Sir Kenneth Hugo "Ken" Adam, OBE (born Klaus Hugo Adam; 5 February 1921) is a German-born British motion picture production designer most famous for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s. Read full biography of Ken Adam →
To be successful, you really have to put your ego in the background and try to be diplomatic to achieve what you want to achieve.
One thing that I think works in 'Casablanca' and which I've lectured a lot about - in terms of what I've been trying to achieve as a... →
The cinema is there to heighten the imagination; I have always tried to make sure it does so.
I'm an incurable romantic, and 'Casablanca''s one of the most romantic pictures I've ever seen - the combination of Bogart and... →
I have never been sorry to see my sets being struck, provided they are well photographed. They're not works of art but part of making a film.
It takes courage to stay young, to make your enthusiasms work for you. Don't let anyone drag you down.
I always wanted to design for films.
My house is not James Bondish at all. Sorry.
What I felt at that time - we're talking about '61 - was that I couldn't remember seeing a film that reflected the age we were living in.
Remember, the early '60s in London was something - which must have been like Berlin in the '30s when the arts flourished. You didn't have... →
The Berlin of the '20s formed the foundation of my future education... the Berlin of the UFA studios, of Fritz Lang, Lubitsch and Erich Pommer.... →
A studio allows me more freedom. You can create your own sort of reality which is actually more exciting than shooting on location. You can conjure... →
My mother and father were interested in the arts.
Sir Kenneth Hugo "Ken" Adam, OBE (born Klaus Hugo Adam; 5 February 1921) is a German-born British motion picture production designer most famous for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s.