Jo Mielziner, A Biography

Set and theatre designer, born in Paris, France. In the course of his career, he designed the sets for over 400 Broadway plays, most of the major productions during the 1930s–1950s. Turning his back on the earlier tradition of theatrical realism, he often employed mere suggestions of settings, using scrims and isolated scenic units to create further effects. His use of lighting to change the dramatic focus from one scene to another has been described as ‘cinematic’. Among his works are The Guardsman (1924, with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne), Strange Interlude (1928), Romeo and Juliet (1934, with Katharine Cornell), Hamlet (1936, with Sir John Gielgud), The Glass Menagerie (1945), Death of a Salesman (1949), Guys and Dolls (1950), and The King and I (1951). He was the designer of the Washington Square Theatre and (with Eero Saarinen) the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center.

Bio. 2008. 7 March 2008. <http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9407914>.