With Hollywood’s big night coming up this Sunday, a question: Who has the most Academy Award nominations and Statues of any woman in history? It’s Edith Head, once Costume Designer to the stars. WNYC’s Sara Fishko has more, in this edition of Fishko Files...
Here's a sampling of Edith Head's famous designs.
Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday," 1953.
Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief," 1955.
Left: "Samson and Delilah," 1949.
Right: "The Lady Eve, " 1941.
Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis on Edith Head's design for Bette Davis in All About Eve, and how it came off the mannequin and onto the screen very quickly.
More from the speakers featured in this week's Fishko Files...
Fashion and costume designer Bob Mackie has designed for icons such as Diana Ross, Cher and Liza Minnelli. The "sultan of sequins," as Mackie's sometimes called, has received nine Emmy Awards and three Academy Award nominations.
Costume Designer and costume design historian Deborah Nadoolman Landis created Michael Jackson's red Thriller jacket (1983) and Harrison Ford's iconic fedora and jacket for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), among other famous costumes. She is the David C. Copley Chair, and Director of the Copley Center for Costume Design at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. Her most recent book is Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design.
Special thanks...
- Selected audio in this feature came courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
- To hear the complete Edith Head interview (1975) conducted by freelance film critic and historian Tony Macklin, visit his website.
WNYC Production Credits...
Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister & Rob Weisberg
Assistant Producer: Laura Mayer
Managing Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann