John Truscott

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John Truscott
AO
Born(1936-02-23)23 February 1936
Melbourne, Australia
Died5 September 1993(1993-09-05) (aged 57)
Melbourne, Australia
Occupation(s)Actor
Production designer
Costume designer
Interior designer
Artistic director
Years active1967–1977

John Edward Truscott AO (23 February 1936 – 5 September 1993[1]) was an Australian actor, production designer, costume designer and artistic director. He won two Academy Awards for his work on the 1967 film Camelot.[2]

Career[edit]

Truscott began his career in 1952 at the National Theatre, Melbourne at the age of 16.[1] There he directed his first play, William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.[1] In the 1960s he worked internationally on films in London, Rome, and Paris.[1] In 1967 he won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Camelot; a film adaptation of the 1960 musical of the same name by Lerner and Loewe.[1]

In the 1980s, he was brought in to complete the interior designs for the theatre complex of the Victorian Arts Centre (VAC) begun by Sir Roy Grounds.[1] He also designed the exteriors for World Expo 88 in Brisbane.[1] In the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours Truscott was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.[3] He was the second Artistic Director of the Melbourne Festival, a position he was in from 1988 through 1991.[1] At the time of his death in 1993 during heart surgery he was artist-in-residence at the VAC.[1]

Private life[edit]

Melbourne fashion designer and founding editor of Vogue Australia Sheila Scotter claimed to have had a 13-year relationship with him.[4] She claimed he was bisexual who practised only his straight side. Scotter also claimed that Truscott had an affair with Vanessa Redgrave while working together on Camelot.[4]

Truscott is buried in the Dandenongs near Melbourne, and Sheila Scotter is buried next to him.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Obituaries: John Truscott". Variety. 20 September 1993. p. 42.
  2. ^ "The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  3. ^ "John Edward Truscott". Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b Guinness, Daphne (14 March 1998), "Late Knight Confessions", Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, p. 4s
  5. ^ McGinness, Mark (13 April 2012). Mark McGinness, "'Silver duchess' cut a swath through society's upper crust", The Age, 13 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2014
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