Biography
Ward Preston was an American production designer and art director. Born William Ward Preston on 20 April 1932 in Torrance, California, he graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in architecture and ran his own firm in Tarzana before entering the film industry in 1965 as a set designer at Warner Bros.
He is known for his production design on Airplane! (1980) and Purple Rain (1984), and for his art direction on The Towering Inferno (1974), for which he shared an Academy Award nomination. Earlier credits include assistant art director on The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Preston died on 17 January 2016 in West Hills, California.
