E. Jay Krause obit

E. Jay Krause Dies: Emmy-Winning Art Director Was 98

 He was not on the list.

E. Jay Krause, the Emmy-winning art director and set designer whose work has colored the golden age of variety television, died in Los Angeles, Calif. yesterday at the age of 98, Deadline has learned.

Over the course of his three decade-spanning career from the 1950s through 1980s, Krause has designed sets for over 180 productions, earning acclaim for his inventive and elegant visual style. He was behind the look of TV specials featuring iconic performances by the likes of Bob Hope, Diana Ross, Mitzi Gaynor, the Jacksons and Rudolf Nureyev.

His original sets for NBC‘s ’60s-era daytime game show The Hollywood Squares was immortalized at NBC Studios, while his ’70s-style psychedelic patterns emblematic of sketch comedy show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In have cemented their place in the pop culture lexicon. He received two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Art Direction: one for Mitzi’s 2nd Special in 1970 and another for Diana! in 1972.

In 1983, Krause founded Omega Cinema Props, which grew to become one of the industry’s largest independent prop houses, “offering an unlimited selection of residential, institutional and commercial props including furniture, accessories and lighting fixtures of all periods and styles,” per its website. Alongside his wife Doris, Krause spent more than three decades sourcing rare and distinctive set dressing from around the world, curating a collection that remains integral to film and television productions today.

Known to friends and family simply as Jay, Krause was a native Angeleno. He served with distinction in the U.S. Navy during World War II, taking part in the harrowing 82-day Battle of Okinawa. After his military service, he pursued his passion for design at Pepperdine University and began his professional career at NBC in 1951.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Carson and Barry Pritchard, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Producer

Carol Channing and 101 Men

TV Special

associate producer

1968

 

Judi Rolin in Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966)

Alice Through the Looking Glass

5.9

TV Movie

executive producer

1966

 

Danny Thomas' the Wonderful World of Burlesque: Second Edition (1965)

Danny Thomas' the Wonderful World of Burlesque: Second Edition

8.5

TV Special

associate producer

1965

 

Production Designer

The Unexplained: The UFO Connection

TV Movie

Production Designer

1976

 

It Takes Two

6.8

TV Series

Production Designer

1968–1970

 

Arthur Freed's Hollywood Melody (1962)

Arthur Freed's Hollywood Melody

TV Special

Production Designer (production design)

1962

 

Art Director

Paul Lynde in The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965)

The Hollywood Squares (Daytime)

6.8

TV Series

Art Director

1980

1 episode

 

The Bob Hope All Star Comedy Special from Australia

TV Special

Art Director

1978

 

The All-Star Gong Show Special

TV Special

Art Director

1977

 

John Ritter, Suzanne Somers, and Joyce DeWitt in Three's Company (1976)

Three's Company

7.5

TV Series

Art Director

1976–1977

4 episodes

 

Bob Hope in The Bob Hope Show (1950)

The Bob Hope Show

7.3

TV Series

Art Director

1955–1977

19 episodes

 

Edward Andrews, McLean Stevenson, and Madge West in The McLean Stevenson Show (1976)

The McLean Stevenson Show

5.8

TV Series

Art Director

1976–1977

3 episodes

 

Bob Hope's All-Star Comedy Spectacular from Lake Tahoe

8.2

TV Special

Art Director

1977

 

An All-Star Tribute to John Wayne

6.3

TV Movie

Art Director

1976

 

Bob Hope and Caroll Spinney in Bob Hope's World of Comedy (1976)

Bob Hope's World of Comedy

5.4

TV Special

Art Director

1976

 

Viva Valdez (1976)

Viva Valdez

6.3

TV Series

Art Director

1976

1 episode

 

Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star Spangled Spectacular

TV Special

Art Director

1976

 

The Gong Show (1976)

The Gong Show

6.9

TV Series

Art Director

1976–1980

 

From Montreal, the Bob Hope Olympic Benefit

TV Special

Art Director

1976

 

Joys! (1976)

Joys!

6.6

TV Special

Art Director

1976

 

Texaco Presents: A Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television

8.5

TV Special

Art Director

1975

 

Bob Hope on Campus

TV Special

Art Director

1975

 

Lights, Camera, Monty!

