Smith, Oliver
- Rosaria Sinisi
Extract
Smith, Oliver (13 February 1918–23 January 1994), set designer for theater, dance, opera, ballet, and film, was born Oliver Lemuel Smith in Waupun, Wisconsin, to Larue F. Smith, a high school principal, and Nina Kincaid Smith. His mother encouraged his early interest in architecture and the performing arts, with frequent trips to museums, the opera, and the theater. When his parents divorced and his mother remarried, Smith moved east, where his stepfather, Ivan Bernkopf, owned a department store in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. While attending high school there, Smith also spent summers at the Chautauqua festival, as well as in other upstate New York towns such as Watkins Glen, where his relatives, including a cousin, the future composer and author ...
