Stuart Norman Craig OBE, RDI (14 April 1942 – 7 September 2025) was a British production designer. In a career spanning a half-century, he won three Academy Awards and three BAFTAs. He was particularly known for his work with Stephenie McMillan on the Harry Potter films, and with Anna Pinnock on the Fantastic Beasts films.[1]
Stuart Norman Craig was born in Norwich on 14 April 1942.[2][3] His film career started upon his graduation from the Royal College of Art in 1966.[2][3]
In 1966, Craig married Patricia Stangroom, with whom he had two children.[2][3] He died from Parkinson's disease at his home in Windsor, Berkshire, on 7 September 2025, at the age of 83.[2][3][4]
Craig was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and won three: in 1982 for Gandhi, in 1988 for Dangerous Liaisons, and in 1996 for The English Patient. He was nominated for a BAFTA award sixteen times, including for the first six and last Potter films, and won three times: in 1980 for The Elephant Man, in 2005 for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and in 2016 for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.[2]
For his work on The English Patient, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2, Craig was nominated for an Art Directors Guild award and won the same for The English Patient and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.[citation needed] The Guild has also honored Craig with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the awards ceremony on 16 February 2008.[5]
At Potter author J. K. Rowling's request, he worked with Universal Creative team to design the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park. Rowling said in a December 2007 interview on the Potter podcast PotterCast, "The key thing for me was that, if there was to be a theme park, that Stuart Craig … would be involved. … More than involved, that he would pretty much design it. Because I love the look of the films; they really mirror what’s been in my imagination for all these years".[6]
Craig was nominated for a BAFTA Award for six films in a row, namely the first six Harry Potter films.
As art director
As production designer
Academy Awards
British Academy Film Awards
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