TV Special

Art Director

1975

 

The Don Rickles Show - Mr. Warmth

TV Movie

Art Director

1975

 

Monty Hall at Sea World

TV Special

Art Director

1974

 

NBC Follies (1973)

NBC Follies

TV Series

Art Director

1973

13 episodes

 

The Shape of Things

TV Special

Art Director (as Jay Krause)

1973

 

RCA's Opening Night

TV Special

Art Director

1973

 

Dick Martin and Dan Rowan in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967)

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

8.0

TV Series

Art Director

1967–1973

49 episodes

 

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985)

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

7.3

TV Movie

Art Director

1973

 

Timex All-Star Swing Festival (1972)

Timex All-Star Swing Festival

TV Special

Art Director

1972

 

Robert Young, Charlie Callas, Frank Gorshin, George Kirby, Steve Lawrence, Rich Little, and Marilyn Michaels in The ABC Comedy Hour (1972)

The ABC Comedy Hour

8.0

TV Series

Art Director

1972

1 episode

 

The Pompeii Way

TV Movie

Art Director

1971

 

Michael Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Tito Jackson, and Jackson 5 in Goin' Back to Indiana (1971)

Goin' Back to Indiana

8.4

TV Special

Art Director

1971

 

Diana!

8.2

TV Special

Art Director

1971

 

Burlesque is Alive and Living in Beautiful Downtown Burbank

TV Special

Art Director

1970

 

Don Knotts in The Don Knotts Show (1970)

The Don Knotts Show

7.6

TV Series

Art Director

1970

1 episode

 

The Joker's Wild

TV Special

Art Director

1969

 

Diana Ross, Cindy Birdsong, The Temptations, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Mary Wilson, Dennis Edwards, and Paul Williams in G.I.T. on Broadway (1969)

G.I.T. on Broadway

8.3

TV Special

Art Director

1969

 

Roberta

7.1

TV Movie

Art Director

1969

 

Mitzi's 2nd Special (1969)

Mitzi's 2nd Special

6.3

TV Movie

Art Director

1969

 

Lucille Ball, Diana Ross, and Dinah Shore in The Dinah Shore Special: Like Hep (1969)

The Dinah Shore Special: Like Hep

7.7

TV Special

Art Director

1969

 

Portrait of Petula

TV Special

Art Director

1969

 

The Second Bill Cosby Special

TV Special

Art Director

1969

 

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969)

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour

6.8

TV Series

Art Director

1969

2 episodes

 

The Jerry Lewis Show (1967)

The Jerry Lewis Show

6.4

TV Series

Art Director

1967–1969

18 episodes

 

Ann-Margret in The Ann-Margret Show (1968)

The Ann-Margret Show

9.3

TV Special

Art Director

1968

 

TCB

8.6

TV Special

Art Director

1968

 

Soul

8.9

TV Special

Art Director

1968

 

One More Time: The Wayne Newton Special

TV Movie

Art Director

1968

 

Judi Rolin in Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966)

Alice Through the Looking Glass

5.9

TV Movie

Art Director

1966

 

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963)

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

7.4

TV Series

Art Director

1966

1 episode

 

Danny Thomas' the Wonderful World of Burlesque: Second Edition (1965)

Danny Thomas' the Wonderful World of Burlesque: Second Edition

8.5

TV Special

Art Director

1965

 

Danny Thomas Special: Friends (1965)

Danny Thomas Special: Friends

TV Special

Art Director

1965

 

Danny Thomas Special

TV Special

Art Director

1964

 

Arthur Freed's Hollywood Melody (1962)

Arthur Freed's Hollywood Melody

TV Special

Art Director

1962

 

The Milton Berle Spectacular

8.1

TV Movie

Art Director

1962

 

Walter Matthau and Frank McGee in The DuPont Show of the Week (1961)

The DuPont Show of the Week

6.1

TV Series

Art Director

1961

1 episode

 

Shirley Temple in Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958)

Shirley Temple's Storybook

7.3

TV Series

Art Director

1958–1961

6 episodes

 

Donald O'Connor in The Donald O'Connor Show (1954)

The Donald O'Connor Show

7.2

TV Series

Art Director (as E.J. Krause)

1960

1 episode

 

Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens

6.2

TV Movie

Art Director (as Jay Krause)

1960

 

Startime (1959)

Startime

6.4

TV Series

Art Director

1959–1960

3 episodes

 

Man Against Crime

7.9

TV Series

Art Director (as Jay Krause)

1956

3 episodes

 

Steve Allen in Allen in Movieland (1955)

Allen in Movieland

6.7

TV Movie

Art Director

1955

 

The George Gobel Show (1954)

The George Gobel Show

7.3

TV Series

Art Director

1954–1955

4 episodes

 

Hoagy Carmichael in The Saturday Night Revue (1953)

The Saturday Night Revue

TV Series

Art Director

1954

1 episode