Bill Thomas (costume designer)

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Bill Thomas (born October 30, 1921 in Chicago , Illinois as William Thomas Peterson , † May 30, 2000 in Beverly Hills , California ) was an American costume designer . Thomas was nominated ten times for the Academy Award during his career , and he won it once. Thomas designed the costumes for more than 300 films.

life and work

Billboard for the musical Mary Poppins in New York. The drawing roughly corresponds to Thomas' draft for the film.

Bill Thomas studied at the University of Southern California and the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles . During World War II he was a soldier in the United States Army Air Corps . During the war, among other things, he designed clothes for the United Service Organizations . From 1947 he worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for two years , later for Universal Studios and Walt Disney Productions . When he was hired for the film Spartacus in 1960 , he was given the task of designing the costumes exclusively for Jean Simmons . This work received an Oscar in 1961. Thomas not only had to provide costumes for human actors several times, he also designed clothes for monkeys in three films (Mein Mann Gottfried, Moon Pilot and Monkeys Go Home!).

One of the most famous ensembles designed by Thomas is the combination of a blue dress, black coat, striped scarf, hat with a flower and an umbrella with a parrot head, worn by Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins .

Although Thomas did not have his own fashion label, he sometimes designed dresses for actresses and singers. His clients included Kim Novak and Helen Reddy .

Filmography (selection)

Awards and nominations

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thomas, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peterson, William Thomas (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American costume designer
DATE OF BIRTH October 30, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 2000
Place of death Beverly Hills , California