Bill Klages, 7-Time Emmy Winning Lighting Designer, Dies at 97

Bill Klages, a renowned lighting designer who took home 7 Emmys for his work on productions such as “The Dorothy Hamill Special” and “Great Performances: Dance in America” died on July 7 in Santa Monica. He was 97.

In 2012 Klages was the first lighting designer to be inducted into the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. He won one Emmy for outstanding visual achievement in special visual effects and six for his work on “The Lie,” “Mitzi & 100 Guys,” “The Dorothy Hamill Special,” “The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of Performing Arts,” “Great Performances: Dance in America” and the 33rd Grammys.

He received another 21 Emmy nominations, Monitor and Ace Awards, the 2004 “Distinguished Achievement Award in Lighting Design” from the United States Institute of Theatre Technology, and the “Lighting Designer of the Year” award at the 2002 LDI (Live Design International) Convention.

He also designed the 1984 Olympics Closing Ceremonies in Los Angeles and the “Liberty Weekend” Statue of Liberty Celebration in addition to four Republican National Conventions.

In an interview with lighting and camera systems ARRI, Klages opnce explained, “Television lighting during most of my career was a joy because of the independence. Nobody was instructing me or telling me what to do. I can’t remember anyone ever saying, ‘If you can do it in 12 hours, can you not do it in 10?’ Who has that freedom today? I’m talking about a golden age that maybe nobody will ever see again”

William Maxwell Klages was born on May 7, 1927, in Long Beach, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before he moved to Columbia University, where he pursued a Master of Science.

Klages was hired as a maintenance engineer by NBC in 1948. He spent two years in the Navy and returned as a lighting engineer on the series “Playwrights ’56.”

Klages married his wife Julie Rosalie Light, who died in 2009. He is survived by their son, Jonathan Light Klages.

The post Bill Klages, 7-Time Emmy Winning Lighting Designer, Dies at 97 appeared first on TheWrap.