HONORARY OSCAR FOR AFI'S BOB BOYLE

A member of the Production Design faculty since 1982, legendary production designer Robert Boyle was awarded an Honorary Academy Award "in recognition of one of cinema's great careers in art direction."

Boyle has earned four Academy Award nominations in the art direction category for his work on NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), GAILY, GAILY (1969), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971) and THE SHOOTIST (1976). "Robert Boyle's career is truly worthy of this honor," said Academy President Sid Ganis. "From his multiple collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock to his top-quality work on so many other films, this is a master film artist and I couldn't be happier that an Oscar statuette will be presented to him."

Boyle's nearly 100 credits begin with Hitchcock's SABOTEUR (1942) and include SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953), THE BIRDS (1963), MARNIE (1964), HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (1967), IN COLD BLOOD (1967), THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968), PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT (1972), PRIVATE BENJAMIN (1980), RHINESTONE (1984) and DRAGNET (1987). He also was the subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary short THE MAN ON LINCOLN'S NOSE (2000).

Born in Los Angeles in 1909, Boyle trained as an architect. When the Depression cost him his job in that field, Boyle found work in films as an extra. In 1933 he was hired as a draftsman in the Paramount Studios art department, headed by supervising art director Hans Dreier. He went on to work on a variety of pictures as a sketch artist, draftsman and assistant art director before becoming an art director at Universal in the early 1940s. The 98 year-old Boyle has been teaching production design at AFI since 1983. A celebratory reception was held by the AFI Conservatory on January 8, 2008 in his honor.

Read Boyle's acceptance speech

For additional AFI Conservatory award season honors, visit: http://www.afi.com/education/conservatory/awards.aspx