An award-winning production designer who honed his craft on British TV productions in the 1970s and 80s, Tim Harvey has worked almost exclusively with Kenneth Branagh in features. He first garnered attention and an Emmy for recreating Victorian England in the sumptuous BBC production "The Pallisers" (shown in the USA on PBS' "Masterpiece Theater" in 1977). The following year, Harvey's designs of ancient Rome for the miniseries "I, Claudius" also earned him an Emmy as well as a BAFTA Award. He continued to create detailed period settings for such acclaimed productions as "Pennies From Heaven" (1979), "Nancy Astor" (1984) and "Bleak House" (1985). Harvey first met Branagh while creating the World War II-era European settings for "Fortunes of War" (1987). When Branagh made his feature directorial debut, he tapped Harvey as production designer, beginning a collaboration that, to date, has encompassed six features. The designer has displayed his versatility and talent with such diverse settings as the battlefields and castles of "Henry V" (all built on a soundstage on a low-budget), the glamorous period and slightly seedy contemporary Los Angeles of "Dead Again" (1991) and the rustic Tuscany settings of "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993). For "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" (1994), he not only recreated urban London settings but also the fantastical laboratory in which the Creature was formed. Harvey has excelled in settings for Shakespearean adaptations, notably Oliver Parker's "Othello" (1995), which featured Branagh as Iago, and Branagh's complete version of "Hamlet" (1996). The latter included lavish 19th Century interiors, replete with mirrors, and dark, snowy exteriors. For his efforts, Harvey was nominated for an Oscar.
Profession(s):
production designer, art director, scenic designer
Sometimes Credited As:
BAFTA Award Best Production Design "Fortunes of War" 1987
BAFTA Award Best Production Design "Bleak House" 1985
BAFTA Award Best Production Design "I, Claudius" 1977
Emmy Outstanding Art Direction for a Drama Series "I, Claudius" 1977 - 1978
Emmy Outstanding Art Direction or Scenic Designer for a Drama Series "The Pallisers" 1976 - 1977
1996 Was production designer on Branagh's "Hamlet"; won Oscar nomination
1995 Designed Oliver Parker's film version of "Othello"; Branagh co-starred
1989 Feature debut as production designer, Branagh's "Henry V"
1987 Served as production designer for the British miniseries "Fortunes of War" (aired in USA on PBS' "Masterpiece Theater" in 1988); first met actor-director Kenneth Branagh
Began career as art director and scenic designer for British TV productions like "The Pallisers" and "I, Claudius"