William S. Darling

Born 1882-09-14 · Sándorháza, Austria-Hungary

Died 1963-12-15

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William S. Darling (14 September 1882 – 15 December 1963) was a Hungarian-born art director who is an inductee of the American Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame. In 1910, Darling immigrated to New York City using the name Adalbert Sandorhazi. He successfully pursued a career as a portrait artist. He changed his name from Sándorházi to Darling during World War I when his wife suggested he adopt her maiden name to avoid the foreign sound. Around 1920 he moved to Southern California where he began work as an art designer on films and soon became the head of the art department at 20th Century Fox. Darling worked on 61 films between 1921 and 1954. His notable work includes the John Ford-directed films The Iron Horse (1924), Judge Priest (1934) and The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936); the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the Noël Coward's play Cavalcade (1933); and The Rains Came (1939) with Tyrone Power and Myrna Loy. Darling was nominated seven times between 1934 and 1947 in the category Best Art Direction. He won the Oscar for Cavalcade, The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Anna and the King of Siam (1946). Darling was a fellow of the American Academy of the Fine Arts. In 2012, the American Art Director's Guild inducted Darling into its Hall of Fame.