Edith Head

Edith Claire Head (Template:Née; October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American film costume designer. She received a record 35 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and won a record eight times, making her both the most honored and most nominated woman in the Academy's history. She also holds the Guinness World Record for most-credited costume designer in film history, with a total of 432 credits.

Raised between California and Nevada, Head earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University before beginning a career as a French and Spanish languages teacher. After taking courses at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, she was hired in 1923 as a costume sketch artist at Famous Players–Lasky, which later became Paramount Pictures. She won acclaim for her design of Dorothy Lamour’s trademark sarong in the 1936 film The Jungle Princess, and became a household name after the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was created in 1948. Head was considered exceptional for her close working relationships with her subjects, with whom she consulted extensively; these included virtually every top female star in Hollywood.

Head worked at Paramount for 44 years, and was frequently loaned out by the studio for work on projects for other studios. While under contract at Paramount, she designed the costumes for several films by Alfred Hitchcock, including Notorious (1946), Vertigo (1958), The Birds (1963), and Marnie (1964). In 1968, after Paramount declined to renew her contract, Hitchcock invited her to join Universal Pictures. There she earned her eighth and final Academy Award for her work on The Sting in 1973.

Outside of film, Head was commissioned to design the official women's uniform for the United States Coast Guard in the 1970s, due to the increasing number of women in the Coast Guard, for which she received the Meritorious Public Service Award. Head died in Los Angeles of complications from myelofibrosis four days before her 84th birthday.

Early life

Head was born Edith Claire Posener on October 28, 1897 in San Bernardino, California,Template:Efn-lr the daughter of Jewish parents, Max Posener and Anna E. Levy.Template:Sfn Her father was a naturalized American citizen from Germany who came to the United States in 1876 at age eighteen, while her American mother was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1875, the daughter of an Austrian father and a Bavarian mother.Template:Sfn Shortly before Head's birth, her father opened a small haberdashery in San Bernardino.Template:Sfn The business failed within a year, after which he abandoned the family and relocated to El Paso, Texas.Template:Sfn

In 1901, Head's mother Anna married Frank Spare, a mining engineer from Pennsylvania.Template:Sfn Anna and Frank passed Edith off as their biological child, giving her his surname,Template:Sfn and raised her in his Roman Catholic faith.Template:Sfn Due to her stepfather's job, the family moved frequently during her childhood to various mining camps, with a significant portion spent in rural Searchlight, Nevada.Template:Sfn A shy and introverted only child, Head often spent time building makeshift dollhouses out of cardboard boxes, and creating figures out of greasewood that naturally grew in the desert.Template:Sfn She would also create costumes for animals, including her pet dog and cat, as well as wild horned lizards.Template:Sfn "I had no other children for playmates," she recalled. "Naturally, all of my intensive imagination in child's play had to be connected to activities I could pursue alone."Template:Sfn Head was teased by classmates due to her front teeth never growing in properly, and because of this, rarely smiled.Template:Sfn

She completed her elementary school education in Redding, California in 1911,Template:Sfn before the family lived for a period in Mexico, where Head learned to speak Spanish.Template:Sfn Head and her mother subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, where she graduated from Los Angeles High School.Template:Sfn

Head enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in 1915, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in letters and sciences with honors in French. She subsequently enrolled at Stanford University, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in romance languages in 1920.Template:Sfn She became a language teacher with her first position as a replacement at The Bishop's School in La Jolla teaching FrenchTemplate:Sfn and Spanish. After one year, she took a position teaching French at the Hollywood School for Girls, where her students included Cecilia and Katherine DeMille, daughters of studio executive Cecil B. DeMille. Wanting a slightly higher salary, she told the school that she could also teach art, even though she had only briefly studied the discipline in high school.Template:Sfn To improve her drawing skills, at this point rudimentary, she took evening classes at the Otis Art Institute and Chouinard Art College.Template:Sfn

On July 25, 1923, she married Charles Head, a salesman for the Southern California Super Fine Metals Company, and the brother of one of her Chouinard classmates, Betty Head. Due to Charles's drinking problem and her reduced teaching salary during the summer months, Head began seeking work as a sketch artist to help supplement their income.

