Ivor Leslie ‘Les’ Dilley, the Oscar-winning production designer of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), has died at age 84.
A rep for the art director told Deadline the Dilley died on Tuesday, May 20 from complications with Alzheimer’s disease, surrounded by his wife and family.
“Les’ legacy lives on in the many iconic films he helped bring to life for over six decades and in his family home he personally built as an homage to his work,” Dilley’s family said in a statement. “His love for the motion picture business was evident to the very end. When he wasn’t on set, he enjoyed constructing things in his workshop at home, playing ice hockey, and a good cup of tea. In addition to his incredible work ethic, quirky British humour, and love of life, he was a dedicated and loving husband, father, grandfather and friend to many. He will be greatly missed.”
In addition to his two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Direction on Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dilley was nominated in the same category for his work on Alien (1979), Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and The Abyss (1989). In 2020, he was honored with a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema.
Dilley also lent his talents to such films as The Three Musketeers (1973), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Superman (1978), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Never Say Never Again (1983), Inspector Gadget (1999) and Cold Creek Manor (2003), working with such directors as George Lucas, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Irvin Kershner, John Landis and Mimi Leader.
Born 1941 in the Rhondda Valley of South Wales, Dilley relocated to London with his family at the end of WWII, where he pursued his filmmaking career at 15, entering a plastering and construction apprenticeship at the Associated British Picture Corporation while also studying architecture and building construction at Willesden Technical College. At 23, he got a job as a plaster worker on From Russia with Love (1963) before working his way up through the film industry.
Dilley is survived by his wife of 38 years, Leslie, and their four children: Sophia Dilley, Leslie John Dilley II, Ivory Dilley and EmmaJane Dilley, as well as his daughter Georgia Dilley from his first marriage, grandchildren Arsion, Nausicaä, Cal, and Leslie John III, and extended family in England and Wales.
The post Les Dilley Dies: Oscar-Winning ‘Star Wars’ & ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ Art Director Was 84 appeared first on Deadline.
