Legendary lighting designer Bill Klages, winner of seven Primetime Emmy Awards, will be inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. The ceremony takes place at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, March 1, 2012.
Bill Klages has been associated with some of the most outstanding productions in television history. After establishing his reputation at NBC with the dramatic series Playwrights ’56, Klages designed the lighting for landmark shows of early television starring entertainment legends Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ernie Kovacs and Perry Como. In the decades that followed, Klages lighted an array of acclaimed entertainment specials and award shows including The Kraft Music Hall, My Name Is Barbra, Night of 100 Stars, Sills and Burnett at the Met, Baryshnikov by Tharp, The Tony Awards, The Emmy Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors, Sweeney Todd, and The Grammy Awards, to name just a few.
Major events he has designed include the 1984 Olympics Closing Ceremonies and the Liberty Weekend Statue of Liberty celebration, as well as four Republican National Conventions. Klages provided television and theatrical lightin design for the 16,000-seat Lakewood Church in Houston, the 21,000-seat Latter Day Saints Convention Center in Salt Lake City, the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas and numerous other studios and venues. He has also conducted seminars throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. In 2004, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Lighting Design from the United States Institute of Theatre Technology and was named Lighting Designer of the Year at the LDI2002. Along with his seven Primetime Emmy wins, Klages has also received twenty-one Emmy nominations, as well as Monitor and Ace Awards.