Theatre Architects

Born: 1870 (Bodicote, UK)

Died: 1963 (Pasadena, California)

Austin was born in Bodicote, Oxfordshire, England and was an apprentice to architect Williams S. Barwick in the late 1880s.

Around age 18 Austin moved to the United States and worked as a draftsman for architect Benjamin Linfoot of Philadelphia from 1891–1892, before briefly returning to the UK in 1892 and then relocating to San Francisco where he was a draftsman at Mooser and Devlin from 1892-1895.

Austin moved to Los Angeles in 1895 and ultimately became one of the city’s leading architects, his work in the city including the Fremont Hotel, the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles City Hall, and the Guaranty Building, NBC Radio City Studios, and Hollywood High School in Hollywood.

Austin was also active in the civic affairs in Los Angeles. He was elected President of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in 1930, where he initiated a public-art campaign to beautify the city through the erection of statuary and monuments.

Austin also served as the President of the State Board of Architectural Examiners, a member of the National Labor Board responsible for labor disputes in Southern California, President of the Southern California Historical Society, President of the Jonathan Club, and a 32nd degree Mason. In 1949, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce presented Austin with its first ever Achievement Award. In 1963, Los Angeles Mayor Samuel Yorty presented Austin with a scroll commending him “for serving in an outstanding manner as a distinguished architect”.

Austin died in 1963 at his home in Pasadena, California.

Theatres on this website in which this architect was involved:

Shrine Auditorium, California, USA

(main building)