John W. Clark: Art Director: RIP???

[rustywhite]

IMDB states that art director John Clark died in London on Dec. 12. Has anyone seen a local news report to confirm this. Thanks for the help!!

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by rustywhite IMDB states that art director John Clark died in London on Dec. 12. Has anyone seen a local news report to confirm this. Thanks for the help!!

For the last few years, the IMDb has required confirmation before they'll post someone's death. They tend to err on the side of caution and would rather not post it or post it late rather than declare someone to be dead before they actually are.

But they don't publicise the confirmation they were given

Steve

[rustywhite]

Of course they still screw up. Like they did last month with Brenda Joyce. I've published three obits during the time I've been writing the obit column at EInsiders where I've used IMDB as a sole source, and the person in question was still alive. Fortunately, I wrote very nice obits and they weren't upset. I have always waited until I had a secondary source since being burned.

I wish IMDB would share their confirming sources, but I have never had any luck getting them to share.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by rustywhite Of course they still screw up. Like they did last month with Brenda Joyce. I've published three obits during the time I've been writing the obit column at EInsiders where I've used IMDB as a sole source, and the person in question was still alive. Fortunately, I wrote very nice obits and they weren't upset. I have always waited until I had a secondary source since being burned. I wish IMDB would share their confirming sources, but I have never had any luck getting them to share.

They do usually require at least one link to an obit in a "reputable" news source like a fairly major newspaper or magazine. In the UK they'll usually accept a county wide newspaper like the Kentish Times, in the States it would have to be state wide or in a major city. Or of course a sight of a death certificate

But they aren't infallible, and don't claim to be, and they can be mistaken or even misled in this as in any other area. They do process VAST amounts of data every day. They strive for accuracy but are well aware that 100% accuracy isn't possible.

In the case of Brenda Joyce. There was apparently a Brenda Joyce living in a home for retired actors in LA that died. But it was a different Brenda Joyce.

I would suggest that nowhere should be used as a sole source for an obituary.

Steve

[JamesM]

I did not think that Brenda Joyce's 'death' was recorded on her IMDb page, I thought it had just been posted on her IMDb message board (where anything could be posted).

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by JamesM I did not think that Brenda Joyce's 'death' was recorded on her IMDb page, I thought it had just been posted on her IMDb message board (where anything could be posted).

It was apparently on her IMDb page for a short while. But was soon corrected

Steve

[julian_craster]

The Times
December 22, 2007

Obituary: John Clark
Film production designer who after working on a string of hit films became the architect of award-winning shops

John Clark was the production designer and art director responsible for such films as Performance, The Railway Children and Tommy; later in his career he became an award-winning architect who designed shopping centres and department stores throughout England and several buildings in Asia.

William John Wyness Clark, known to kith and kin as Bill, was born in 1934 to an Aberdeen trawlerman and his wife. He demonstrated talent and ambition from an early age and, after studying at Aberdeen Grammar School, was accepted by the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture at 16 — two years younger than any other student.

After his six-year course, he left Aberdeen to work with Sir Basil Spence in London. Just as his architectural career was beginning to take off, however, he was called up for National Service and was commissioned in the Royal Air Force. On his release he won a scholarship to Princeton University, where he studied under Lou Kahn, obtained an MA and then spent a year as an associate professor of architecture.

A visit to the Beverly Hills home of a wealthy Princeton friend fired his desire to work in Hollywood, and through another Princeton contact, the Oscar-winning film editor Bill Reynolds, Clark landed a job designing sets at MGM.

In the late 1960s he decided to put his talents to use in the booming British film industry and returned to the UK, where he quickly established himself as a successful production designer on such films as Performance (1970), The Railway Children (1970), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) and Tommy (1974). This was a golden era for the British film industry, and Clark, whose work brought him into the orbit of such figures as Ken Russell, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor and Jack Nicholson, embraced it with relish.

Eventually, however, he was tempted back into architecture, and with Colin Ketley and Roger Gould he set up an architectural practice. Ketley, Gould and Clark was soon employing more than 100 people and designing for such clients as Debenhams.
In 1981 he set up his own practice, John Clark Associates, taking Debenhams with him, and over the next decade developed a reputation for his contributions to British retail architecture.
Among these were the award-winning West Orchards shopping centre in Coventry, the Drummond Centre in Croydon and a series of department stores for the Burton Group and Allders. He also worked in the Far East, designing one of the first hotels to be built on Pangkor Island, Malaysia.
In retirement, Clark pursued his passion for fine carpentry and metalwork, and became a prominent member of the Society of Ornamental Turners. John Clark Associates continues and is involved in the construction of a new shopping complex in White City, West London.
Clark was well liked for his warmth, humour, his zest for life, his intelligence and generosity — and in particular for his ability to tell a good joke. He was almost as well known for his lavish, annual Christmas parties in London as for his artistic and creative flair.
Clark was married and divorced, and he is survived by his two sons.

John Clark, film production designer and architect, was born on September 3, 1934. He died of heart failure on December 12, 2007, aged 73

[rustywhite]

Thanks Julian!