Barbara Ling, the production designer known for her work in “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” and “Michael,” died at 73.
On Thursday, Ling died in Santa Barbara after a battle with cancer, a WME spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Equally gifted at period authenticity, contemporary realism, and stylized fantasy, Ling leaves behind a legacy that profoundly influenced the art of production design and the visual language of modern filmmaking,” her family said in statement shared with Deadline.
Ling won the Best Production Design Oscar (alongside set decorator Nancy Haigh) for Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019). She also took home a Critics’ Choice Award and an Art Directors Guild Award for the Quentin Tarantino film, as well as BAFTA and Satellite Award nominations.
After getting her start in designing sets and lighting for theater, musical, and opera productions, Ling kicked off her Hollywood career in 1981 as a lighting designer for “The Pee-Wee Herman Show” comedy special. She went on to snag a gig as a production designer in True Stories (1986).
Ling’s other notable production design credits include Oliver Stone’s The Doors and Jon Avnet’s Fried Green Tomatoes (both in 1991), Falling Down (1993), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), Hearts in Atlantis (2001), No Reservations (2007), The Lucky One (2012) , Fallen (2016), and many more.
More recently, Ling worked on A Man Called Otto (2022), starring Tom Hanks, and the Antoine Fuqua-directed biopic Michael (2026).
She is survived by her wife, Lindsay, and their sons, Clay and Will.
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