Wayne Fitzgerald, prolific title designer for Total Recall, The Fly, and Child’s Play, dies at 89

What do the films InnerSpace, Total Recall, Dick Tracy, and Child’s Play all have in common? Their main titles were all designed by the same man. 

Although Wayne Fitzgerald may not be a household name, it’s almost a certainty that those reading this have seen his work. In addition to designing the titles for the films mentioned above, his credits also include Rosemary's Baby, Firestarter, Short Circuit, The Fly, Judge Dredd, and Waterworld, among many, many others. 

Fitzgerald, the massively prolific title designer responsible for literally hundreds of opening title sequences, has died following a brief illness, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 89. 

Born March 19, 1930 in Los Angeles, Fitzgerald attended the Art Center College of Design. After graduating in 1951, he went to work at Pacific Title & Art Studio, where he worked on many titles during his 17-year tenure there. His first major feature film title design was for MGM's Raintree County.

In 1967, he left Pacific Title & Art to form his own studio, Wayne Fitzgerald FilmDesign, for which he designed the titles for such films as Chinatown, Nine to Five, and Footloose, as well as the titles for such television shows as Dallas, Quincy, and Matlock. 

In 1987, Fitzgerald won an Emmy for The Bronx Zoo as well as two daytime Emmys for The Bold and the Beautiful and The Guiding Light. In 1995, he designed the logo for the Motion Picture Editors Guild. He was a two-term governor in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, representing title designers, and was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

He is survived by his wife, MaryEllen Courtney, children Mark, Eric and Courtney, and grandsons Rae, Porter and Bodhi.

(Via THR)