Peter Larkin, Broadway/Film Scenic Designer, Dies at 93

The noted Broadway and film set designer Peter Larkin died on December 16. He was 93.

Born in Boston in 1926, attended Deerfield Academy and Yale University. (His father, the historian Oliver Waterman Larkin, won a Pulitzer Prize for the 1950 book Art and Life in America.) Larkin made his Broadway debut with a 1951 revival of The Wild Duck, starring Philip Loeb and Midred Dunnock. He designed a remarkable number of productions that were hits or otherwise notable, including the thriller Dial "M" for Murder (1952), the blockbuster The Teahouse of the August Moon (1953), Peter Pan (1954, starring Mary Martin), Inherit the Wind (1955), No Time for Sergeants (1955), New Faces of 1956, Compulsion (1957), the musical Goldilocks (1958, starring Elaine Stritch), the musical First Impressions (1958, based on Pride and Prejudice), the musical Wildcat (1960, starring Lucille Bale), Lorraine Hansberry's Les Blancs (1970), Twigs (1971), and the Bob Fosse hit Dancin' (1978). His final Broadway production was a revival of Oscar Wilde's Salome (2003), starring Al Pacino, Marisa Tomei, Dianne Wiest, and David Strathairn, for which he was billed scenic consultant.

His extensive film work includes Nighthawks (1981, his film debut), Tootsie (1982), Compromising Positions (1985), Three Men and a Baby (1987), The Secret of My Success (1987), Get Shorty (1995), The First Wives Club (1996), and Miss Congeniality (2000). His final film was the Hugh Grant - Sandra Bullock comedy Two Weeks' Notice (2002).

Larkin won four Tony Awards, for Ondine, starring Audrey Hepburn (1954); The Teahouse of the August Moon; No Time for Sergeants; and Inherit the Wind. He was also nominated for Blue Denim, Miss Isobel, Compulsion, and Good as Gold (all in 1958); the Frank Loesser musical Greenwillow (1960), and the McNally-Kander-Ebb musical The Rink (1984); the latter also garnered a Drama Desk Award nomination. Other credits include productions Off Broadway (including Ricky Jay: On the Stem in 2002), at Connecticut's Stratford Shakespeare Theater, and New York City Ballet.

Larkin's wife, the painter Racelle Strick, died in 2008; his survivors include his stepdaughter, Ivy Hamlin, and stepson Wesley Strick.