RIP James J. Murakami

 

James J. Murakami - Emmy-winning art director for Deadwood and frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator - passes away at 91

 

Daily Mail

By Bria Gallagher

December 23, 2022

 

The production world is in mourning on Thursday, with the news that Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated art director James J. Murakami has passed away.

Murakami is best known for his Emmy-winning work as the art director on HBO's Deadwood, and his many collaborations with Clint Eastwood.

He passed on December 15 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after complications from a fall, his wife Ginger confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Murakami was born in June 1931 in Sacramento, California, spending most of his childhood in Campbell, California.

He and his family were interred at a war relocation camp throughout World War II, and after the war ended, he moved to Venice, California.  

He attended Venice High School and went on to study at the Chouinard Art Institute, as he honed his skills to achieve his goal of designing for motion pictures

With no connections to his name, he started out working for architects as a delineator and consultant.

He got his start in moves and television with a job at ZIV Studio, where he spent a number of years in various art departments.

His first movie job was as Assistant Art Director for Dean Tavoularis on The Godfather: Part II in 1974, who he also assisted on 1979's Apocalypse Now.

He also served as an art director on episodes of Battlestar Galactica in 1979 and other hit movies such as WarGames, Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, True Romance, Crimson Tide, The Game and Enemy of the State, before winning an Emmy for his art direction on HBO's Deadwood.

Murakami also served as a set designer for production designer/art director Henry Burnstead on Clint Eastwood's 1992 classic Western Unforgiven, which started a long relationship with the director.

He also served as art director on Eastwood's 1997 film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil before starting his career as a production designer on 2006's Letters From Iwo Jima. 

Murakami earned sole Oscar nomination for his work as production designer on 2008's Changeling, becoming Eastwood's regular designer.

They worked together on 2008's Gran Torino, 2009's Invictus, 2010's Hereafter, 2011's J. Edgar, 2012's Trouble With the Curve, 2014's Jersey Boys and American Sniper and 2016's Sully, after which he retired, earning the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Murakami is survived by his wife of 34 years, Ginger, their daughter, Patricia, and stepchildren John and Sandee.

MURAKAMI, James J. (James Junichi Murakami)

Born: 6/4/1931, Sacramento, California, U.S.A.

Died:  12/15/2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A

 

James J. Murakami’s westerns – assistant art director, art director, set designer:

Tom Sawyer – 1973 [set designer]

Another Man, Another Chance – 1977 [assistant art director]

Comes a Horseman – 1978 [assistant art director]

Unforgiven – 1992 [set designer]

The Postman – 1997 [set designer]

Deadwood (TV) – 2004-2005 [art director]