ln the 1984 Nutley High School yearbook, the end of the write-up next to the picture of a pretty young lady named Rena DeAngelo contains a quote from the Stones: “Catch your dreams before they go away!” lt appears that Rena, not only caught her dreams early, but has a firm grip on them and continues to change them into reality.
Born and raised in Nutley by her parents, Jerry and Betty DeAngelo, Rena was graduated from Nutley high School and continued her education at the University of Delaware, a popular destination for New Jersey high school graduates. After enjoying four years of college life, she was graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of science degree in fashion design. Armed with her degree and love for textiles and fashion, she headed to Manhattan in 1989 and spent several years in the fashion industry before starting her career in the film industry.
As with most people seeking success in a particular career, she started with the basics, which, with set design, begins in the “prop” room. Basic, yes, but offering the opportunity for knowledge of details which would stand her in good stead as her career developed. Thus, she learned the ins and outs of the business while working on such major television productions as The Sopranos and Pollock.
The first major break in fulfilling her career ambitions was her assignment as Set Decorator for the film: Far From Heaven. Following her early success, she went on to win an Emmy in 2007 for her set design work on the wildly popular Mad Men, and was nominated in 2009 for the design of the sets for You Don’t Know Jack. Other important productions where she acted as Set Decorator were The Judge, Side Effects, Get On Up, The Way, Way Back, Keeping Up With The Joneses, and The Help, for which she was nominated in 2012 for an Excellence in Production Design Award by the Art Directors Guild.
ln 2016, Rena DeAngelo, was nominated for an Oscar by Academy Awards, USA, for her work on Bridge of Spies, along with nominations by British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), Art Directors Guild, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Online Films & Television Association and San Francisco Film Critics Circle. Regarding Nutley, Rena states: “After many years of traveling the world for work and keeping various apartments in the city, I am thrilled to be back in Nutley sharing my beautifully renovated home with my beloved cat, Rosie.” Nutley is glad to have her back, proud of her accomplishments, and happy that she has added a new career category to the Nutley Hall of Fame.