By TB Reporter

William J. Newmon went to Davis Elementary, 16th Street Junior High and Gibbs High School.

ST. PETERSBURG — St. Petersburg native William J. (Bill) Newmon II has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Directors Guild for his Hollywood film work.

The Weekly Challenger first reported the story locally in this week’s edition.

Newmon attended Davis Elementary, 16^th Street Junior High and Gibbs High School, where he graduated in 1957.

He began his career at NBC in Los Angeles as a stock scenery draftsman. He later went to work for Walt Disney Studios, and was a 30-year-plus member of the Motion Picture and Television Industry International Union.

He became the film industry’s first African-American set designer. Among his many sets were those used on Poltergeist, Little House on the Prairie and 7th Heaven.

Newmon is retired and living in Seattle.

He will join long-time friends David and Archie Boston as co-producer of a PBS special entitled “Black Pioneers of the Sunshine City,” the Challenger reported. It is expected to air locally on WUSF Television during Black History Month.

For more information, visit theweeklychallenger.com .

St. Petersburg |Special Interest | Arts and Leisure | Honors | TB Reporter

St. Petersburg |Special Interest | Arts and Leisure | Honors | TB Reporter