| John Truscott | |
| Birth Date: | 23 February 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Melbourne, Australia |
| Death Place: | Melbourne, Australia |
| Occupation: | Actor Production designer Costume designer Interior designer Artistic director |
| Yearsactive: | 1967–1977 |
John Edward Truscott (23 February 1936 – 5 September 1993[1]) was an Australian actor, production designer, costume designer and artistic director. He won two Academy Awards for his work on the 1967 film Camelot.[2]
Truscott began his career in 1952 at the National Theatre, Melbourne at the age of 16.[1] There he directed his first play, William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.[1] In the 1960s he worked internationally on films in London, Rome, and Paris.[1] In 1967 he won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Camelot; a film adaptation of the 1960 musical of the same name by Lerner and Loewe.[1]
In the 1980s, he was brought in to complete the interior designs for the theatre complex of the Victorian Arts Centre (VAC) begun by Sir Roy Grounds.[1] He also designed the exteriors for World Expo 88 in Brisbane.[1] In the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours Truscott was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.[3] He was the second Artistic Director of the Melbourne Festival, a position he was in from 1988 through 1991.[1] At the time of his death in 1993 during heart surgery he was artist-in-residence at the VAC.[1]
Melbourne fashion designer and founding editor of Vogue Australia Sheila Scotter claimed to have had a 13-year relationship with him.[4] She claimed he was bisexual who practised only his straight side. Scotter also claimed that Truscott had an affair with Vanessa Redgrave while working together on Camelot.[4]
Truscott is buried in the Dandenongs near Melbourne, and Sheila Scotter is buried next to him.[5]