Edith Head movies, photos, movie reviews, filmography, and biography

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Active

1927 - 1981

Born

October 28, 1897 in San Bernardino, CA

Died

October 24, 1981 in Los Angeles, CA

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by Hal Erickson biography

Along with composer Max Steiner and cinematographer James Wong Howe, American costume designer Edith Head was one of the few behind-the-scenes movie technicians that the general public knew by name. Holding a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and an MA from Stanford, Ms. Head spent her early professional years as a language and art teacher. Reportedly, she also tried her luck as a movie starlet in 1923. While attracted to films, Ms. Head was more at home designing for them than appearing in them. She joined the costume department of Paramount in 1932, graduating to head designer in the late '30s. Her name was attached to virtually every prestige production turned out by the studio over the next thirty years, including the autonomously-produced films of Cecil B. DeMille; Ms. Head gained DeMille's lifelong respect by being one of the few Hollywoodites who refused to kowtow to him. Many of Ms. Head's movie designs gained popularity in the public sector, notably Dorothy Lamour's formfitting sarong, Veronica Lake's peekaboo haircut, and Bette Davis' off-the-shoulder evening gown for All About Eve (1950). Nominated for 40 Academy Awards (all after 1947, the first year of the Best Costume Design category) Ms. Head won the prize for All About Eve, The Heiress (1949), Samson and Delilah (1949), A Place in the Sun (1951), Roman Holiday (1953), Sabrina (1954), The Facts of Life (1960) and The Sting (1973). She also designed many of the gowns worn by the other Oscar recipients. After 35 years at Paramount, Ms. Head was signed by Universal in 1967, where she remained until her death. Because of her first-hand experience with four decades' worth of changing fashions, Ms. Head was indispensible to such period films of the '70s as The Sting, Gable and Lombard (1976) and W.C. Fields and Me (1977). In 1980, she deliberately copied many of the creations of her Hollywood rivals for the Steve Martin comedy Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, in which Martin interacted with clips from classic films of the '40s. Ms. Head died shortly after finishing this assignment; when Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid was released in 1982, it carried a dedication to Edith Head.

