Robert Francis Boyle (October 10, 1909 – August 1, 2010) was an American film art director and production designer.
Born in Los Angeles, Boyle trained as an architect, graduating from the University of Southern California (USC). When he lost his job in that field during the Great Depression, Boyle found work in films as an extra. In 1933 he was hired as a draftsman in the Paramount Pictures art department, headed by supervising art director Hans Dreier. Beginning with Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman, Boyle 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 Studios in the early 1940s.
Boyle collaborated several times with Alfred Hitchcock, first as an associate art director for Saboteur (1942) and later as a full-fledged production designer for North by Northwest (1959), The Birds (1963), and Marnie (1964). Denied permission to shoot footage on Mount Rushmore, Hitchcock turned to Boyle to create realistic replicas of the stone heads.
Boyle abseiled down the monument, photographing its contours in detail, before constructing "just enough to put the actors on so we could get down shots, up shots, side shots, whatever we needed." Almost two decades earlier, Boyle had delivered the Statue of Liberty reproduction that was used in the climactic scene of Saboteur. For The Birds, Boyle was put in charge of the title characters. He later recalled, "We needed to find out which birds we could use best, and finally settled on two types: sea gulls, which were very greedy beasts that would always fly toward the camera if there was a piece of meat, and crows, which had a strange sort of intelligence." Boyle described his relationship with Hitchcock: "It was a meeting of equals: the director who knew exactly what he wanted, and the art director who knew how to get it done."When director Norman Jewison failed in his attempts to get the necessary submarine that was at the center of his The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming storyline, Boyle built a working model from styrofoam and fiberglass.Boyle's other credits include It Came from Outer Space, Cape Fear, In Cold Blood, Fiddler on the Roof, Portnoy's Complaint, Winter Kills, W.C. Fields and Me, The Shootist, Private Benjamin, Staying Alive, and Troop Beverly Hills.
During the course of his career, Boyle was nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, but never won. In 1997 he received the Art Directors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was voted an Honorary Academy Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "in recognition of one of cinema's great careers in art direction," which he received during the 80th Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2008.At the age of 98, Boyle became the oldest winner ever of an Honorary Award in the history of the Academy Awards. In ill health and arriving to the ceremony in a wheelchair, Boyle insisted on walking onstage, alongside Nicole Kidman, to receive the honor. He was the subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary short The Man on Lincoln's Nose (2000).
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Some of their strengths
Robert F. Boyle has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Confident, Intelligent, Inquisitive, Imaginative, Practical, Diplomatic, and Energetic.
Intelligent and Inquisitive
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Robert F. Boyle is someone who is an intelligent, inquisitive, and imaginative person, who is practical, considerate, kind, and diplomatic in dealings with others. A person who is known for being a good communicator.
Soulful and Intuitive
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Robert F. Boyle well know them as someone who can be graceful, romantic, and reserved, like gentle rain.
Imaginative and Sentimental
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Robert F. Boyle as someone who is imaginative, sentimental, and in touch with emotions.
A person who has extremely good memory and analytical skills, likes to make sure that everyone gets along, enjoys all kinds of situations and people, has a talent for travel and languages, and who makes lifelong friends.
Social and Intuitive
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Robert F. Boyle is someone who values forming deep friendships and relationships, and who has strong intuition and reasoning skills .
They are also someone who is intuitive, imaginative, and an agent of change, and who is always dreaming of life's great possibilities and partnering with people to try to achieve those possibilities.
Justice-seeking and Peaceful
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Robert F. Boyle tends to be someone who loves peace and is ready to go to any costs to achieve it. Who has a taste for the good things in life, tends to be a good organizer, has a thirst for knowledge, and who tends to have the respect of friends and acquaintances.
Some of Robert F. Boyle's challenges
While Robert F. Boyle has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Robert F. Boyle can be Stubborn, Hesitant, Narcissistic, Difficult, Perfectionist, Arrogant, and Status-seeking.
Hesitant and Narcissistic
One of Robert F. Boyle's key challenges is that they are someone who can be hesitant and narcissistic.
Robert F. Boyle must also exercise caution as they can have difficulty dealing with responsibility, authority, or criticism.
Irritable and Moody
Robert F. Boyle is someone who can be irritable and moody, have a tendency to experience self-doubt, be too secretive, can take too many risks, and who can have an extreme approach to managing personal finances.
Pleasure-seeking and Indecisive
Finally, Robert F. Boyle also can put others first too much, and hem-and-haw too much when making a decision.
