William A. Drake was born in Toronto, Canada in 1891. He studied at the Ontario College of Art. Professionally, he was a well-respected designer, painter of Broadway show and television production sets and backdrops (including art director for NBC-TV), printmaker, and draftsman. He was a scenic artist, as well as a supervisor in New York theaters for over 60 years until his retirement in 1975. He also was an instructor of scenic painting at Yale University. His works have been exhibited through the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Salons of America, Montclair Art Museum, and Venice Biennale (1940), among others. William A. Drake died in 1979 at his Bergenfield, NJ home at the age of 87.