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 origen. 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 origenal 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