Organizers revealed Wednesday that production designer Robert
Boyle will receive an honorary Oscar during the Academy Awards
ceremony on Feb. 24, media reports said.
Born in Los Angeles in 1909, Boyle was trained as an architect.
When the Depression cost him his job, Boyle found work in films as
an extra.
In 1933, he was hired as a draftsman in the Paramount Studios
art department. He went on to work on various films as a sketch
artist, draftsman and assistant art director before becoming an art
director at Universal in the early '40s.
Boyle earned four Oscar nominations in the art direction
category for his work on "North by Northwest," "Gaily, Gaily,"
"Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Shootist."
The 80th Annual Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak
Theatre in Hollywood.
(Xinhua via Agencies December 13, 2007)