Richard “Dick” Bianchi, of Fairfield, Conn. and Southport died on June 30, 2012, of complications from multiple myeloma.

He was born is Somerville, Mass. on May 14, 1928, graduated from Arlington High School, and pursued an interest in art at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, receiving a BFA in 1950.

He taught art in Concord, N.H. for several months before going to Korea with the 45th Infantry Division. On the G.I. Bill, he attended Tufts University, graduating with a master of education in arts and sciences. Art won over education and thanks to a mentor in the Tufts Theatre Department he went on to the Yale School of Drama, graduating with an MFA in 1957.

During the next 10 years, he worked as a staff designer at NBC, a scenic designer for eight off Broadway plays, and created and directed two documentary films about Fire Island for the Department of the Interior. He also began working as a freelance designer for countless television commercials, one of his last being Cora’s Country Store for Maxwell House Coffee, starring Southport’s Margaret Hamilton.

In 1969, he designed his first feature film “Puzzle of a Downfall Child,” with Faye Dunaway, followed by “Voices,” with Amy Irving, and was the New York art director for “Lady Liberty” with Sophia Loren.

His television films included “Skokie,” with Danny Kaye, “The Great Wallendas,” with Lloyd Bridges and “The Deadliest Season” with Michael Moriarty and Meryl Streep. His series for TV included “Nurse” with Michael Learned, two “Kojak” specials with Telly Salvalas and “The Equalizer” with Edward Woodward.

During a break in the show’s third season, he was asked to do a pilot for CBS called “Law and Order.” Two years later, it began shooting for NBC, which he designed for the next six years. 

His love for painting found him on the coast of Maine for a month every summer. Through the encouragement of Maeve McGuire, an actress for three seasons at the Boothbay Playhouse, he came to the Boothbay area. As work kept interrupting these interludes, he finally built a year-round cottage on Southport. Some of his work was seen several years ago as Artist of the Month at the Southport Library. He was a member of the Boothbay Country Club.

He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Erika Bianchi; a niece, Jane Bianchi; and his wife, Maeve McGuire.

Gifts in his memory may be made to the Yale School of Drama, P.O. Box 208244, New Haven, CT 06520 or The Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115.