Edith Head--World's Greatest Costume Designer and a Great Lady

The Edith Head page

Born: Edith Claire Posener, in Sand Bernardino, CA.

Jewish, though claimed to be Catholic.

First worked for Paramount Pictures

Died October 24, 1981 in Los Angeles, CA

Head received more Academy Awards than any other woman in history. She was nominated for 35 of them. You’ve probably not noticed her name in the credits, but one thing is for sure—you’ve seen her designs. There’s probably more than one movie of hers that you love, and if you were ever wowed by the clothes, well, that’s Edith Head’s work.

Head consulted her stars more than any other designer; especially the women. Ginger Rogers, Shirley Maclaine, Anne Baxter, and Bette Davis were only a handful of her clients and actresses. She was lampooned for her aversion to unions and worked for not only Paramount, but Universal as well.

She also designed the uniform for the United State Coast Guard in the 1970s. Her last film was “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.”

Some of her best-known movies (and this might surprise you) are as follows:


Sex and the Married Woman (1977)

Airport (1977)

The Man Who Would be King (1975

Ash Wednesday (1973)

The Sting (1973)

Pete ‘n’ Tillie (1972)

Topaz (1969)

This Property is Condemned (1966)

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

36 Hours (1965)

Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)

The Judy Garland Show (1963)

Come Blow Your Horn (1963)

Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

Summer and Smoke (1961)

Sabrina (1954)

Knock on Wood (1954)

The Naked Jungle (1954)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)

A Place in the Sun (1951)

Sunset Blvd (1950)

Beyond the Forest (1949)

Red, Hot, and Blue (1949)

And about a hundred other film, too numerous to mention.

We love her and there’s never been anyone like her. A great designer who has yet to be surpassed in motion picture history.

Quotes:

I've designed films I've never seen.

If it is a Paramount film, I probably designed it.

What a costume designer does is a cross between magic and camouflage. We create the illusion of changing the actors into what they are not. We ask the public to believe that every time they see a performer on the screen he's become a different person.

I have yet to see one competely unspoiled star, except for Lassie.

You can lead a horse to water and you can even make it drink, but you can't make actresses wear what they don't want to wear.

[1977 comment on Jacqueline Bisset] One of the greatest bodies I've ever worked with. But besides that she is rather the opposite, because she is so damned intelligent. It's a strange combination, almost a double personality.

[on Grace Kelly] I've dressed thousands of actors, actresses and animals, but whenever I am asked which star is my personal favorite, I answer, "Grace Kelly." She is a charming lady, a most gifted actress and, to me, a valued friend.

[on Kim Novak] I don't usually get into battles, but dressing Kim Novak for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" put to the test all my training in psychology.


We salute you, Edith Head!