John Michael Riva (June 28, 1948 – June 7, 2012) was an American production designer.
Early life 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.
Career Riva had a long and prestigious career as an art director and production designer on numerous films, including the 1985 film The Color 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.
Personal life and death Riva was briefly engaged to actress Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1980s. He was married to Wendy Mickell, with whom he had four sons, Jean-Paul, John Michael Riva Jr., Daniel, and Adam. Country Home, Volume 25, Issues 1-6, p.100
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."
Filmography
Films All as production designer unless stated otherwise Year Title Notes 1976 Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks Art director; credited as Mike Riva 1977 Bad Georgia Road Art director; credited as Michael Riva 1977 I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Uncredited 1977 Bare Knuckles Credited as Michael Riva 1979 Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider Art director; credited as Michael Riva 1980 Brubaker Also art director 1980 Ordinary People Art director 1981 The Hand 1981 Halloween II Credited as Michael Riva 1983 Bad Boys 1983 Strangers Kiss Visual consultant; credited as Michael Riva 1984 The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension 1985 The Falcon and the Snowman 1985 The Slugger's Wife Credited as Michael Riva 1985 The Goonies 1985 The Color Purple 1986 The Golden Child 1987 Lethal Weapon 1988 Scrooged 1989 Lethal Weapon 2 1989 Tango & Cash 1992 Radio Flyer 1992 A Few Good Men 1993 Dave 1994 North 1995 Congo 1998 Hard Rain 1998 Six Days Seven Nights 1998 Lethal Weapon 4 1999 House on Haunted Hill Visual consultant 2000 Romeo Must Die Visual consultant 2000 Charlie's Angels 2001 Evolution 2003 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 2005 Stealth 2005 Zathura: A Space Adventure 2006 The Pursuit of Happyness 2007 Spider-Man 3 (with Neil Spisak) 2008 Iron Man 2008 Seven Pounds 2010 Iron Man 2 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man Posthumous release 2012 Django Unchained Posthumous release
Television All as production designer unless stated otherwise Year Title Notes 1981 Callie & Son TV film 1986 Amazing Stories Director; episode 2.12: "The Eternal Mind"; credited as Michael Riva 1990 Tales from the Crypt Director; episode 2.18: "The Secret"; credited as Michael Riva 1994 Lily in Winter Story; TV film 1996 1996 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony TV special 1999 Tuesdays with Morrie TV film 2002 The 74th Annual Academy Awards TV special 2007 The 79th Annual Academy Awards TV special
References
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