Biography

Renie (pronounced 'Renay') was a prolific American costume designer who was trained at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and at UCLA before serving her apprenticeship as a theatrical set designer. She then became a sketch artist for MGM and Paramount. In 1936, she joined RKO, where she worked on anything from the Mexican Spitfire (1939) and "The Falcon" series to big budget films like Kitty Foyle (1940), elegantly attiring stars like Ginger Rogers. After leaving RKO, Renie worked for 20th Century Fox from 1950 to 1954, then free-lanced. She was involved in the development of Disneyland as its original costume designer, for example, designing the gowns for Slue Foot Sue and the Can Can girls at the "Golden Horseshoe" in Frontierland.

Nominated for five Academy Awards, she finally won an Oscar for her work on the stunning costumes of Cleopatra (1963), in collaboration with star designer Irene Sharaff. One of the founders and past presidents of the Costume Designers Guild, she later taught in Los Angeles.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis

Mother of Truman Van Dyke.