Graham Bennett

Who was Graham Bennett?

Graham Stewart Bennett was an Australian production and costume designer, teacher and artist who worked unofficially with Oscar winner John Truscott and later as a teacher inspired Oscar winner Adam Elliot.

He attended Scotch College from 1945 to 1949 and then studied art and design at RMIT, then taught in secondary schools in Melbourne and Hamilton. While working by day at Broadmeadows Technical College, he worked at night with his flatmate Truscott on the Melbourne production of Camelot, then the British premiere and then the 1967 movie Camelot.

He relied on "a semi-abstract feel" for the set and costume design. "The movie was not to have anything that was referenced to any historical period," he says. "I saw the movie a few weeks ago, and even today, it's very modern, a lot of the design work." For the movie, Bennett designed furnishings such as curtains, and tapestries, the patterns on women's costumes and men's jackets, and King Arthur and Guinevere's crowns. He wasn't invited to the Oscars ceremony.

Graham was unable to share the recognition with John Truscott on the Oscars winning art direction and costume design in Camelot in 1967. and was not invited to the ceremony as he did not have a green card he was working illegally in the USA, and could not formally share the awards. "I was sitting at home in Burbank, watching with the wardrobe lady, and we drank champagne, and when John came home, we drank another bottle of champagne. And the next morning at breakfast, we had the Oscars just sitting there, next to the pepper and salt." Bennett said, "Every time I see it [Camelot], I see something that I haven't seen before in the detail."link title