Memorial set for artist, theater veteran Backes

A memorial service for Oklahoma City theater, fashion and fine artist as well as actor Nick Backes, who died Feb. 11 of a rare stomach disease at age 63, will be held at 5 p.m. March 24 at Freede Little Theatre in Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker.

Born Jan. 2, 1950, in Oklahoma City, the son of the late George and Billie Mae Backes, he attended Lee Elementary School, and Capitol Hill Junior and Senior High Schools.

He worked at OETA while attending Central State University, now the University of Central Oklahoma, on a full art and theater scholarship.

A few years later, Backes and a group of his friends, which included actor Ed Harris, Mary Hart and Ron Martin, got a U-Haul truck and drove to California.

After dropping Harris and Hart in Los Angeles, Backes and Martin settled in San Francisco, where Backes got an agent, and his first commission with Levi Strauss, about a week after arriving.

Backes attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco and became a well known commercial illustrator, receiving commissions for three fashion seasons for the House of Valentino in Rome, and creating the image of Molly for “American Girl.”

After about 15 years in San Francisco, following the 1989 earthquake, Backes and Martin decided to move back to Oklahoma City to resume their work with local theater groups.

They were together some 35 years before the death about 10 years ago of Martin, who had been business manager for Stage Center.

Backes did art work for Carpenter Square Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, City Arts Center and Reduxion Theatre, where he worked on its production of “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” before entering the hospital.

Backes was also a notable actor, who had appeared in Carpenter Square’s productions of “The Fox on the Fairway” and “The Scarlet Letter.”

Backes is survived by two sisters, Frances Calaway and Virginia Marchand; two neices, Sherri Shadrick and Lisa Calaway; and four nephews, M. Steven Calaway, Chris Marchand, Brandon Marchand and Jeff Kinghorn, all of Oklahoma City.

Backes was preceded in death by his brother, John Kinghorn.

The family is asking for people to send images of work by Backes to edward backes@gmail.com to be included in an archive.