J. Michael Riva
J. Michael Riva
Biography
John Michael Riva (June 28, 1948–June 7, 2012), better known as J. Michael Riva, was an American production designer. Riva was born in Manhattan to William Riva, a Broadway set designer, and Maria Elisabeth Sieber, a German-born actress and the daughter of Marlene Dietrich. Riva had three brothers (John Peter, John Paul, and John David). Riva attended the prep school Institute Le Rosey in Switzerland for six years before attending UCLA. Married to Wendy Mickell, he had four sons, Jean-Paul, Mikey, Daniel, and Adam. Riva had a long and prestigious career as an art director and production designer on numerous films, including the 1985 film The Colour Purple, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. Other credits include The Goonies (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Iron Man (2008), and Iron Man 2 (2010). His final films, The Amazing Spider-Man and Django Unchained, were released posthumously. He was the production designer for the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, as well as for the 74th and 79th Academy Awards in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his work on the latter. Riva suffered a stroke on June 1, 2012, in New Orleans, Louisiana, during production of Django Unchained. He died in a hospital there on June 7, 2012, at age 63. Django director Quentin Tarantino commented, "Michael became a dear friend on this picture, as well as a magnificent, talented colleague." Description above from the Wikipedia article J. Michael Riv, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Personal Info
Known For
Art
Known Credits
45
Gender
Male
Birthday
1948-06-28 (76 years old)
Place of Birth
Manhattan, New York, USA
Crew

2012

Django Unchained Production Design

2012

The Amazing Spider-Man Production Design

2010

Iron Man 2 Production Design

2008

Iron Man Production Design

2008

Seven Pounds Production Design

2007

Spider-Man 3 Production Design

2006

The Pursuit of Happyness Production Design

2005

Stealth Production Design

2005

Zathura: A Space Adventure Production Design

2003

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Production Design

2001

Evolution Production Design

2000

Charlie's Angels Production Design

1999

Tuesdays with Morrie Production Design

1998

Lethal Weapon 4 Production Design

1998

Six Days Seven Nights Production Design

1998

Hard Rain Production Design

1995

Congo Production Design

1994

North Production Design

1993

Dave Production Design

1992

Radio Flyer Production Design

1992

A Few Good Men Production Design

1989

Lethal Weapon 2 Production Design

1989

Tango & Cash Production Design

1989

Tales from the Crypt Director

1988

Scrooged Production Designer

1988

Scrooged Production Design

1987

Lethal Weapon Production Design

1986

The Golden Child Production Design

1985

The Color Purple Production Design

1985

The Slugger's Wife Production Design

1985

The Goonies Production Design

1985

Amazing Stories Director

1983

Bad Boys Production Design

1981

The Hand Production Design

1981

Callie & Son Production Design

1981

Halloween II Production Design

1980

Ordinary People Art Direction

1980

Brubaker Art Direction

1977

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Production Design

1977

Bare Knuckles Production Design

1977

Bad Georgia Road Art Direction