French-American special effects artist
Emil Kosa Jr.
Born (1903-11-28 ) November 28, 1903Paris, France
Died November 4, 1968(1968-11-04) (aged 64)Los Angeles, California
Occupation(s) Visual effects artist ; painterYears active 1958–1969 (last film released after his death)
Emil Kosa Jr. (November 28, 1903 – November 4, 1968) was an American artist of Czech origin. He was the art director of 20th Century Pictures ' special effects department for more than three decades, winning an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects along the way. As a painter of landscapes and urban scenes, he also became known as a prominent member of the California Scene Painting movement.
Family and education [ edit ] Emil Kosa Jr. was born in Paris, France.[ 1] His parents were Emil Kosa Sr., Czech artist, and Jeanne Mares Kosa, a French pianist for the Paris Opera .[ 1] After his mother died at the age of three, the family moved to Bohemia and his father married a Czech wife. Except of 1908, when the family moved temporarily to Cape Cod , Massachusetts, where his father worked with Alphonse Mucha .[ 1] Four years later, the family returned to Bohemia where he attended the primary and secondary school during and after the World War I.[ 1]
After World War I ended, Kosa Jr. trained in art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague .[ 1] After a mere three semesters, he moved to the United States in January 1921, rejoining his family (which had preceded him in emigrating to the United States).[ 1] He took art courses at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.[ 1]
In 1927, he became a naturalized American citizen .[ 1] He spent the following year in Paris, studying at the École des Beaux Arts and with Pierre Laurens and Frank Kupka , and returned to California in 1928.[ 1]
Kosa is credited with designing the logo for 20th Century Fox, this is the first on-screen logo from 1935. Early in his career, Kosa Jr. worked as a mural painter and designer for various architects and interior decoration firms.[ 1] [ 2] He also ran a business with his father producing decorative art objects for churches and auditoriums.[ 1]
As a painter, Kosa Jr. was stylistically affiliated with the movement that became known as California Scene Painting .[ 1] He painted mainly California landscapes and urban settings in both oil and watercolor, and he also produced commissioned portraits of celebrities, businessmen, and politicians.[ 1] His work was widely exhibited starting in the 1930s, with solo shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and elsewhere.[ 1]
In 1933, he joined the newly formed special effects department at 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Studios ). He was quickly promoted to art director , a position he held for the next 35 years.[ 1] In 1964, he became the first person to win the Best Visual Effects after the Academy Awards changed the name from Special Effects.[ 3] He won at the 36th Academy Awards for his work on the film Cleopatra .[ 3]
He also helped to create the first logo for 20th Century Pictures (later 20th Century-Fox , later 20th Century Studios ).[ 4] [ 5] [ 6]
Kosa Jr. was married twice: in 1928 to Mary Odisho (d. 1951) and in 1952 to dancer Elizabeth Twaddel.[ 1]
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Emil Kosa, Jr. (1903–1968)" . Jonathan Art Foundation. ^ "Emil Kosa Jr" . Emilkosa.com . Archived from the original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014 . ^ a b "The 36th Academy Awards (1964) Nominees and Winners" . oscars.org . Retrieved April 13, 2014 . ^ "20th Century Fox Logo" . FamousLogos.net . Retrieved April 13, 2014 . ^ "20th century Fox logo by Emil Kosa Jr" . Curiator . Retrieved April 1, 2020 . ^ Troyan, Michael; Thompson, Jeffrey Paul; Sylvester, Stephen X. (August 15, 2017). Twentieth Century Fox: A Century of Entertainment . Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 533–534. ISBN 9781630761431 .
1963–1980 Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963) Peter Ellenshaw , Eustace Lycett , and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964) John Stears – Thunderball (1965) Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966) L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967) Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969) A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Alan Maley , Eustace Lycett , and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Frank Brendel , Glen Robinson , and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974) Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975) Carlo Rambaldi , Glen Robinson , and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976) John Stears , John Dykstra , Richard Edlund , Grant McCune , and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977) Les Bowie , Colin Chilvers , Denys Coop , Roy Field , Derek Meddings , and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978) H. R. Giger , Carlo Rambaldi , Brian Johnson , Nick Allder , and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979) Brian Johnson , Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 1981–2000 Richard Edlund , Kit West , Bruce Nicholson , and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Carlo Rambaldi , Dennis Muren , and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , Ken Ralston , and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983) Dennis Muren , Michael J. McAlister , Lorne Peterson , and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Ken Ralston , Ralph McQuarrie , Scott Farrar , and David Berry – Cocoon (1985) Robert Skotak , Stan Winston , John Richardson , and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986) Dennis Muren , Bill George , Harley Jessup , and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987) Ken Ralston , Richard Williams , Edward Jones , and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) John Bruno , Dennis Muren , Hoyt Yeatman , and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989) Eric Brevig , Rob Bottin , Tim McGovern , and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990) Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Gene Warren Jr. , and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Ken Ralston , Doug Chiang , Douglas Smythe , and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992) Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Phil Tippett , and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993) Ken Ralston , George Murphy , Stephen Rosenbaum , and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994) Scott E. Anderson , Charles Gibson , Neal Scanlan , and John Cox – Babe (1995) Volker Engel , Douglas Smith , Clay Pinney , and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996) Robert Legato , Mark Lasoff , Thomas L. Fisher , and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997) Joel Hynek , Nicholas Brooks , Stuart Robertson , and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998) John Gaeta , Janek Sirrs , Steve Courtley , and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999) John Nelson , Neil Corbould , Tim Burke , and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000) 2001–2020 Jim Rygiel , Randall William Cook , Richard Taylor , and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) John Dykstra , Scott Stokdyk , Anthony LaMolinara , and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004) Joe Letteri , Brian Van't Hul , Christian Rivers , and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005) John Knoll , Hal Hickel , Charles Gibson , and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Michael L. Fink , Bill Westenhofer , Ben Morris , and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007) Eric Barba , Steve Preeg , Burt Dalton , and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Joe Letteri , Stephen Rosenbaum , Richard Baneham , and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009) Paul Franklin , Chris Corbould , Andrew Lockley , and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010) Robert Legato , Joss Williams , Ben Grossmann , and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011) Bill Westenhofer , Guillaume Rocheron , Erik-Jan de Boer , and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012) Tim Webber , Chris Lawrence , Dave Shirk , and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013) Paul Franklin , Andrew Lockley , Ian Hunter , and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014) Mark Williams Ardington , Sara Bennett , Paul Norris , and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015) Robert Legato , Adam Valdez , Andrew R. Jones , and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016) John Nelson , Gerd Nefzer , Paul Lambert , and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Paul Lambert , Ian Hunter , Tristan Myles , and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018) Guillaume Rocheron , Greg Butler , and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019) Andrew Jackson , David Lee , Andrew Lockley , and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020) 2021–present
International National Artists