin .
In Hollywood, he was in charge of the sets of enormously successful films, such as The Children of Brazil , by Franklin J. Schaffner ; The Wind and the Lion , by John Milius , or Robin and Marian , by Richard Lester . He received the Oscar for best artistic direction and decoration on two occasions: the first, in 1970, for his work in Patton , by the aforementioned Schaffner; and the second, the following year, for the sets of Nicolás and Alejandra , by the same director. In 1972 he received a third nomination, for Trips with My Aunt , by George Cukor .
He also worked on Beginning Again , by José Luis Garci , the first Spanish production to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. For his work with this filmmaker, he received four Goya awards for best artistic direction: for Canción de Cuna (1995), You’re the One (2001), Merry-go-round c. 1950 (2005) and Ninette (2006). He was also nominated for four other films by the director: for El abuelo (1999), Historia de un beso (2002), Luz de domingo (2007) and Sangre de mayo (2008).
In 1983, he received the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts, and in 1999, the Gold Medal of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences. On stage, he was in charge of the set design for the productions of “Three Top Hats” (1992) and “Traitor, Unconfessed and Martyr” (1993), at the Spanish Theater in Madrid. He also worked on television, with titles such as The Disasters of War , by Mario Camus ; Golden Rings , by Pedro Masó , and La Regenta , by Fernando Méndez-Leite . Discreet in his private life, he had six children with his wife.