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Edith Head(1897-1981)

  • Costume Designer
  • Costume and Wardrobe Department
  • Actress
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Edith Head
A toe-tapping portrait of the Oscar winning costume designer filmed in her opulent house and garden. Edith Head presents some of her famous designs using glamorous models to impersonate Mae West, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly. They move to the music of the films for which she was the designer as Head recalls the times and places that served as inspiration for the famed looks.
Play trailer1:09
Edith Head (1981)
1 Video
24 Photos
Edith was the chief costume designer for Universal Studios, having started her career as a sketch artist at Paramount. Sweet Charity was her 1,130th film. In the course of her career, she had 36 Oscar nominations of which she won eight. She wrote two books: The Dress Doctor and How to Dress For Success. In 1959, she was chosen as Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles Times.
BornOctober 28, 1897
DiedOctober 24, 1981(83)
BornOctober 28, 1897
DiedOctober 24, 1981(83)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Won 8 Oscars
    • 12 wins & 28 nominations total

Photos24

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Known for

Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden in Sabrina (1954)
Sabrina
7.6
  • Costume Designer
  • 1954
Poster for 50th anniversary rerelease, 1 sheet movie poster app. 27" x 40"
All About Eve
8.2
  • Costume and Wardrobe Department
  • 1950
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday (1953)
Roman Holiday
8.0
  • Costume Designer
  • 1953
Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun (1951)
A Place in the Sun
7.7
  • Costume Designer
  • 1951

Credits

IMDbPro

Costume Designer



  • The Birds: Tippi Hedren's Screen Test (2000)
    The Birds: Tippi Hedren's Screen Test
    6.1
    Video
    • Costume Designer
    • 2000
  • Steve Martin in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
    Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
    6.8
    • Costume Designer
    • 1982
  • Kathryn Harrold in Women in White (1979)
    Women in White
    7.0
    TV Movie
    • Costume Designer
    • 1979
  • Elizabeth Taylor in Return Engagement (1978)
    Return Engagement
    6.7
    TV Movie
    • Costume Designer
    • 1978
  • Richard Dreyfuss in The Big Fix (1978)
    The Big Fix
    6.4
    • Costume Designer
    • 1978
  • Little Women (1978)
    Little Women
    6.8
    TV Mini Series
    • Costume Designer
    • 1978
  • Olly, Olly, Oxen Free (1978)
    Olly, Olly, Oxen Free
    5.3
    • Costume Designer
    • 1978
  • Sunshine Christmas (1977)
    Sunshine Christmas
    7.2
    TV Movie
    • Costume Designer
    • 1977
  • Sex and the Married Woman (1977)
    Sex and the Married Woman
    5.7
    TV Movie
    • Costume Designer
    • 1977
  • Airport '77 (1977)
    Airport '77
    5.8
    • costumes by
    • 1977
  • Bette Davis and Faye Dunaway in The Disappearance of Aimee (1976)
    The Disappearance of Aimee
    7.1
    TV Movie
    • Costume Designer
    • 1976
  • Susan Clark in Amelia Earhart (1976)
    Amelia Earhart
    6.5
    TV Movie
    • Costume Designer
    • 1976
  • The Blue Bird (1976)
    The Blue Bird
    5.4
    • Costume Designer
    • 1976
  • Rod Steiger and Valerie Perrine in W.C. Fields and Me (1976)
    W.C. Fields and Me
    6.1
    • Costume Designer
    • 1976
  • Alfred Hitchcock, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)
    Family Plot
    6.8
    • Costume Designer
    • 1976

