Gretchen Rau, 66, Shared Oscar in 2006 For Art Direction, for ‘Geisha’
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Gretchen Rau, a veteran film set decorator who shared on Academy Award this year for her work on “Memoirs of a Geisha,” died March 29 of a brain tumor at her home in Northport. She was 66. On “Memoirs of a Geisha,” she helped evoke early 20th-century Japan with lavish sets decorated with rice paper screens, oil lamps, teacups, and other hallmarks of the time.
She shared the Oscar with production designer John Myhre.
Though Rau was too ill to attend last month’s ceremony, she watched on television with her family.
When she finally held the statue a few days later, “She just lit up,” her son, Taylor Pattison, said.
Over a 25-year career, Rau worked on more than 30 films. Her credits include “A River Runs Through It,” “Six Degrees of Separation,” “Nobody’s Fool,” “The Crucible,” and “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.” Her last film was “The Good Shepherd,” directed by Robert De Niro and due for release this year.
A New Orleans native, Rau moved to New York City in 1966 and joined a commercial production house before moving to feature films.
