Robert F. Boyle

Inducted into the Art Directors Hall of Fame in 2012.

He was 98 when he received an honorary Oscar at the The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008), making him the oldest Oscar recipient to date.

Gene Callahan's television and film set decorating career changed when he was hired to be the Production Designer by Elia Kazan for his location film "America, America" filmed in Greece. The location film was shot on exterior locations, with set designed interiors built in studio facilities; Gene selected with Elia Kazan the film's locations, designed and decorated all of the film's exterior and interior film location and stage sets as well. Honoring movies released in 1963, the film was nominated for an Oscar by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the 1964 Black and White film Art Direction category. During this era, two academy award Art Direction categories existed, an Oscar for a motion picture filmed in black and white, and a second category for a motion picture filmed in color. The telecast of the AMPAS event was held, for the first time, moved from Hollywood's Pantages Theater to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to increase the audience capacity. The ABC TV color network requested a set sketch from each of the nominated films' art direction nominee. The color television program's featured each nominated "on-screen set sketch" for the B&W film "America, America." The illustration was drawn and presented not in B&W, but in sepia, a set-illustration by Gene's two designer friends, film production designers Bob Boyle and Harry Horner. Gene Callahan won his first 1964 Oscar, in the B&W AMPAS production design-art direction category for "America, America".

He was an art director and production designer, known for North by Northwest (1959), Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and Marnie (1964). He was married to Bess Boyle.

Boyle started at Paramount as a draftsman, illustrator and set designer under the auspices of Hans Dreier. He did second unit work on Paramount's The Plainsman (1936) and Union Pacific (1939), then went to Mexico to paint. Except for interludes at RKO (1946-47) and Columbia (1957-59), Boyle spent the bulk of his pre-1970 career at Universal (1941-43, 1947-56, 1961-64). He is best known for his fruitful collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock, beginning with Saboteur (1942), for which he created a studio model of the hand and torch of the Statue of Liberty, used for the climactic final scene. OHis other famous contributions include the crop-dusting plane strafing Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959) (for which he combined small models with location footage) and his clever montage work of the seagulls swooping on Tippi Hedren in The Birds (1963).

He earned a degree in architecture in 1933, but it was of little help during the Depression. He worked as a bit player at RKO Pictures.

Robert F. Boyle was born on October 10, 1909 in Los Angeles, California, USA as Robert Francis Boyle.