Stephenie McMillan, Harry Potter and Academy Award winning set decorator, has died

by · August 21, 2013

The Harry Potter community has suffered a great loss this week in the death of Stephenie McMillan, the set decorator on all eight Potter films. James Phelps, who portrayed Fred Weasley, tweeted a tribute to Stephenie earlier this evening:

Very sorry to hear of the passing of Stephenie McMillan. A wonderful lady who helped make the hogwarts we all saw in the HP movies

– James Phelps (@James_Phelps) August 21, 2013

McMillan was nominated for Academy Awards for her work on Sorcerer’s Stone, Goblet of Fire, and both installments of Deathly Hallows. She worked on a number of other films during her illustrious career, and among the many awards and nominations she received was an Oscar for the 1996 film The English Patient. She was an irreplaceable part of bringing Harry Potter to life on the big screen, and she will be greatly missed by all of us who appreciated her set magic.

Read a 2012 BAFTA interview with Stephenie here, a Hitfix interview with Stephenie and Harry Potter production designer Stuart Craig here, and a Vanity Fair article about Stephenie and Stuart’s work on Harry Potter here.

Jessica J.

I've been making magic at MuggleNet since 2012, when I first joined the staff as a News intern. I've never wavered from the declaration in my childhood journal, circa October 2000: "I LOVE Harry Potter! If I clean my room, my mom says she'll make me a dinner a wizard would love!" Proud Gryffindor; don't hate.