Emile Kuri

Emile Kuri was a Mexican-born American set decorator of Lebanese parentage. He started his career in Hollywood in the late 1930s and worked on more than 140 films and TV shows until his retirement in 1981. He was known for his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to create realistic and atmospheric settings for various genres and periods. He collaborated with many prominent directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, George Stevens, William Wyler, and Robert Wise. He also worked for Walt Disney Studios and contributed to the design of Disneyland. He won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction for The Heiress (1949) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), and was nominated for six more. He was married to Carrie Kuri until her death in 2000. He died later that year at the age of 93. He was survived by his cousin, the Mexican comedian Gaspar Henaine.