Career

1923—1929: Famous Players–Lasky

In 1923, despite lacking significant art, design, and costume design experience, the 26-year-old Head was hired as a costume sketch artist at the Famous Players–Lasky studios, which was later absorbed by Paramount Pictures. Later she admitted to "borrowing" other students' sketches for her job interview with the studio: "I was studying seascape and all I could draw was oceans. I needed a portfolio, so I borrowed sketches—I didn't steal them, I asked everybody in the class for a few costume design sketches. And I had the most fantastic assortment you've ever seen in your life. When you get a class of forty to give you sketches, you get a nice selection."

At Paramount, Head studied under lead designers Howard Greer, and later, Travis Banton. Head recounted the experience favorable, saying: Template:Quote

Head began designing costumes for the studio's silent films, commencing with The Wanderer in 1925 and, by the 1930s, had established herself as one of Hollywood's leading costume designers.

1930–1967: Paramount Pictures

File:Color photograph of Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as Samson and Delilah.jpg

Head's costume designs for Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in Samson and Delilah (1949), for which she won an Oscar

Head remained employed by Paramount Pictures after the studio absorbed Famous Players–Lasky.Template:Sfn Although Head was featured in studio publicity from the mid-1920s, she was originally overshadowed by the studio's lead designers, first Howard Greer, then Travis Banton. Head was instrumental in conspiring against Banton, and after his resignation in 1938 she became a high-profile designer in her own right. Her association with the "sarong" dress designed for Dorothy Lamour in The Hurricane (1937) made her well known among the general public, although Head was a more restrained designer than either Banton or Adrian.

She gained public attention for the top mink-lined gown she created for Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark (1944), which caused much comment owing to the mood of wartime austerity.Template:Sfn The establishment, in 1949, of the Academy Award for Costume Design further boosted her career, giving her a record-breaking run of Award nominations and wins, beginning with her nomination for The Emperor Waltz. Head and other film designers like Adrian became well known to the public.

Head was known for her unique working style and, unlike many of her male contemporaries, usually consulted extensively with the female stars with whom she worked. As a result, she was a favorite among many of the leading female stars of the 1940s and 1950s, such as Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Jane Wyman, Rita Hayworth, Shirley MacLaine, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. In fact, Head was frequently "loaned out" by Paramount to other studios at the request of their female stars. She herself always dressed very plainly, preferring thick-framed glasses and conservative two-piece suits.Template:Sfn

In 1946, Head worked for the first time with director Alfred Hitchcock on his spy film Notorious. Head was loaned from Paramount to Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) pictures to work with Hitchcock on this film, at the request of actress Ingrid Bergman.Template:Sfn In this time period it was more often found that costume designers would design to reflect their own style. Head had a different outlook on this. She felt that it was more important to design pieces that reflected the character. During their time working on Notorious, Head and Hitchcock found that they were like-minded and had the same bluntness in their careers and attitudes. The costumes she designed for this film reflected restraint and the need to blend in. This style suited what Hitchcock was looking for since he did not want the clothes to be the focal point. The two would go on to work together many more times.

File:Edith Head ca 1955.jpg

Head in 1955

On February 3, 1955 (Season 5 Episode 21), Head appeared as a contestant on the Groucho Marx quiz show You Bet Your Life. She and her partner won a total of $1,540. Her winnings were donated to charity.

Head also authored two books describing her career and design philosophy, The Dress Doctor (1959) and How To Dress For Success (1967). These books were re-edited in 2008 and 2011, respectively.

1968–1981: Universal Pictures

In 1968, at the age of 70, Head left Paramount Pictures and was contracted with Universal Pictures,Template:Sfn where she remained until her death in 1981.Template:Sfn By this point, Hollywood was rapidly changing from what it had been during Head's heyday in the 1930s-1940s. Studio-based production was giving way to outdoors and on-scene shooting, and many of the actresses from that era whom she worked with and knew intimately had retired or were working less. She thus turned more of her attention to TV, where some old friends such as Olivia de Havilland had begun working. She made a cameo appearance in 1973 on the detective series Columbo beside Anne Baxter, playing herself and displaying her Oscars to date.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1974, Head received a final Oscar win for her work on The Sting (1973).

In the late 1970s, Head was asked to design a woman's uniform for the United States Coast Guard, because of the increasing number of women in the Coast Guard. Head called the assignment a highlight in her career and received the Meritorious Public Service Award for her efforts. Her designs for a TV mini-series based on the novel Little Women were well received. She also designed the costumes for Elizabeth Taylor in the Hallmark Hall of Fame segment "Return Engagement" (1978).Template:Sfn

Her last film project was the black-and-white comedy Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), starring Steve Martin and Carl Reiner, a job Head was chosen for because of her expertise on 1940s fashions. She modeled Martin and Reiner's outfits on classic film noir and the movie, released in theaters just after her death, was dedicated to her memory.

