---
name: "John W. Corso"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-w-corso"
fi1m_id: "john-w-corso"
imdb_id: "nm0181149"
tmdb_id: 21645
wikidata_id: "Q6262202"
roles: ["Production designer"]
born: "1 January 1929"
died: "9 October 2019"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 69
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-20T06:07:48.394479+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."
---

# John W. Corso

## Identity

John W. Corso

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-w-corso
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** john-w-corso
- **IMDb ID:** nm0181149
- **TMDB ID:** 21645
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6262202
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Corso, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6262202, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0181149/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21645

Production designer. Born 1 January 1929 in Wabash. Died 9 October 2019.

## Details

- **Work:** Production designer
- **Born:** 1 January 1929, Wabash
- **Died:** 9 October 2019
- **Active:** 1980–1986
- **Frequently works with:** [John Hughes](https://film.one/person/john-hughes.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 65 to 51 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 2, Drama 2, Fantasy 1, History 1, Music 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $212m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Corso, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6262202, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0181149/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21645

## Streaming the US now

- **AMC+:** [*Ferris Bueller's Day Off*](https://film.one/film/ferris-buellers-day-off.md) (81)
- **Disney+:** [*The Breakfast Club*](https://film.one/film/the-breakfast-club.md) (75)

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

## Biography

John W. Corso was an American art director and production designer. A native of Wabash, Indiana, he attended Indiana University and UCLA, where he earned a bachelor's degree in theatre arts. He served in the US Army during the Korean Conflict.

Corso worked in film and television from the 1970s to the early 1990s. His credits include production design on *The Breakfast Club* (1985), *Ferris Bueller's Day Off* (1986), *Sixteen Candles* (1984), *Weird Science* (1985), *Pretty in Pink* (1986), *Planes, Trains and Automobiles* (1987) and *Uncle Buck* (1989). He received an Academy Award nomination for art direction on *Coal Miner's Daughter* (1980) and won a Primetime Emmy for *Tales of the Gold Monkey* (1982).

He died on 9 October 2019 in Huntington, Indiana, aged 89.

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

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Ferris Bueller's Day Off* (1986), Fi1m 81, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/ferris-buellers-day-off.md)
- *The Breakfast Club* (1985), Fi1m 75, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/the-breakfast-club.md)
- *Coal Miner's Daughter* (1980), Fi1m 81, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/coal-miners-daughter.md)
- *Xanadu* (1980), Fi1m 38, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/xanadu.md)

## Complete filmography (23)

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

- *Steel Justice* (1992), Production Design
- *Uncle Buck* (1989), Production Design
- *The Great Outdoors* (1988), Production Design
- *She's Having a Baby* (1988), Production Design
- *Planes, Trains and Automobiles* (1987), Production Design
- *Ferris Bueller's Day Off* (1986), Production Design — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/ferris-buellers-day-off.md)
- *Pretty in Pink* (1986), Production Design
- *Weird Science* (1985), Production Design
- *The Breakfast Club* (1985), Production Design — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/the-breakfast-club.md)
- *Sixteen Candles* (1984), Production Design
- *Psycho II* (1983), Production Design
- *Still the Beaver* (1983), Production Design
- *Heartbeeps* (1981), Production Design
- *Darkroom* (1981), series, Production Design
- *Bustin' Loose* (1981), as Art Direction
- *Xanadu* (1980), Production Design — Fi1m 38, [page](https://film.one/film/xanadu.md)
- *Coal Miner's Daughter* (1980), Production Design — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/coal-miners-daughter.md)
- *Paradise Alley* (1978), Production Design
- *Exo-Man* (1977), as Art Direction
- *The November Plan* (1977), as Art Direction
- *Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence* (1976), as Art Direction
- *Sequoyah: The Great Teacher of the Cherokee Nation* (1974), Cinematography
- *John Muir: Father of Our National Parks* (1973), Cinematography

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1981: Best Production Design (nominated), for *Coal Miner's Daughter*

*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/john-w-corso