بیوگرافی
Garrett Lewis, a four-time Academy Award-nominated set decorator, dancer, and actor, passed away on January 29, 2013, at age 77. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1935, he died of natural causes at his home in Woodland Hills, California.
A native of St. Louis, Garrett Lewis enjoyed a distinguished career as a dancer, actor, and set decorator. His journey began in college when he was cast as the dance lead for a season at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre. Following that summer stock experience, he moved to New York and quickly secured a role in the Broadway production of My Fair Lady. He went on to perform in several other Broadway shows, including Hello Dolly, Vintage '60, and First Impressions.
Lewis portrayed Cornelius in Hello Dolly, performing alongside five different leading ladies. He toured nationally with Carol Channing and appeared in the first stage production at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in 1965. He also reprised the role with Mary Martin in London, where Hello Dolly premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on December 2, 1965, with the Queen Mother attending. Additionally, he performed the role opposite Carole Cook, Dora Bryan, and Patrice Munsel in various productions.
His television credits include featured performances on The Red Skelton Show and The Julie Andrews Hour. Beyond TV, Lewis appeared extensively in clubs nationwide, supporting stars such as Anna Maria Alberghetti, Arlene Dahl, and Dorothy Provine. He was a soloist in The Lido Show in Paris and starred as the male lead in Little Mary Sunshine there. Transitioning to film, he appeared in Star! with Julie Andrews and Funny Lady.
By 1975, as musicals waned, Lewis' friends and agents Sue Mengers and Jean-Claude Tramont, impressed by his home décor skills, invited him to redesign their Bel Air residence. This led to a successful second career designing homes for celebrities like Barbra Streisand, Herbert Ross, and Barry Diller.
In the late 1970s, director Herbert Ross invited Lewis to decorate sets for The Turning Point. Later, during the filming of California Suite, he assisted with art direction. Though credited as "Pictorial Consultant," this marked the start of his third career as a film set decorator.
Lewis worked on 39 films as a set decorator and earned four Academy Award nominations for Art Direction for Beaches, Glory, Hook, and Bram Stoker's Dracula. He also received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Gepetto. His creations ranged from Civil War tents in Glory to elaborate Bugatti-inspired furnishings in Bram Stoker's Dracula, a film of special significance to him. His credits include Mrs. Doubtfire, Pretty Woman, Steel Magnolias, Backdraft, Hidalgo, Against All Odds, among many others. His set decoration work took him to locations in Morocco, Canada, and across the United States. A longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he served on the Executive Committee of the Art Directors branch.