Costume and Wardrobe Department



  • Lucy Meets the Burtons: A Comedic Gem
    Video
    • wardrobe (uncredited)
    • 2010
  • The Last Married Couple in America (1980)
    The Last Married Couple in America
    5.4
    • costume designer: Natalie Wood & Valerie Harper
    • 1980
  • Sextette (1977)
    Sextette
    3.9
    • gown designer: Mae West
    • 1977
  • Rooster Cogburn (1975)
    Rooster Cogburn
    6.8
    • wardrobe: Miss Hepburn
    • 1975
  • Charlton Heston, Victoria Principal, Geneviève Bujold, Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, George Kennedy, Marjoe Gortner, Lloyd Nolan, Richard Roundtree, and Barry Sullivan in Earthquake (1974)
    Earthquake
    6.0
    • costume designer: Ava Gardner (uncredited)
    • 1974
  • Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday (1973)
    Ash Wednesday
    5.1
    • costumer: Elizabeth Taylor
    • 1973
  • A Doll's House (1973)
    A Doll's House
    6.0
    • costumer: Jane Fonda
    • 1973
  • Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Divorce His - Divorce Hers (1973)
    Divorce His - Divorce Hers
    5.1
    TV Movie
    • costumer: Elizabeth Taylor
    • 1973
  • Hammersmith Is Out (1972)
    Hammersmith Is Out
    5.3
    • costumer: Elizabeth Taylor
    • 1972
  • Madame Sin (1972)
    Madame Sin
    5.7
    TV Movie
    • wardrobe (uncredited)
    • 1972
  • Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz Jr., Lucie Arnaz, and Gale Gordon in Here's Lucy (1968)
    Here's Lucy
    6.9
    TV Series
    • wardrobe (uncredited)
    • 1970
  • Myra Breckinridge (1970)
    Myra Breckinridge
    4.5
    • costumer: Mae West
    • 1970
  • Skullduggery (1970)
    Skullduggery
    4.8
    • costume designer: Susan Clark
    • 1970
  • The 40th Annual Academy Awards (1968)
    The 40th Annual Academy Awards
    6.4
    TV Special
    • costume supervisor
    • 1968
  • Joan Crawford, Michael Gough, and Diana Dors in Berserk (1967)
    Berserk
    5.4
    • costume designer: Joan Crawford's leotard (uncredited)
    • 1967

Actress



  • Peter Falk in Columbo (1971)
    Columbo
    8.3
    TV Series
    • Edith Head
    • 1973
  • Ernest Borgnine, Stephen Boyd, Joseph Cotten, Jill St. John, Tony Bennett, Edie Adams, Eleanor Parker, and Elke Sommer in The Oscar (1966)
    The Oscar
    5.3
    • Edith Head
    • 1966
  • Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds, Tab Hunter, and Lilli Palmer in The Pleasure of His Company (1961)
    The Pleasure of His Company
    6.6
    • Dress Designer (uncredited)
    • 1961
  • Lucy Gallant (1955)
    Lucy Gallant
    6.4
    • Edith Head
    • 1955
  • Hollywood Extra Girl (1935)
    Hollywood Extra Girl
    6.2
    Short
    • Edith Head (uncredited)
    • 1935

  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos1

Edith Head trailer
Trailer 1:09
Edith Head trailer

Personal details

  • Height
    • 5′ 1½″ (1.56 m)
  • Born
    • October 28, 1897
    • San Bernardino, California, USA
  • Died
    • October 24, 1981
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(bone marrow disease)
  • Spouses
      Wiard IhnenSeptember 8, 1940 - June 22, 1979 (his death)
  • Other works
    Stage Play: The Pleasure of His Company. Comedy. Written by Samuel A. Taylor. Written in collaboration with Cornelia Otis Skinner [final Broadway credit]. Production Design by Donald Oenslager. Costume Design by Edith Head. Directed by Cyril Ritchard. Longacre Theatre (moved to The Music Box Theatre from 15 Jun 1959- close): 22 Oct 1958- 21 Nov 1959 (474 performances). Cast: Cyril Ritchard (as "Biddeford Poole"), Charles Ruggles (as "Mackenzie Savage"), Cornelia Otis Skinner (as "Katharine Dougherty"), Walter Abel (as "Jim Dougherty"), Dolores Hart (as "Jessica Poole") [Nominated for Tony Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Musical], George Peppard (as "Roger Henderson") [final Broadway role], Jerry Fujikawa (as "Toy"). Understudies: Jeff Killion (as "Roger Henderson/Toy"), Melville Ruick (as "Jim Dougherty/Mackenzie Savage"), Sandy Smith (as "Jessica Poole"), Ann Summers (as "Katharine Dougherty") and Patrick Waddington (as "Biddeford Poole"). Replacement actors [during Longacre Theatre run]: Charles Robinson (as "Roger Henderson"). [During Music Box Theatre run]: None. Produced by Frederick Brisson and The Playwrights' Company (Maxwell Anderson, S.N. Behrman, Elmer Rice, Robert E. Sherwood, Sidney Howard). Notes: (1) Filmed by Perlsea Productions [distributed by Paramount Pictures] as The Pleasure of His Company (1961). (2) Music Box Theatre Owned and operated by Irving Berlin who had no direct involvement in production.
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Print Biographies
    • 4 Portrayals
    • 1 Interview
    • 11 Articles

Did you know

  • Trivia
    Her 35 Oscar nominations and eight awards make her both the most honored costume designer and woman in Academy Award history to date.
  • Quotes
    I've designed films I've never seen.
  • Nickname
    • The Doctor

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