Wilfred Shingleton

Who was Wilfred Shingleton?

Wilfred Shingleton was an English art director. He enjoyed a distinguished career in the British film industry from his debut in 1937. Some of his early assignments were several George Formby vehicles – hugely popular with wartime audiences.

His career really kicked off into a higher gear in 1947 when he won the Academy Award for his atmospheric sets for David Lean's Great Expectations.

This led to a string of high profile projects including Anna Karenina, The African Queen and Beat the Devil, both for director John Huston, Hobson's Choice and Tunes of Glory.

He won a BAFTA for the wartime flying epic The Blue Max in 1966, after which he moved seamlessly into the world of TV, working on the stylish hit series The Avengers.

He received an Emmy nomination for the miniseries Holocaust in 1978, winning the award two years later for the TV movie Gauguin the Savage. His last film – for which he received a BAFTA nomination – was the Merchant-Ivory film Heat and Dust in 1983.