Biography
Welton Davis Becket was born in Seattle, Washington, on August 8, 1902; BA, Architecture, University of Washington, (1927), with one year of graduate study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Fontainebleau, France, (1928); partnered with Walter Wurdeman and Charles Plummer under the name Becket, Wurdeman, and Plummer in 1933; following Plummer's death in 1939 and Wurdeman's death in 1949, Becket continued the firm as Welton Becket and Associates, serving as President (1949-68) and Chairman of the Board (1968) until his death in 1969; served as Master Planner and Supervising Architect, UCLA, 1949-69; Becket's philosophy of total design, embracing all requirements demanded of architectural design, became integral to the firm; the firm's designs are not identified with a particular style, but are individual to each client; the firm was one of the largest firms in Los Angeles with building credits throughout the world, including: Pan Pacific Auditorium (with Wurdeman, 1934), Beverly Hilton Hotel (1955), Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Music Center (1964), Gulf Life Tower, Florida (1967), Xerox Square, New York (1968), several Bullock's Department Stores in California (1951-77), and various UCLA campus structures (1958-70); after Becket's death, the firm continued under the same name, directed by his nephew, MacDonald Becket; around 1985, the firm was acquired by Ellerbe Incorporated to become Ellerbe Becket.
From the guide to the Elliot Mittler collection of Welton Becket and Associates Photograph Archives, 1940-1979, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)
