Charles C. Bennett

Charles C. Bennett, award winning art director and production designer, died June 25th of complications from a liver transplant. He was 62. Mr. Bennett was born in Independence, Louisiana, on March 30, 1940. He studied design at Louisiana State University and apprenticed in film art production under the great Gene Callahan and worked with him in Hurry Sundown and Funny Girl. He went on to a distinguised film and television career that spanned four decades. Towards the end of his career, he concentrated on television and become an expert in period set design. He worked on I'll Fly Away for NBC for three years and did almost 40 features and mini series for television. He was awarded the Emmy three times for his work on three mini series; Roots in 1977; Evergreen with Leslie Anne Warren and Armand Asante in 1987 and most recently The Last Confederate Widow Tells All with Donald Sutherland. His last years were spent with HBO on such projects as Boycott and For Love and Country; The Auturo Sandoval Story with Andy Garcia which gained him two more nominations. He has also been nominated several times for production design excellence by the Art Directors Guild. He is survived by three brothers; Bobby Joe Bennett of Oscar, LA; Rodney Bennett of Baton Rouge, LA and Robert Earl Smith of West Orange, Texas; and two sisters, Vickey Grieger of LaGrange, Texas; Shirley Ann Williams of Cheyene, Wyoming and a beloved nephew, Taylor Bennett of Atlanta, GA and a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins also a legion of devoted friends. Burial will be in Wesson, Mississippi with a graveside service followed by a reception at a friends home in Kentwood, Louisiana