Design style

Unlike most other designers of her time, Head never undertook couture or wholesale fashion work, opting to "work only in the context of a certain actress in a certain film."Template:Sfn Olivia de Havilland, whose costumes were designed by Head for the films To Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949), said: "Every dress was perfect. Just putting them on, I became these women and I knew right where they were in the stories. Edith even came to New York with me before The Heiress and we studied the underwear at the Brooklyn Museum so it would be absolutely authentic."Template:Sfn

Head herself regarded her work as apart from the world of fashion design, and did not consider herself a fashion designer. Commenting in 1978 on her view of her profession, she said: Template:Quote

Personal life

On July 25, 1923, she married Charles Head. The marriage ended in divorce in 1938, though she continued to be known professionally as Edith Head for the remainder of her life. She remarried to art director Wiard Ihnen in 1940, a marriage that lasted until his death from prostate cancer in 1979.Template:Sfn

Though both of her parents were Jewish, Head was raised practicing Roman Catholicism, the faith of her stepfather, and remained a "staunch Catholic" through her later life.Template:Sfn She was a regular parishioner of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills.

Death

In 1972, Head was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, an incurable bone marrow cancer which causes excessive, uncontrolled scar tissue accumulation in the bone marrow.Template:Sfn To treat the disease, Head received regular blood transfusions to prevent severe anemia.Template:Sfn Head died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles of complications from myelofibrosis on October 24, 1981, four days before her 84th birthday.

A private funeral mass was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills, where actress Bette Davis gave a brief eulogy. Also in attendance were Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Ann Sothern, George Peppard, Loretta Young, Jane Wyman, and Lew Wasserman. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.Template:Sfn

Legacy

Head holds the distinction of being the most-credited costume designer in history, with a total of 432 film credits to her name.

Over the course of her career, she was nominated for a total of 35 Academy Awards, annually from 1949 (the first year that the Oscar for Best Costume Design was awarded) through 1966, and won eight times—receiving more Oscars than any other woman.

Head's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which she received in 1974, is located at 6504 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

As a costume designer, Head has a total of 432 credits to her name.

