Edith Head

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Edith Head (born October 28, 1897 in San Bernardino , California as Edith Claire Posener , † October 24, 1981 in Los Angeles ) was an American costume designer for films. She supplied nearly 450 American films with her costume designs and received 35 Oscar nominations for them and won eight Academy Awards. This made her the most awarded costume designer and woman in the history of the Academy Awards.

Life

Edith Head was born to Max Posener and Anna E. Levy in San Bernardino, California. She received her Masters in French from Stanford University in 1920 and also graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley . She continued her studies at the Otis Institute and the Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles. During the 1920s she taught French and art at the Hollywood School for Girls. In 1923 she married Charles Head, from whom she divorced in 1936. Also in 1923 she tried briefly as an actress, but noticed that she liked the tailoring of film costumes more. She first worked for Paramount Pictures under the direction of designer Howard Greer . From 1927 she was assistant to Travis Banton , who made a name for himself in the 1930s with his costumes for Marlene Dietrich . Head rose to head designer in 1938 within the Paramount costume department, which was later named after her. In 1940 she married the production designer Wiard you .

For decades, Edith Head's name has been synonymous with Hollywood costumes. She influenced America's fashion through her designs for some of the leading female stars. The sarong she designed for Dorothy Lamour in The Jungle Princess (1936) caused a sensation and was copied many times. Likewise the strapless evening dress with tulle and satin for Elizabeth Taylor in Ein Platz an der Sonne (1951). She designed a silk dress for Grace Kelly , which she wore at the 1954 Academy Awards when she received the Oscar for A Country Girl . After a total of 44 years at Paramount, Head moved to Universal in 1967 , where she remained employed until her death.

The film parody Dead in No Checks (1981) was the last film that Head was involved in. In doing so, she copied costumes by other designers from the studio era, so that the cut scenes from classic film noirs of the 1940s matched the newly shot material. Edith Head died shortly after completing her work on this film of myelofibrosis , a rare disease of the bone marrow . Her grave is in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale , California.

Head played himself in the 1973 episode Gossip Can Be Deadly (2x05) in the TV series Columbo . A photo of Edith Head at work was listed as one of a block of ten "US 37c" commemorative stamps on May 25 Issued February 2003. The brands belong to the series "American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes". The figure of Edna Mode in the Disney / Pixar production The Incredibles (2004) was modeled on Edith Head.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Oscar

Edith Head received a total of 35 nominations in the Best Costume Design category . She could win eight Oscars for:

Laurel Award
  • 1964: Golden Laurel (Special Prize)
Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Star on the Walk of Fame for her films (6500 Hollywood Blvd).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Head, Edith
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Posener, Edith Claire
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American costume designer for a film
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH San Bernardino , California , USA
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1981
Place of death Los Angeles , California , USA