Edith Head - Actresses designed for, Oscar nominations, Trivia

Costume designer, born in Los Angeles, California, USA. Educated at the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University, she taught languages and art before joining Paramount studios during the 1930s. She was head designer there until 1967, when she moved to Universal. As Hollywood's best-known designer, she worked on many films, including She Done Him Wrong (1933), All About Eve (1948), A Place in the Sun (1951), The Ten Commandments (1956), The Sting (1973), and The Big Fix (1978). She received eight Academy Awards for her costumes.

Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who had a long career in Hollywood that garnered her more Academy Awards than any other woman in history. With no experience, Head answered an advertisement to work for Paramount Studios in the costume department. Despite her own accomplishments, she also had a reputation for taking credit for others' work--but in the studio days a department head not uncommonly claimed credit for everything in her department.

Actresses designed for

Among the actresses Edith Head designed for were:

Mae West in She Done Him Wrong, 1933, and Myra Breckinridge, 1970 Frances Farmer in Rhythm on the Range, 1936 and Ebb Tide, 1937 Paulette Goddard in The Cat and the Canary, 1939 Veronica Lake in Sullivan's Travels, 1941 and I Married a Witch, 1942 Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve and Ball of Fire both 1941 and Double Indemnity, 1944 Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark, 1944 Ingrid Bergman in Notorious, 1946 Dorothy Lamour in The Hurricane, 1937, and in most of "The Road" movies. Betty Hutton in Incendiary Blonde, 1945 and The Perils of Pauline, 1947 Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter, 1947 Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress, 1949 Hedy Lamarr and Angela Lansbury in Samson and Delilah, 1949 Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in All About Eve, 1950 Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, 1950 Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun, 1951 Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, 1953 Ann Robinson in The War of the Worlds, 1953 Grace Kelly in Rear Window, 1954, and To Catch a Thief, 1955 Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956 Anne Baxter in The Ten Commandments, 1956 Marlene Dietrich in Witness for the Prosecution, 1957 Rita Hayworth in Separate Tables, 1958 Kim Novak in Vertigo, 1958 Tippi Hedren in The Birds, 1963 and Marnie, 1964

Oscar nominations

1949 – Color – The Emperor Waltz 1950 – Black and White – The Heiress – won 1951 – Color – Samson and Delilah – won 1951 – Black and White – All About Eve – won 1952 – Black and White – A Place in the Sun – won 1953 – Color – The Greatest Show on Earth 1953 – Black and White – Carrie 1954 – Black and White – Roman Holiday – won 1955 – Black and White – Sabrina – won Although Edith Head won an Oscar for Best Costumes, most of Hepburn's outfits were in fact created by Hubert de Givenchy and chosen by the star herself. Edith Head refused to be shown alongside Givenchy in the credits, so she was given credit for the costumes, even though the Academy's votes were obviously for Hepburn's attire. 1956 – Color – To Catch a Thief 1956 – Black and White – The Rose Tattoo 1957 – Color – The Ten Commandments 1957 – Black and White – The Proud and Profane 1958 – Best Costume Design – Funny Face 1959 – Best Costume Design, Black and White or Color – The Buccaneer 1960 – Color – The Five Pennies 1960 – Black and White – Career 1961 – Color – Pepe 1961 – Black and White – The Facts of Life – won 1962 – Color – Pocketful of Miracles 1963 – Color – My Geisha 1963 – Black and White – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1964 – Color – A New Kind of Love 1964 – Black and White – Wives and Lovers 1964 – Black and White – Love with the Proper Stranger 1965 – Color – What a Way to Go! 1965 – Black and White – A House Is Not A Home 1966 – Color – Inside Daisy Clover 1966 – Black and White – The Slender Thread 1967 – Color – The Oscar Oscars no longer awarded separately for Color or Black and White 1970 – Sweet Charity 1971 – Airport 1974 – The Sting – won 1976 – The Man Who Would Be King 1978 – Airport '77

Trivia

Head was a very private woman, a trait well illustrated by the dark sunglasses that became her trademark. Upon Head's death, Baxter's daughter Melissa Galt was bequeathed Head's extraordinary collection of jewelry. As part of a series of stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service in February 2003 commemorating the behind-the-camera personnel who make movies, Head appeared on an American postage stamp honoring costume design. To many viewers of the 2004 Pixar/Disney computer-animated film The Incredibles, the personality and mannerisms of the film's fictional superhero costume designer Edna Mode suggest a colorful caricature of Edith Head. Edna Mode's sense of style, round glasses, and assertive no-nonsense character are very likely a direct homage to Head's legendary accomplishments and personal traits, but the film's director, Brad Bird, has not yet confirmed or denied this (see ). While the designer did not confirm or deny her sexuality in the interview, gossip about Head from other sources such as actress Elsa Lanchester, reportedly herself a lesbian, has led some to claim that Head was also homosexual. In the 1970s, the US Coast Guard hired Edith Head to design a woman's uniform.