Selected design credits

Year	Film	Notable performer(s)	Notes	Ref.
1927	Wings		Uncredited	Template:Sfn
1929			Uncredited	Template:Sfn
1929	Wolf Song		Uncredited
1933	She Done Him Wrong			Template:Sfn
1934	Little Miss Marker			Template:Sfn
1936
1936	Rhythm on the Range			Template:Sfn
1937	Ebb Tide			Template:Sfn
1937				Template:Sfn
1938	Dangerous to Know			Template:Sfn
1938	Zaza			Template:Sfn
1939				Template:Sfn
1940	Road to Singapore
1940	Untamed
1941				Template:Sfn
1941	Ball of Fire
1941	Sullivan's Travels
1942	I Married a Witch			Template:Sfn
1942	Road to Zanzibar
1942	Road to Morocco
1942	Holiday Inn
1943	Flesh and Fantasy
1944	Double Indemnity
1944	Lady in the Dark			Template:Sfn
1944	Tender Comrade
1944				Template:Sfn
1945	I'll Be Seeing You
1945	Incendiary Blonde
1945				Template:Sfn
1945	Masquerade in Mexico			Template:Sfn
1945	Christmas in Connecticut			Template:Sfn
1946	My Reputation			Template:Sfn
1946
1946	Notorious			Template:Sfn
1946	Road to Utopia
1947	Road to Rio
1947
1947	Cry Wolf
1947
1947
1948	June Bride			Template:Sfn
1948	Beyond Glory
1949				Template:Sfn
1949	Samson and Delilah			Template:Sfn
				Template:Sfn
1950	All About Eve			Template:Sfn
1950
1950	Sunset Boulevard			Template:Sfn
1951				Template:Sfn
				Template:Sfn
				Template:Sfn
1951	Payment on Demand
1951	Here Comes the Groom
1952	Just for You
1952	Something to Live For
1952	Road to Bali
1952	Stolen Face			Template:Sfn
1953	Scared Stiff
1953	Houdini
1953
1953	Those Redheads from Seattle
1953	Roman Holiday			Template:Sfn
1954	Sabrina			Template:Sfn
1954	Elephant Walk			Template:Sfn
1954	White Christmas			Template:Sfn
				Template:Sfn
1954	Rear Window
1955	To Catch a Thief			Template:Sfn
				Template:Sfn
1955	Artists and Models			Template:Sfn
1955	Lucy Gallant			Template:Sfn
1956
1956				Template:Sfn
1957	Three Violent People
1957	Witness for the Prosecution			Template:Sfn
1957	Funny Face			Template:Sfn
1958				Template:Sfn
1958	Separate Tables
1958	Teacher's Pet
1958	Vertigo			Template:Sfn
				Template:Sfn
1959	Alias Jesse James			Template:Sfn
1959	That Kind of Woman
1960	Heller in Pink Tights
1961				Template:Sfn
1961	Breakfast at Tiffany's			Template:Sfn
1961	Blue Hawaii			Template:Sfn
1962				Template:Sfn
1962	Hatari!
1963	Donovan's Reef			Template:Sfn
1963	Critic's Choice			Template:Sfn
1963	I Could Go On Singing			Template:Sfn
1963	Love with the Proper Stranger			Template:Sfn
1963
1964	Sex and the Single Girl			Template:Sfn
1964	Marnie
1964	What a Way to Go!
1964	Man's Favorite Sport?			Template:Sfn
				Template:Sfn
1964				Template:Sfn
1965	Harlow			Template:Sfn
1965	Love Has Many Faces
1965	Ship of Fools
1965	John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
1965				Template:Sfn
1965	Inside Daisy Clover
1965
1966	Penelope
1966	This Property Is Condemned
1966	El Dorado
1966	Waco
1966	Torn Curtain			Template:Sfn
1967	Hotel			Template:Sfn
1967	Barefoot in the Park
1968	Berserk!			Template:Sfn
1968	Hellfighters			Template:Sfn
1969	Sweet Charity
1969	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969	Topaz			Template:Sfn
1970	Myra Breckinridge			Template:Sfn
1973	Ash Wednesday			Template:Sfn
1973				Template:Sfn
1974	Earthquake		Uncredited	Template:Sfn
1975				Template:Sfn
1975	Rooster Cogburn			Template:Sfn
1975				Template:Sfn
1976	Gable and Lombard			Template:Sfn
1976	Family Plot			Template:Sfn
1976	W. C. Fields and Me
1978	Sextette			Template:Sfn
1980
				Template:Sfn
1982	Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid		Final feature film credit

Screen appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1955	Lucy Gallant	Herself		Template:Sfn
1961		Dress designer	Uncredited
1966		Herself		Template:Sfn
1973	Columbo	Herself	Episode: "Requiem for a Falling Star"	Template:Sfn

Accolades

Head received eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, more than any other person, from a total of 35 nominations.

Institution	Year	Category	Nominated work	Outcome	Ref.
Academy Awards	1949	Best Costume Design – Color		Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1950	Best Costume Design – Black & White		Won	Template:Sfn
	1951		All About Eve	Won	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color	Samson and Delilah	WonTemplate:Efn-lr	Template:Sfn
	1952	Best Costume Design – Black & White		Won	Template:Sfn
	1953		Carrie	Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color		Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1954	Best Costume Design – Black & White	Roman Holiday	Won	Template:Sfn
	1955		Sabrina	Won	Template:Sfn
	1956			Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color	To Catch a Thief	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1957	Best Costume Design – Black & White		Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color		Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1958	Best Costume Design	Funny Face	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1959			Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1960	Best Costume Design – Black & White	Career	Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color		Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1961	Best Costume Design – Black & White		Won	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color	Pepe	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1962		Pocketful of Miracles	NominatedTemplate:Efn-lr	Template:Sfn
	1963	Costume Design – Black & White		Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color	My Geisha	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1964	Best Costume Design – Black & White	Love with the Proper Stranger	Nominated	Template:Sfn
			Wives and Lovers	Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color		Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1965	Best Costume Design – Black & White		Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color	What a Way to Go!	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1966	Best Costume Design – Black & White		Nominated	Template:Sfn
		Best Costume Design – Color	Inside Daisy Clover	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1967			Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1970	Best Costume Design	Sweet Charity	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1971		Airport	Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1974			Won	Template:Sfn
	1976			Nominated	Template:Sfn
	1978		Airport '77	Nominated	Template:Sfn
British Academy Film Awards	1976	Best Costume Design		Nominated
Costume Designers Guild Awards	1999	Hall of Fame Award		Won

External links

• Template:First word/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Template:FMD designer
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at Find a GraveTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Edith Head papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences