---
name: "Harold Michelson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/harold-michelson"
roles: ["Production designer"]
born: "15 February 1920"
died: "1 March 2007"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-18T12:17:43.022788+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Harold Michelson

Production designer. Born 15 February 1920 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 1 March 2007.

## Details

- **Work:** Production designer
- **Born:** 15 February 1920, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 1 March 2007
- **Active:** 1979–1983
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 64 (1), 1980s 82 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 70 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Science Fiction 2, Adventure 1, Comedy 1, Mystery 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $372m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Michelson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5661787, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585118/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1765

## Streaming the US now

- **Hulu:** [*Star Trek: The Motion Picture*](https://film.one/film/star-trek-the-motion-picture.md) (64)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Harold Michelson (15 February 1920 – 1 March 2007) was an American production designer, art director, illustrator and storyboard artist. Born in New York City, he studied briefly at the Pratt Institute and New York University, served as a bombardier-navigator in the US Army Air Forces during the Second World War, and trained further at the Art Students League of New York. He moved to Los Angeles in 1947 and began working on illustrations and storyboards for films.

Michelson served as production designer on *Johnny Got His Gun* (1971), *Star Trek: The Motion Picture* (1979) and *History of the World: Part I* (1981). He worked as art director on *Terms of Endearment* (1983), *Spaceballs* (1987), *Planes, Trains and Automobiles* (1987) and *Dick Tracy* (1990), among other films. He received Academy Award nominations for best art direction for *Star Trek: The Motion Picture* and *Terms of Endearment*.

In 1999 he was awarded the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. He was married to film researcher Lillian Michelson from 1947 until his death.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, latimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Terms of Endearment* (1983), Fi1m 81, Art Direction — [page](https://film.one/film/terms-of-endearment.md)
- *WarGames* (1983), Fi1m 82, Continuity — [page](https://film.one/film/wargames.md)
- *Star Trek: The Motion Picture* (1979), Fi1m 64, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-the-motion-picture.md)

## Complete filmography (22)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Boneyard Collection* (2008), In Memory Of
- *Dick Tracy* (1990), Art Direction
- *Millennium* (1989), Continuity
- *Planes, Trains and Automobiles* (1987), Art Direction
- *Spaceballs* (1987), Art Direction
- *White Nights* (1985), Continuity
- *Terms of Endearment* (1983), Art Direction — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/terms-of-endearment.md)
- *WarGames* (1983), Continuity — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/wargames.md)
- *Mommie Dearest* (1981), Art Direction
- *History of the World: Part I* (1981), Production Design
- *Can't Stop the Music* (1980), Art Direction
- *Star Trek: The Motion Picture* (1979), Production Design — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-the-motion-picture.md)
- *Cross of Iron* (1977), Art Direction
- *Mame* (1974), Art Direction
- *Two People* (1973), Art Direction
- *The Outside Man* (1972), Production Design
- *The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker* (1971), Production Illustrator
- *Johnny Got His Gun* (1971), Production Designer, Art Direction
- *Catch-22* (1970), Art Direction
- *Pretty Poison* (1968), Art Direction
- *Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* (1966), Storyboard
- *Marnie* (1964), Storyboard Artist

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1984: Best Production Design (nominated), for *Terms of Endearment*
- 1980: Best Production Design (nominated), for *Star Trek: The Motion Picture*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/harold-michelson