Fred Gabourie

{{short description|Canadian production designer (1881-1951)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Fred Gabourie

| image = Fred Gabourie on location.jpg

| alt = Gabourie - center - flanked by Phyllis Haver and Buster Keaton (in front of Edward F. Cline) on location for The Balloonatic (1923)

| caption = Gabourie - center - flanked by Phyllis Haver and Buster Keaton
(Buster in front of Eddie Cline) on location for The Balloonatic (1923)

| birth_name = Fred Gabourie

| birth_date = {{birth date|1881|09|19|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Tweed, Ontario, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|1951|03|01|1881|09|19|mf=y}}

| death_place = Hollywood, California, U.S.

| years_active = c.1918–1951

| occupation = {{hlist|Technical Director,|Art Director|Production Manager}}

}}

Fred Gabourie (September 19, 1881 - March 1, 1951){{cite web |title=Fred Gabourie (I) |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0300152/ |website=IMDb |access-date=June 15, 2018}}{{unreliable source?|date=July 2018}} was a technical director and department head.

Gabourie was born in Tweed, Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Seneca Indian tribe. He served in the Spanish–American War.{{sfn|Foote|2014|p=197}}

He worked primarily for Buster Keaton, figuring out how to make Keaton's innovative stunts work. As one author put it, "Fred Gabourie had the most interesting job in the world: He solved problems for Buster Keaton."{{sfn|Foote|2014|p=182}} As technical director, he was responsible for set design, construction, props management, and location scouting.{{sfn|Foote|2014|p=182}} During this time, he designed the electric house in The Electric House, which featured an automated staircase, library, swimming pool, and dining room.{{sfn|Blesh|1966|pp=155-156}} He located and purchased the ship for The Navigator. Only after Gabourie found the ship and suggested to Keaton that it would be a great prop to build a movie around did Keaton and his staff come up with a script.{{sfn|Blesh|1966|pp=251-252}} Gabourie also worked out how to accomplish the famous stunt in Steamboat Bill, Jr. in which the front of a house (weighing two tons) falls on Keaton without harming him.{{sfn|Blesh|1966|p=290}}

Keaton and Gabourie, working with an architect, co-designed Keaton's lavish Beverly Hills mansion, eventually called the Italian Villa.{{cite web |last1=Sainte-Claire |first1=Victoria |title=PARLOR, BEDROOM AND BATH: Inside the Italian Villa |url=http://www.busterkeaton.net/Villa/Parlor_Bedroom_Bath.htm |access-date=June 15, 2018}}

Gabourie was also responsible for the ships in the silent version of The Sea Hawk.

Gabourie went to MGM with Keaton but worked on just one picture with him (The Cameraman) before MGM promoted him to construction superintendent, a position he held until he died.{{sfn|Meade|1995|p=401}}

Gabourie's son, Fred Gabourie Jr., played some small parts in film and on TV, but eventually became a judge.{{cite web |title=Fred Gabourie (II) |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0300153/ |website=IMDb}}{{unreliable source?|date=July 2018}}