Edith Head
From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki
- born: 28/Oct/1897 (San Bernardino, California, USA)
- died: 24/Oct/1981 (Los Angeles, California, USA) - bone marrow disease
Biography
Edith Head was an American costume designer who had a long career in Hollywood that garnered her more Academy Awards than any other woman in history.
Early life and career
She was born Edith Claire Posener in Searchlight, Nevada, the daughter of Max Posener and Anna E. Levy. Whether her parents were married is unknown, but in 1901, her mother married Frank Spare and Edith was passed off as his child. Though her birth parents were Jewish, Head would claim to be a Catholic later in life.
She graduated from university in 1919 and became a school teacher in Los Angeles, California. On July 25, 1923, she married Charles Head, whom she would divorce in 1936. With no experience, Head answered an advertisement to work for Paramount Studios in the costume department. She borrowed another's sketches and passed them off as her own. She began designing costumes for silent films and by the thirties had established herself as one of the leading designers. She worked at Paramount for forty-four years until she went to Universal Pictures on March 27, 1967.
She married set designer Wiard Ihnen, nicknamed Bill, on September 8, 1940. Their marriage would last until his death in 1978.
Distinguished career
During her long career she was nominated for thirty-four Academy Awards and won eight times, more Oscars than any other woman has won. She was responsible for some of the best known Hollywood fashion images of her day, with her costumes being worn by the most glamorous and famous actresses of the day in films seen by millions. Head's influence on world fashion was far reaching, especially in the 1950s when she began appearing on Art Linkletter's television program and writing books on fashion.
Ms. Head was known for her no-nonsense, assertive working style. Despite her own accomplishments, she also had a reputation for taking credit for others' work--but in the studio days a department head not uncommonly claimed credit for everything in her department. Privately, she was a warm and loving hostess, presiding over fabulous soirees at her Benedict Canyon hacienda, with her husband.
She died in 1981 from a rare bone marrow disease at the age of 83 (four days before her 84th birthday) and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6504 Hollywood Blvd.
Oscars
Edith Head won Oscars for the following films:
- The Heiress (1949)
- Samson and Delilah (1949)
- All About Eve (1950)
- A Place in the Sun (1951)
- Roman Holiday (1953)
- Sabrina (1954)
- The Facts of Life (1960)
- The Sting (1973)
Filmography
With Hitchcock...
- Notorious (1946)
- Rear Window (1954)
- The Trouble with Harry (1955)
- To Catch a Thief (1955)
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
- Vertigo (1958)
- The Birds (1963)
- Marnie (1964)
- Torn Curtain (1966)
- Topaz (1969)
- Family Plot (1976)
Other works of note...
- Love Me Tonight (1932)
- The Lady Eve (1941)
- Sullivan's Travels (1941)
- Double Indemnity (1944)
- The Lost Weekend (1945)
- The Heiress (1949)
- Sunset Blvd. (1950)
- All About Eve (1950)
- Ace in the Hole (1951)
- Roman Holiday (1953)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
- Hud (1963)
- The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Documentaries
She has appeared in the following Hitchcockian documentaries...
- Edith Head - The Paramount Years (2002) - archive footage
Links
Articles
Image Gallery
Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all relevant images)...