Title	Year	Editors' Rating		User Rating
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Costume Designer	1982
The Last Married Couple in America Costume Designer	1980
Little Women Costume Designer	1978
Olly Olly Oxen Free Costume Designer	1978
Sextette Costume Designer	1978
The Big Fix Costume Designer	1978
Airport '77 Costume Designer	1977
Sex and the Married Woman Costume Designer	1977
Sunshine Christmas Costume Designer	1977
Amelia Earhart Costume Designer	1976
Family Plot Costume Designer	1976
Gable and Lombard Costume Designer	1976
The Disappearance of Aimee Costumes Supervisor	1976
W.C. Fields and Me Costume Designer	1976
Rooster Cogburn Costume Designer	1975
The Great Waldo Pepper Costume Designer	1975
The Man Who Would Be King Costume Designer	1975
Airport 1975 Costume Designer	1974
A Doll's House Costume Designer	1973
A Doll's House Costume Designer	1973
Ash Wednesday Costume Designer	1973
Showdown Costume Designer	1973
The Don Is Dead Costume Designer	1973
The Sting Costume Designer	1973
Hammersmith Is Out Costume Designer	1972
Pete 'n' Tillie Costume Designer	1972
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Costume Designer	1972
The Screaming Woman Costume Designer	1972
Red Sky at Morning Costume Designer	1971
Sometimes a Great Notion Costume Designer	1971
Airport Costume Designer	1970
Colossus: The Forbin Project Costume Designer	1970
Skullduggery Costume Designer	1970
Storia di una Donna Costume Designer	1970
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Costume Designer	1969
Eye of the Cat Costume Designer	1969
Sweet Charity Costume Designer	1969
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here Costume Designer	1969
The Lost Man Costume Designer	1969
Topaz Costume Designer	1969
Winning Costume Designer	1969
Hellfighters Costume Designer	1968
House of Cards Costume Designer	1968
In Enemy Country Costume Designer	1968
The Pink Jungle Costume Designer	1968
The Secret War of Harry Frigg Costume Designer	1968
What's So Bad About Feeling Good? Costume Designer	1968
Barefoot in the Park Costume Designer	1967
Chuka Costume Designer	1967
Easy Come, Easy Go Costume Designer	1967
El Dorado Costume Designer	1967
Hotel Costume Designer	1967
The Caper of the Golden Bulls Costume Designer	1967
Warning Shot Costume Designer	1967
Who's Minding the Mint? Costume Designer	1967
Assault on a Queen Costume Designer	1966
Not with My Wife, You Don't! Costume Designer	1966
Paradise, Hawaiian Style Costume Designer	1966
Penelope Costume Designer	1966
The Last of the Secret Agents? Costume Designer	1966
The Oscar Actor, Costume Designer	1966
The Swinger Costume Designer	1966
This Property Is Condemned Costume Designer	1966
Torn Curtain Costume Designer	1966
Waco Costume Designer	1966
Boeing Boeing Costume Designer	1965
Inside Daisy Clover Costume Designer	1965
Love Has Many Faces Costume Designer	1965
Red Line 7000 Costume Designer	1965
Sylvia Costume Designer	1965
The Family Jewels Costume Designer	1965
The Great Race Costume Designer	1965
The Hallelujah Trail Costume Designer	1965
The Slender Thread Costume Designer	1965
The Sons of Katie Elder Costume Designer	1965
36 Hours Costume Designer	1964
A House Is Not a Home Costume Designer	1964
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home Costume Designer	1964
Marnie Costume Designer	1964
Roustabout Costume Designer	1964
Sex and the Single Girl Costume Designer	1964
The Carpetbaggers Costume Designer	1964
The Disorderly Orderly Costume Designer	1964
The Patsy Costume Designer	1964
The Yellow Rolls-Royce Costume Designer	1964
What a Way to Go! Costume Designer	1964
Where Love Has Gone Costume Designer	1964
A New Kind of Love Costume Designer	1963
Come Blow Your Horn Costume Designer	1963
Donovan's Reef Costume Designer	1963
Fun in Acapulco Costume Designer	1963
Hud Costume Designer	1963
I Could Go on Singing Costume Designer	1963
Love with the Proper Stranger Costume Designer	1963
Man's Favorite Sport? Costume Designer	1963
My Six Loves Costume Designer	1963
Papa's Delicate Condition Costume Designer	1963
The Birds Costume Designer	1963
The Nutty Professor Costume Designer	1963
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? Costume Designer	1963
Who's Got the Action? Costume Designer	1963
Who's Minding the Store? Costume Designer	1963
Wives and Lovers Costume Designer	1963
A Girl Named Tamiko Costume Designer	1962
Critic's Choice Costume Designer	1962
Escape from Zahrain Costume Designer	1962
Girls! Girls! Girls! Costume Designer	1962
Hatari! Costume Designer	1962
It's Only Money Costume Designer	1962
My Geisha Costume Designer	1962
The Counterfeit Traitor Costume Designer	1962
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Costume Designer	1962
Breakfast at Tiffany's Costume Designer	1961
Love in a Goldfish Bowl Costume Designer	1961
Man-Trap Costume Designer	1961
On the Double Costume Designer	1961
Pocketful of Miracles Costume Designer	1961
Summer and Smoke Costume Designer	1961
The Errand Boy Costume Designer	1961
The Ladies' Man Costume Designer	1961
The Pleasure of His Company Actor, Costume Designer	1961
