Biography
John Michael Riva (June 28, 1948–June 7, 2012), better known as J. Michael Riva, was an American production designer.
Riva was born in Manhattan to William Riva, a Broadway set designer, and Maria Elisabeth Sieber, a German-born actress and the daughter of Marlene Dietrich. Riva had three brothers (John Peter, John Paul, and John David). Riva attended the prep school Institute Le Rosey in Switzerland for six years before attending UCLA. Married to Wendy Mickell, he had four sons, Jean-Paul, Mikey, Daniel, and Adam.
Riva had a long and prestigious career as an art director and production designer on numerous films, including the 1985 film The Colour Purple, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. Other credits include The Goonies (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Iron Man (2008), and Iron Man 2 (2010).
His final films, The Amazing Spider-Man and Django Unchained, were released posthumously. He was the production designer for the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, as well as for the 74th and 79th Academy Awards in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his work on the latter.
Riva suffered a stroke on June 1, 2012, in New Orleans, Louisiana, during production of Django Unchained. He died in a hospital there on June 7, 2012, at age 63. Django director Quentin Tarantino commented, "Michael became a dear friend on this picture, as well as a magnificent, talented colleague."
Description above from the Wikipedia article J. Michael Riv, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
all 46
Movies 44
self 2
TV Shows 2
Director 2
Writer 1
Django Unchained (2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Seven Pounds (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Stealth (2005)
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
Evolution (2001)
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Tuesdays with Morrie (1999)
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
Hard Rain (1998)
Congo (1995)
North (1994)
Dave (1993)
A Few Good Men (1992)
Radio Flyer (1992)
Tango & Cash (1989)
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Tales from the Crypt (1989)
Scrooged (1988)
Lethal Weapon (1987)
The Golden Child (1986)
The Color Purple (1985)
Amazing Stories (1985)
The Goonies (1985)
The Slugger's Wife (1985)
Bad Boys (1983)
Halloween II (1981)
Callie & Son (1981)
The Hand (1981)
Ordinary People (1980)
Brubaker (1980)
Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider (1979)
Bare Knuckles (1977)
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
Bad Georgia Road (1977)
Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976)
Information
Known ForArt
GenderMale
Birthday1948-06-28
Deathday2012-06-07 (63 years old)
Birth NameJohn Michael Riva
Birth PlaceManhattan, United States
Height
MotherMaria Riva
SiblingsPeter Riva
CitizenshipsUnited States
Also Known AsMichael Riva
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