Edith Head

Edith Head

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Edith Head
Film: South side of the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard
Costume Designer
Born Edith Posener on Oct. 28, 1897
Died Oct. 24, 1981 of bone marrow disease in Good Samaritan Hospital, Calif.

Edith Head was an eight-time Academy Award-winning costume designer who dressed the luminaries of Hollywood, influencing fashion and design trends across the world for nearly 60 years in over 1,000 films.

Head, known as "the queen of her profession," clothed motion picture sex gods and goddesses from Mae West to Robert Redford. Called "indomitable" and "a force," Head was credited with winning more Oscars for an individual achievement than any other person at the time of her passing. These honors included best costume design for "The Heiress" (1949), ""Samson and Delilah" (1950), "All About Eve" (1950), "A Place in the Sun" (1951), "Roman Holiday" (1953), "Sabrina" (1954), "The Facts of Life" (1960) and "The Sting" (1973). She was nominated more than 30 times.

Head, who became the favorite costume designer for Hollywood's leading fashion trendsetters, including Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, first began work as a teacher after earning a master's degree from Stanford University. She became disenchanted with her career while teaching romance languages at La Jolla's Bishop's School, deciding teachers were underpaid.

"I saw an ad in The Times for a sketch artist [at $50 a week] ... borrowed some sketches, lied to survive and went to work for C.B. DeMille," she said. Her first creation was outfitting an elephant in gold cloth for a 1923 silent film. She worked for Paramount from 1940 into the 1960s, then moved to Universal. She also designed for television.

Head, a memorable Hollywood figure with her trademark bangs and ever-present, large, oval, black-rimmed glasses, became a legend in her own time. Her distinct looks, persona and reputation have inspired numerous fictional characters in television and film.

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    Academy Awards

    Year Category Work
    1948 Best Costume Design - Color The Emperor Waltz Nomination*
    1949 Best Costume Design - Black and White The Heiress Win*
    1950 Best Costume Design - Black and White All About Eve Win*
    1950 Best Costume Design - Color Samson and Delilah Win*
    1951 Best Costume Design - Black and White A Place in the Sun Win
    1952 Best Costume Design - Black and White Carrie Nomination
    1952 Best Costume Design - Color The Greatest Show on Earth Nomination*
    1953 Best Costume Design - Black and White Roman Holiday Win
    1954 Best Costume Design - Black and White Sabrina Win
    1955 Best Costume Design - Black and White The Rose Tattoo Nomination
    1955 Best Costume Design - Color To Catch a Thief Nomination
    1956 Best Costume Design - Black and White The Proud and the Profane Nomination
    1956 Best Costume Design - Color The Ten Commandments Nomination*
    1957 Best Costume Design Funny Face Nomination*
    1958 Best Costume Design The Buccaneer Nomination*
    1959 Best Costume Design - Black and White Career Nomination
    1959 Best Costume Design - Color The Five Pennies Nomination
    1960 Best Costume Design - Color Pepe Nomination
    1960 Best Costume Design - Black and White The Facts of Life Win*
    1961 Best Costume Design - Color Pocketful of Miracles Nomination*
    1962 Best Costume Design - Color My Geisha Nomination
    1962 Best Costume Design - Black and White The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Nomination
    1963 Best Costume Design - Color A New Kind of Love Nomination
    1963 Best Costume Design - Black and White Love With the Proper Stranger Nomination
    1963 Best Costume Design - Black and White Wives and Lovers Nomination
    1964 Best Costume Design - Black and White A House Is Not a Home Nomination
    1964 Best Costume Design - Color What a Way to Go Nomination*
    1965 Best Costume Design - Black and White The Slender Thread Nomination
    1965 Best Costume Design - Color Inside Daisy Clover Nomination*
    1966 Best Costume Design - Color The Oscar Nomination
    1969 Best Costume Design Sweet Charity Nomination
    1970 Best Costume Design Airport Nomination
    1973 Best Costume Design The Sting Win
    1975 Best Costume Design The Man Who Would Be King Nomination
    1977 Best Costume Design Airport '77 Nomination*
    * A joint nomination shared with other people.

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