Too Late Blues Costume Designer	1961
A Touch of Larceny Costume Designer	1960
Cinderfella Costume Designer	1960
Heller in Pink Tights Costume Designer	1960
Pepe Costume Designer	1960
The Facts of Life Costume Designer	1960
The Rat Race Costume Designer	1960
Visit to a Small Planet Costume Designer	1960
A Hole in the Head Costume Designer	1959
Alias Jesse James Costume Designer	1959
Career Costume Designer	1959
Last Train From Gun Hill Costume Designer	1959
That Kind of Woman Costume Designer	1959
The Five Pennies Costume Designer	1959
The Jayhawkers Costume Designer	1959
Houseboat Costume Designer	1958
King Creole Costume Designer	1958
Maracaibo Costume Designer	1958
Rock-A-Bye Baby Costume Designer	1958
Separate Tables Costume Designer	1958
St. Louis Blues Costume Designer	1958
Teacher's Pet Costume Designer	1958
The Buccaneer Costume Designer	1958
The Geisha Boy Costume Designer	1958
The Matchmaker Costume Designer	1958
Vertigo Costume Designer	1958
Beau James Costume Designer	1957
Fear Strikes Out Costume Designer	1957
Funny Face Costume Designer	1957
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Costume Designer	1957
Hear Me Good Costume Designer	1957
Loving You Costume Designer	1957
Short Cut to Hell Costume Designer	1957
The Devil's Hairpin Costume Designer	1957
The Joker Is Wild Costume Designer	1957
The Sad Sack Costume Designer	1957
The Tin Star Costume Designer	1957
Three Violent People Costume Designer	1957
Witness for the Prosecution Costume Designer	1957
Anything Goes Costume Designer	1956
Hollywood or Bust Costume Designer	1956
Pardners Costume Designer	1956
That Certain Feeling Costume Designer	1956
The Birds and the Bees Costume Designer	1956
The Court Jester Costume Designer	1956
The Delicate Delinquent Costume Designer	1956
The Man Who Knew Too Much Costume Designer	1956
The Mountain Costume Designer	1956
The Proud and Profane Costume Designer	1956
The Rainmaker Costume Designer	1956
The Scarlet Hour Costume Designer	1956
The Search for Bridey Murphy Costume Designer	1956
The Ten Commandments Costume Designer	1956
Artists and Models Costume Designer	1955
Hell's Island Costume Designer	1955
Lucy Gallant Actor, Costume Designer	1955
Run for Cover Costume Designer	1955
Strategic Air Command Costume Designer	1955
The Desperate Hours Costume Designer	1955
The Far Horizons Costume Designer	1955
The Girl Rush Costume Designer	1955
The Rose Tattoo Costume Designer	1955
The Seven Little Foys Costume Designer	1955
The Trouble with Harry Costume Designer	1955
To Catch a Thief Costume Designer	1955
You're Never Too Young Costume Designer	1955
About Mrs. Leslie Costume Designer	1954
Casanova's Big Night Costume Designer	1954
Elephant Walk Costume Designer	1954
Knock on Wood Costume Designer	1954
Living It Up Costume Designer	1954
Rear Window Costume Designer	1954
Sabrina Costume Designer	1954
The Bridges at Toko-Ri Costume Designer	1954
The Country Girl Costume Designer	1954
The Naked Jungle Costume Designer	1954
Them! Costume Designer	1954
Three Ring Circus Costume Designer	1954
White Christmas Costume Designer	1954
Arrowhead Costume Designer	1953
Du bist die Welt für mich Costume Designer	1953
Forever Female Costume Designer	1953
Houdini Costume Designer	1953
Little Boy Lost Costume Designer	1953
Road to Bali Costume Designer	1953
Roman Holiday Costume Designer	1953
Sangaree Costume Designer	1953
Scared Stiff Costume Designer	1953
Shane Costume Designer	1953
The Pony Express Costume Designer	1953
The Savage Costume Designer	1953
The Stars are Singing Costume Designer	1953
The Vanquished Costume Designer	1953
The War of the Worlds Costume Designer	1953
Tropic Zone Costume Designer	1953
Carrie Costume Designer	1952
Jumping Jacks Costume Designer	1952
Just for You Costume Designer	1952
My Son, John Costume Designer	1952
Red Snow Costume Designer	1952
Something to Live For Costume Designer	1952
The Greatest Show on Earth Costume Designer	1952
The Turning Point Costume Designer	1952
A Place in the Sun Costume Designer	1951
Ace in the Hole Costume Designer	1951
Darling, How Could You! Costume Designer	1951
Detective Story Costume Designer	1951
Here Comes the Groom Costume Designer	1951
My Favorite Spy Costume Designer	1951
Payment on Demand Costume Designer	1951
Rhubarb Costume Designer	1951
Submarine Command Costume Designer	1951
That's My Boy Costume Designer	1951
The Lemon Drop Kid Costume Designer	1951
When Worlds Collide Costume Designer	1951
All About Eve Costume Designer	1950
Copper Canyon Costume Designer	1950
Dark City Costume Designer	1950
Let's Dance Costume Designer	1950
Mr. Music Costume Designer	1950
No Man of Her Own Costume Designer	1950
Riding High Costume Designer	1950
Sunset Boulevard Costume Designer	1950
The Furies Costume Designer	1950
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Costume Designer	1949
Beyond the Forest Costume Designer	1949
Manhandled Costume Designer	1949
My Foolish Heart Costume Designer	1949
My Friend Irma Costume Designer	1949
Red, Hot and Blue Costume Designer	1949
Rope of Sand Costume Designer	1949
Samson and Delilah Costume Designer	1949
