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IMDbPro

A. Arnold Gillespie(1899-1978)

  • Special Effects
  • Visual Effects
  • Art Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
A. Arnold Gillespie was born on 14 October 1899 in El Paso, Texas, USA. He is known for Ben-Hur (1959), Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was married to Nell Hill, Ruth Elder and Dora Ingram. He died on 3 May 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
BornOctober 14, 1899
DiedMay 3, 1978(78)
BornOctober 14, 1899
DiedMay 3, 1978(78)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Won 3 Oscars
    • 4 wins & 9 nominations total

Known for

Ben-Hur (1959)
Ben-Hur
8.1
  • Visual Effects
  • 1959
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Forbidden Planet
7.5
  • Special Effects
  • 1956
Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Frank Morgan in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Wizard of Oz
8.1
  • Special Effects(as Arnold Gillespie)
  • 1939
Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Eva Marie Saint, and Philip Ober in North by Northwest (1959)
North by Northwest
8.3
  • Special Effects
  • 1959

Credits

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IMDbPro

Special Effects



  • Off to See the Wizard (1967)
    Off to See the Wizard
    6.7
    TV Series
    • special effects
    • 1967
  • Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961)
    Atlantis: The Lost Continent
    5.5
    • special effects
    • 1961
  • Glenn Ford and Maria Schell in Cimarron (1960)
    Cimarron
    6.4
    • special effects
    • 1960
  • Dean Martin, Judy Holliday, and Jean Stapleton in Bells Are Ringing (1960)
    Bells Are Ringing
    6.9
    • special effects
    • 1960
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    6.2
    • special effects
    • 1960
  • Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston in The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
    The Wreck of the Mary Deare
    6.7
    • special effects
    • 1959
  • Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Eva Marie Saint, and Philip Ober in North by Northwest (1959)
    North by Northwest
    8.3
    • special effects
    • 1959
  • Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins in Green Mansions (1959)
    Green Mansions
    5.4
    • special effects
    • 1959
  • Ernest Borgnine, Glenn Ford, and Diane Brewster in Torpedo Run (1958)
    Torpedo Run
    6.4
    • special effects
    • 1958
  • Don't Go Near the Water (1957)
    Don't Go Near the Water
    6.1
    • special effects
    • 1957
  • Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (1957)
    Jailhouse Rock
    6.5
    • special effects
    • 1957
  • Paul Newman and Jean Simmons in Until They Sail (1957)
    Until They Sail
    6.5
    • special effects
    • 1957
  • Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957)
    Tip on a Dead Jockey
    6.1
    • special effects
    • 1957
  • Jack Palance and Barbara Lang in House of Numbers (1957)
    House of Numbers
    6.4
    • special effects
    • 1957
  • Stewart Granger, Rhonda Fleming, and Steve Rowland in Gun Glory (1957)
    Gun Glory
    6.2
    • special effects
    • 1957

Visual Effects



  • The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
    The Greatest Story Ever Told
    6.6
    • special visual effects
    • 1965
  • The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
    The Unsinkable Molly Brown
    6.6
    • special visual effects
    • 1964
  • Paul Newman, Diane Baker, and Elke Sommer in The Prize (1963)
    The Prize
    6.8
    • special visual effects
    • 1963
  • Doris Day, Stephen Boyd, Jimmy Durante, and Martha Raye in Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)
    Billy Rose's Jumbo
    6.1
    • special visual effects
    • 1962
  • Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
    Mutiny on the Bounty
    7.2
    • special visual effects
    • 1962
  • How the West Was Won (1962)
    How the West Was Won
    7.1
    • special visual effects
    • 1962
  • Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, and Miyoshi Umeki in The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962)
    The Horizontal Lieutenant
    5.8
    • special visual effects
    • 1962
  • The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
    The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
    6.6
    • special visual effects
    • 1962
  • Ben-Hur (1959)
    Ben-Hur
    8.1
    • special photographic effects
    • 1959
  • Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster in Run Silent Run Deep (1958)
    Run Silent Run Deep
    7.3
    • special photographic effects (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1958
  • Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Margaret O'Brien, and Lewis Stone in Three Wise Fools (1946)
    Three Wise Fools
    6.5
    • transparency projection shots (uncredited)
    • 1946
  • Lucille Ball, Van Johnson, Esther Williams, and Keenan Wynn in Easy to Wed (1946)
    Easy to Wed
    6.1
    • transparency projection shots (uncredited)
    • 1946
  • Wallace Beery and Margaret O'Brien in Bad Bascomb (1946)
    Bad Bascomb
    6.8
    • transparency projection shots (uncredited)
    • 1946
  • Lana Turner and John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
    The Postman Always Rings Twice
    7.4
    • miniatures
    • transparency projection shots (uncredited, uncredited)
    • 1946
  • June Allyson, Jimmy Durante, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, and Lauritz Melchior in Two Sisters from Boston (1946)
    Two Sisters from Boston
    6.6
    • transparency projection shots (uncredited)
    • 1946

Art Department



  • Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Captains Courageous
    7.9
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1937
  • Paul Muni and Luise Rainer in The Good Earth (1937)
    The Good Earth
    7.5
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1937
  • Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald in San Francisco (1936)
    San Francisco
    7.1
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1936
  • James Stewart and Wendy Barrie in Speed (1936)
    Speed
    5.7
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1936
  • Robert Taylor and Janet Gaynor in Small Town Girl (1936)
    Small Town Girl
    6.5
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1936
  • Rudolph Anders, Mala, and Lotus Long in Last of the Pagans (1935)
    Last of the Pagans
    6.0
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1935
  • Clark Gable and Mamo Clark in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
    Mutiny on the Bounty
    7.6
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1935
  • Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in Naughty Marietta (1935)
    Naughty Marietta
    6.5
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1935
  • Myrna Loy and William Powell in Evelyn Prentice (1934)
    Evelyn Prentice
    6.9
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1934
  • Student Tour (1934)
    Student Tour
    5.1
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1934
  • Jean Harlow in The Girl from Missouri (1934)
    The Girl from Missouri
    6.6
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1934
  • Operator 13 (1934)
    Operator 13
    5.9
    • associate art director (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1934
  • Eleanor Boardman and James Murray in The Crowd (1928)
    The Crowd
    8.0
    • settings (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1928
  • Jackie Coogan, Lars Hanson, and Eric Rohman in Buttons (1927)
    Buttons
    • sets (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1927
  • Lon Chaney in London After Midnight (1927)
    London After Midnight
    6.7
    • settings (as Arnold Gillespie)
    • 1927

Personal details

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  • Alternative names
    • A.Arnold Gillespie
  • Height
    • 5′ 9½″ (1.77 m)
  • Born
    • October 14, 1899
    • El Paso, Texas, USA
  • Died
    • May 3, 1978
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
  • Spouses
      Nell HillOctober 13, 1943 - ? (1 child)
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    His career at MGM was so long that he worked on the original Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) and its remake Ben-Hur (1959) and the original Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and its remake Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
  • Quotes
    [on filming 'San Francisco'] The big-theater-nightclub set for this picture, in which Miss McDonald warbled her lovely lyric soprano, occupied all of Stage 12 at MGM. There had been some argument about the destructive movement of an earthquake. I supported the 'horizontal' theory, while others insisted that it was the vertical 'rolling-ups-and-downs' which caused the damage. An expert from California Polytechinc College in Pasadena was contacted, and I won. In fact, he commented that our 'schematic' for the set actually represented the very kind of an 'earthquake table' upon which, in small scale, Cal Tech experiments were conducted.
  • Nickname
    • Buddy

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