William O'Keefe Malley

With his family gathered at his side, William O’Keefe Malley, age 94, passed away on Friday, September 4, 2026 in his residence at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home in Calabasas, CA.

Born Sept. 23, 1931 to Kathleen and O’Keefe O’Malley, Bill grew up in Burbank where his father worked at Warner Bros. Studios from the 1920s to the 1940s. Bill graduated from Burbank High School in 1949 and entered the Air Force where he served in Korea in the early 50s.

On October 31st, 1959, Bill married Rachel Lorraine Milliken. They had six children and raised them in Monte Nido, CA, a beautiful unincorporated area of LA County in the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas. Bill and Rachel enjoyed 54 years of wedded happiness until Rachel’s passing in 2014.

Bill’s drawing talent was admired at an early age. After his military service, Bill used his artistic abilities and his interest in architecture to pursue a career in the movie industry, ultimately becoming one of Hollywood’s leading art directors and production designers.

Early in Bill’s career, his wife Rachel connected him with Paulist Productions, where Catholic priest Ellwood “Bud” Kieser was producing an anthology TV series of inspirational stories called “Insight.” Father Kieser asked Bill to help him. “Insight” ultimately ran for 25 years and 250 episodes, with each episode starring major Hollywood actors. Only Father Kieser worked on more episodes of “Insight” than Bill. Bill was the art director of 57 of the series’ 250 episodes. And over those 25 years, Bill provided his art directing services on “Insight” free of charge.

Bill’s film career took him to every movie and television studio in town, and to cities all over the nation and world. He served as the production designer of major star-studded Hollywood movies including “Mommie Dearest,” “Deal of the Century,” “The Star Chamber,” “Prime Cut,” “Alex and the Gypsy,” “Vision Quest,” “Protocol,” Brian DePalma’s “The Fury,” and William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist.” Bill was nominated for an Academy Award for his Art Direction of “The Exorcist.”

When Bill signed on as production designer of William Peter Blatty’s film “The Ninth Configuration,” which was to film in Budapest, Hungary, he did so with one stipulation: he insisted on bringing his entire family with him. So, the Malleys, mom, dad and the six kids flew to communist-controlled Hungary where, after filming, they piled into a VW bus and went on a family adventure of a lifetime across Europe.

Bill was loved by everyone who knew him. He was a great story teller who delighted in sharing tales of his experiences in the film business and in his life. He met a lot of famous people during his career, and he had a bunch of hilarious anecdotes about many of them. And, as much as he loved to work and make his art, his greatest love in life was his family, of which he was boundlessly proud.

Bill is survived by daughters Katy Wooller (husband Gary), Tisha Stoliar (husband Ron), Annie Ruegger (husband Tom), Bridget Comerford (husband Patrick); sons James Malley (wife Shannon) and Jeffrey Malley (wife Jenny); and grandchildren Gigi Shigematsu (husband Stephen), Erika Craig (husband Dylan), Tim Horner, Brianne Moeller (husband Brant), Adria Stoliar, Logan Malley, Will Comerford (wife Nikki) and Rachel Comerford; and great grandchildren Lily and Iris Moeller, Noa Shigematsu, Dakota Comerford and Mia Craig.