Biography
A onetime Broadway scenic designer, art director Albert S. D'Agostino arrived in Hollywood in 1918. D'Agostino established himself at MGM, then moved to Universal, where among many other projects he designed the impressively creepy surroundings for such horror films as
The Werewolf of London (1935),
The Raven (1935),
Dracula's Daughter (1936), and
The Invisible Ray (1936). He then began working at RKO Radio, which would remain his professional home until his retirement. During his tenure under the Beeping Tower, he was Oscar-nominated for his art direction of
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942),
Flight For Freedom (1943),
Step Lively (1943), and
Experiment Perilous (1945); the latter film established the now-prevalent action-film cliché of the "exploding" aquarium tank. When RKO was purchased by Desilu in 1958, Albert S. D'Agostino briefly moved into television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide