Sir Ken Adam, James Bond production designer, dies aged 95
11 March 2016
Production designer Sir Ken Adam, famous for his work on Dr Strangelove and seven James Bond films, has died at the age of 95.
He died on Thursday at his home in London after a short time in hospital.
Sir Ken's famous sets include the triangular Pentagon War Room in Dr Strangelove and the villain's headquarters in the 1962 James Bond film Dr No.
He also designed the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
He became widely regarded as British cinema's doyen of production design, his credits including most of the James Bond films up to Moonraker (1979).
Sir Ken designed the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car, which was put up for auction in 2011
Sir Ken's death was confirmed by Sir Christopher Frayling, his biographer, who told the BBC: "As a person he was remarkable. Roger Moore once said about him that his life was a great deal more interesting than most of the films that he designed.
"He was a brilliant visualiser of worlds we will never be able to visit ourselves - the War Room under the Pentagon in Dr Strangelove, the interior of Fort Knox in Goldfinger - all sorts of interiors which, as members of the public, we are never going to get to see, but he created an image of them that was more real than real itself."
Sir Roger Moore hailed Sir Ken as a "visionary", writing on Twitter: "Sir Ken Adam - a friend, a visionary and the man who defined the look of the James Bond films."
A tweet from the James Bond Twitter account read: "The Bond family mourns the passing of our beloved friend Sir Ken Adam who was so responsible for the visual style of the James Bond films."
Sir Ken was born Klaus Adam in 1921 in Berlin. His Jewish family, who ran a sports store, fled the Nazis to England when he was in his teens.
He began to study architecture, and later served in the RAF - one of the few members of the RAF with a German passport.
After the war, he worked on Around the World in 80 Days, coming to the attention of producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli who went on to hire him for The Trials of Oscar Wilde and, in 1962, Sir Ken's first Bond film, Dr No.
Sir Ken's career lasted into his 70s, and he worked on more than 70 films, including seven in the Bond franchise.
He won two Oscars, in 1976 for his work on Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon; and in 1995 for The Madness of King George.
He was also Oscar-nominated for his work on Around the World in 80 Days, The Spy Who Loved Me and Addams Family Values.
Sir Ken told the BBC that "as a production designer, you have the possibility of, I don't want to say fooling the audience, but of offering a form of escapism, which is very often more exciting that reality."
He added that, when working on the Bond films, he had to deal with the fact that "none of the locations [Ian Fleming] described existed".
The backdrops and props he created for the Bond films included Blofeld's volcano hideaway in You Only Live Twice - a set which reportedly cost more than the entire production budget of Dr No.
Sir Ken told the Los Angeles Times last year: "`One critic asked, 'How did you ever get inside the volcano?'.
"I didn't get inside the volcano! I think that is the function of a film designer, to create something which the audience has never seen.''
His work for Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove, included the best movie-set ever built, according to Steven Spielberg.
Sir Christopher said: "It is said that when Ronald Reagan first became president, he visited Washington and asked one of his aides to see the War Room under the Pentagon, and the aide said: 'Mr President, there isn't one.'"
Sir Ken told the BBC in 2013 that he and Kubrick "got on like a house on fire" - but that the process had been exhausting.
"I was incredibly close with him," said Sir Ken. "It was almost like an unhealthy love affair between us. And I had a breakdown eventually."
In 2003, Ken Adam received a knighthood - the first for a film production designer. He is survived by his wife Maria Letizia, whom he married in 1952.
R.I.P. Sir Ken Adam
Whether they are behind the camera or in front of it, this is the place to discuss all filmmakers regardless of their role in the filmmaking process.
Jump to
- Announcements
- ↳ General Announcements
- Introductions
- ↳ Let Me Introduce Myself...
- The Academy Awards
- ↳ The 10th Decade
- ↳ 97th Academy Awards
- ↳ 96th Academy Awards
- ↳ 95th Academy Awards
- ↳ 94th Academy Awards
- ↳ 93rd Academy Awards
- ↳ 92nd Academy Awards
- ↳ 91st Academy Awards
- ↳ The 9th Decade
- ↳ 90th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 90th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 89th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 89th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 88th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 88th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 87th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 87th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 86th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 86th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 85th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 85th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 84th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 84th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 83rd Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 83rd Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 82nd Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 82nd Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 81st and Other 9th Decade Discussions
- ↳ The 8th Decade
- ↳ The Damien Bona Memorial Oscar History Thread
- ↳ Other Oscar Discussions
- General Film Discussions
- ↳ 2020s
- ↳ Coming Soon
- ↳ 2024
- ↳ 2023
- ↳ 2022
- ↳ 2021
- ↳ 2020
- ↳ 2010s
- ↳ 2019
- ↳ 2018
- ↳ 2017
- ↳ 2016
- ↳ 2015
- ↳ 2014
- ↳ 2013
- ↳ 2012
- ↳ 2011
- ↳ 2010
- ↳ 2000s
- ↳ 2009
- ↳ 2008
- ↳ 2000 - 2007
- ↳ The First Century
- ↳ Dream Projects
- ↳ The People
- ↳ Other Film Discussions
- Miscellaneous Discussions
- ↳ Help Forum
- ↳ DVD Discussions
- ↳ Current Events
- ↳ Broadcast Media
- ↳ The Cam Dagg Memorial Theatre and Literature Forum
- ↳ General Off-Topic