The File on Thelma Jordon Costume Designer	1949
The Great Gatsby Costume Designer	1949
The Great Lover Costume Designer	1949
The Heiress Costume Designer	1949
A Foreign Affair Costume Designer	1948
Dream Girl Costume Designer	1948
I Walk Alone Costume Designer	1948
June Bride Costume Designer	1948
Miss Tatlock's Millions Costume Designer	1948
My Own True Love Costume Designer	1948
Night Has a Thousand Eyes Costume Designer	1948
Rachel and the Stranger Costume Designer	1948
Saigon Costume Designer	1948
So Evil My Love Costume Designer	1948
Sorry, Wrong Number Costume Designer	1948
The Accused Costume Designer	1948
The Big Clock Costume Designer	1948
The Emperor Waltz Costume Designer	1948
Blaze of Noon Costume Designer	1947
Cry Wolf Costume Designer	1947
Dear Ruth Costume Designer	1947
Desert Fury Costume Designer	1947
My Favorite Brunette Costume Designer	1947
Ramrod Costume Designer	1947
Road to Rio Costume Designer	1947
The Farmer's Daughter Costume Designer	1947
The Other Love Costume Designer	1947
The Perils of Pauline Costume Designer	1947
The Trouble with Women Costume Designer	1947
The Two Mrs. Carrolls Costume Designer	1947
Variety Girl Costume Designer	1947
Welcome Stranger Costume Designer	1947
Where There's Life Costume Designer	1947
Blue Skies Costume Designer	1946
California Costume Designer	1946
My Reputation Costume Designer	1946
Notorious Costume Designer	1946
Road to Utopia Costume Designer	1946
The Blue Dahlia Costume Designer	1946
The Bride Wore Boots Costume Designer	1946
The Perfect Marriage Costume Designer	1946
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers Costume Designer	1946
The Virginian Costume Designer	1946
To Each His Own Costume Designer	1946
Christmas in Connecticut Costume Designer	1945
Love Letters Costume Designer	1945
Masquerade in Mexico Costume Designer	1945
Out of This World Costume Designer	1945
The Bells of St. Mary's Costume Designer	1945
The Lost Weekend Costume Designer	1945
The Stork Club Costume Designer	1945
You Came Along Costume Designer	1945
And Now Tomorrow Costume Designer	1944
And the Angels Sing Costume Designer	1944
Double Indemnity Costume Designer	1944
Going My Way Costume Designer	1944
Hail the Conquering Hero Costume Designer	1944
I'll Be Seeing You Costume Designer	1944
Ministry of Fear Costume Designer	1944
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay Costume Designer	1944
Rainbow Island Costume Designer	1944
The Lady in the Dark Costume Designer	1944
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek Costume Designer	1944
The Uninvited Costume Designer	1944
Five Graves to Cairo Costume Designer	1943
Flesh and Fantasy Costume Designer	1943
Lady of Burlesque Costume Designer	1943
No Time for Love Costume Designer	1943
Tender Comrade Costume Designer	1943
Holiday Inn Costume Designer	1942
I Married a Witch Costume Designer	1942
Lucky Jordan Costume Designer	1942
Star Spangled Rhythm Costume Designer	1942
The Fleet's In Costume Designer	1942
The Gay Sisters Costume Designer	1942
The Great Man's Lady Costume Designer	1942
The Major and the Minor Costume Designer	1942
The Remarkable Andrew Costume Designer	1942
The Road to Morocco Costume Designer	1942
Young and Willing Costume Designer	1942
Ball of Fire Costume Designer	1941
Birth of the Blues Costume Designer	1941
Caught in the Draft Costume Designer	1941
Here Comes Mr. Jordan Costume Designer	1941
Hold Back the Dawn Costume Designer	1941
New York Town Costume Designer	1941
Nothing But the Truth Costume Designer	1941
Road to Zanzibar Costume Designer	1941
Sullivan's Travels Costume Designer	1941
The Lady Eve Costume Designer	1941
You Belong to Me Costume Designer	1941
Buck Benny Rides Again Costume Designer	1940
Remember the Night Costume Designer	1940
Rhythm on the River Costume Designer	1940
The Ghost Breakers Costume Designer	1940
The Great McGinty Costume Designer	1940
Honeymoon in Bali Costume Designer	1939
Invitation to Happiness Costume Designer	1939
Man About Town Costume Designer	1939
Man of Conquest Costume Designer	1939
Never Say Die Costume Designer	1939
Sudden Money Costume Designer	1939
The Star Maker Costume Designer	1939
Artists and Models Abroad Costume Designer	1938
College Swing Costume Designer	1938
Her Jungle Love Costume Designer	1938
If I Were King Costume Designer	1938
Tropic Holiday Costume Designer	1938
Double or Nothing Costume Designer	1937
Ebb Tide Costume Designer	1937
Sophie Lang Goes West Costume Designer	1937
Souls at Sea Costume Designer	1937
The Big Broadcast of 1938 Costume Designer	1937
This Way Please Costume Designer	1937
Waikiki Wedding Costume Designer	1937
Wells Fargo Costume Designer	1937
Early to Bed Costume Designer	1936
Murder With Pictures Costume Designer	1936
Poppy Costume Designer	1936
Rhythm on the Range Costume Designer	1936
Death Takes a Holiday Costume Designer	1934
She Loves Me Not Costume Designer	1934
You Belong to Me Costume Designer	1934
Cradle Song Costume Designer	1933
She Done Him Wrong Costume Designer	1933
Love Me Tonight Costume Designer	1932
Wings Costume Designer	1927

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