---
name: "Willy Holt"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/willy-holt"
fi1m_id: "willy-holt"
imdb_id: "nm0231248"
tmdb_id: 19057
wikidata_id: "Q1681848"
roles: ["Production designer"]
born: "30 November 1921"
died: "22 June 2007"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T05:51:47.271857+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."
---

# Willy Holt

## Identity

Willy Holt

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/willy-holt
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** willy-holt
- **IMDb ID:** nm0231248
- **TMDB ID:** 19057
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1681848
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Holt, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1681848, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0231248/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19057

Production designer. Born 30 November 1921 in Quincy, Florida, USA. Died 22 June 2007.

## Details

- **Work:** Production designer
- **Born:** 30 November 1921, Quincy, Florida, USA
- **Died:** 22 June 2007
- **Active:** 1973–1987
- **Also known as:** William Holt, Will Holt
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 1 acting, 3 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 72 (2), 1980s 86 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 69 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Action 1, History 1, Thriller 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $41m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Holt, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1681848, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0231248/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19057

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Au Revoir les Enfants*](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants.md) (90)

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

## Biography

Willy Holt (30 November 1921 – 22 June 2007) was an American-born production designer and art director who worked extensively in the French film industry. Born in Quincy, Florida, he moved to France as a child and became a French citizen. He began working in television in 1946 and entered cinema as an art director.

Holt received an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction for *Is Paris Burning?* (1966). He won the César Award for Best Production Design for *Au Revoir les Enfants* (1987). His other credits include production design or art direction on *The Train* (1964), *Two for the Road* (1967), *Love and Death* (1975), *Julia* (1977), *Bitter Moon* (1992) and *Santa Claus Is a Stinker* (1982). He also appeared as an actor in several films, including *Zelig* (1983).

During the Second World War, Holt served in the French Resistance and was deported to Auschwitz; he survived and later wrote about his experiences in the 1995 book *Femmes en deuil sur camion*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, lemonde.fr.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Performed in (1)

- *Zelig* (1983), Fi1m 82, as Rally Chancellor — [page](https://film.one/film/zelig.md)

### Crew (3) — the average rests on these

- *Au Revoir les Enfants* (1987), Fi1m 90, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants.md)
- *Julia* (1977), Fi1m 60, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/julia.md)
- *The Day of the Jackal* (1973), Fi1m 84, Set Designer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-day-of-the-jackal.md)

## Complete filmography (34)

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

- *The Ninth Gate* (1999), as Andrew Telfer
- *A Shadowed Gaze* (1998), Actor
- *My Man* (1996), Production Design
- *The Thirst for Gold* (1993), Production Design
- *Bitter Moon* (1992), Production Design
- *May Fools* (1990), Production Design
- *Au Revoir les Enfants* (1987), Production Design — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants.md)
- *A State of Emergency* (1986), Production Design
- *Target* (1985), Production Design
- *Les enragés* (1985), Production Design
- *A Friend of Vincent* (1983), Production Design
- *Zelig* (1983), as Rally Chancellor — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/zelig.md)
- *The Ruffian* (1983), Production Design
- *Five Days One Summer* (1982), Production Design
- *Santa Claus Is a Stinker* (1982), Production Design
- *A Business of Men* (1981), Production Design
- *For a Cop's Hide* (1981), as L'homme qui a tué Fanch Tanguy
- *Une robe noire pour un tueur* (1981), Set Designer
- *The Other One's Mug* (1979), Production Design
- *An Almost Perfect Affair* (1979), as Art Direction
- *Julia* (1977), Production Design — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/julia.md)
- *The Gypsy* (1975), Production Design
- *Love and Death* (1975), as Art Direction
- *The Marseille Contract* (1974), Production Design
- *The Down-in-the-Hole Gang* (1974), Production Design
- *The Day of the Jackal* (1973), Set Designer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-day-of-the-jackal.md)
- *The Annuity* (1972), Production Design
- *The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun* (1970), as Art Direction
- *Staircase* (1969), as Art Direction
- *The Sergeant* (1968), Production Design
- *Two for the Road* (1967), as Art Direction
- *Is Paris Burning?* (1966), Production Design
- *The Train* (1964), Production Design
- *Le Petit Poucet* (1954), Concept Artist

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1967: Best Art Direction, Black and White (nominated), for *Is Paris Burning?*

*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/willy-holt