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William Riva was an American scenic and production designer known for his work in theatre and television. He was born on July 18, 1919, in Highland Park, Michigan, and died on July 3, 1999, in Palm Springs, California.
He worked as designer
His career began in stage and scenic design and later extended into television, where he worked as a set decorator and production designer. His Broadway credits are listed in the Internet Broadway Database, and his television credits include early broadcasts such as The Paul Winchell Show in the 1950s and other studio productions of that era. In interviews archived by the Television Academy, his wife Maria Riva recalled that he was among the first to use reflective “shiny floors” for automobile commercials, a detail that highlights his creative influence during the formative years of televised advertising and set design.
He married to Maria Riva
William Riva married actress and author Maria Riva on July 4, 1947. She was the daughter of legendary Hollywood star Marlene Dietrich and a prominent television actress in the 1950s before becoming a writer, most notably authoring a major biography of her mother. William and Maria remained married until his death in 1999 and had four sons together. One of their sons, J. Michael Riva, became a well-known Hollywood production designer, working on films such as The Goonies, Iron Man, and Django Unchained.
Maria Riva later passed away on October 29, 2025, in Gila, New Mexico.
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