Orry-Kelly - Movie and Film Biography, Credits and Filmography

Genres

Active

1930 - 1963

Born

December 31, 1897 in Kiama, New South Wales, Australia

by Hal Erickson biography

Costume designer Walter Plunkett, one of the best in the business, once referred to his colleague Orry-Kelly as "the greatest of all Hollywood designers." Born John Orry Kelly, he studied for an art career in Australia, then moved to New York in 1923, in hopes of becoming an actor. When this didn't pan out, he painted murals, drew illustrated subtitles for Fox Film Studios, and designed costumes and sets for Broadway's Schubert and George White revues. Orry-Kelly was on the Warner payroll as early as 1930. During his nearly two decades with Warners, he clothed studio divas Bette Davis, Olivia DeHavilland and Anne Sheridan. He later free-lanced at Fox, Universal, and MGM; while at the latter studio, he shared an Academy Award with Walter Plunkett and Irene Sharaff for An American in Paris (1951). He went on to receive Oscars for Les Girls (1957) and Some Like It Hot (1959), and earned a nomination for Gypsy (1963). Having gowned some of Hollywood's most glamorous leading ladies, Orry-Kelly once summed up his career with a pithy "Hell must be filled with beautiful women and no mirrors."

Title	Year	Editors' Rating		User Rating
In the Cool of the Day Costume Designer	1963
Irma La Douce Costume Designer	1963
Sunday in New York Costume Designer	1963
Five Finger Exercise Costume Designer	1962
Gypsy Costume Designer	1962
Sweet Bird of Youth Costume Designer	1962
The Chapman Report Costume Designer	1962
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Costume Designer	1962
Two for the Seesaw Costume Designer	1962
A Majority of One Costume Designer	1961
Some Like It Hot Costume Designer	1959
The Hanging Tree Costume Designer	1959
Auntie Mame Costume Designer	1958
Too Much, Too Soon Costume Designer	1958
Les Girls Costume Designer	1957
Oklahoma! Costume Designer	1955
I Confess Costume Designer	1953
Pat and Mike Costume Designer	1952
The Star Costume Designer	1952
An American in Paris Costume Designer	1951
One Way Street Costume Designer	1950
South Sea Sinner Costume Designer	1950
Under the Gun Costume Designer	1950
Caught Costume Designer	1949
Johnny Stool Pigeon Costume Designer	1949
Once More, My Darling Costume Designer	1949
Take One False Step Costume Designer	1949
The Lady Gambles Costume Designer	1949
Undertow Costume Designer	1949
Woman in Hiding Costume Designer	1949
Berlin Express Costume Designer	1948
Family Honeymoon Costume Designer	1948
One Touch of Venus Costume Designer	1948
Rogues' Regiment Costume Designer	1948
A Woman's Vengeance Costume Designer	1947
Ivy Costume Designer	1947
Mother Wore Tights Costume Designer	1947
A Stolen Life Costume Designer	1946
London Town Costume Designer	1946
Temptation Costume Designer	1946
Conflict Costume Designer	1945
The Corn Is Green Costume Designer	1945
The Dolly Sisters Costume Designer	1945
Arsenic and Old Lace Costume Designer	1944
Mr. Skeffington Costume Designer	1944
The Adventures of Mark Twain Costume Designer	1944
Old Acquaintance Costume Designer	1943
This Is the Army Costume Designer	1943
Watch on the Rhine Costume Designer	1943
Casablanca Costume Designer	1942
George Washington Slept Here Costume Designer	1942
In This Our Life Costume Designer	1942
Murder in the Big House Costume Designer	1942
Now, Voyager Costume Designer	1942
The Hard Way Costume Designer	1942
Honeymoon for Three Costume Designer	1941
Kings Row Costume Designer	1941
Million Dollar Baby Costume Designer	1941
The Bride Came C.O.D. Costume Designer	1941
The Great Lie Costume Designer	1941
The Little Foxes Costume Designer	1941
The Maltese Falcon Costume Designer	1941
The Man Who Came to Dinner Costume Designer	1941
The Strawberry Blonde Costume Designer	1941
'Til We Meet Again Costume Designer	1940
A Dispatch from Reuters Costume Designer	1940
All This and Heaven Too Costume Designer	1940
My Love Came Back Costume Designer	1940
No Time for Comedy Costume Designer	1940
The Letter Costume Designer	1940
The Sea Hawk Costume Designer	1940
Throwing a Party Costume Designer	1940
Dark Victory Costume Designer	1939
Indianapolis Speedway Costume Designer	1939
Juarez Costume Designer	1939
King of the Underworld Costume Designer	1939
On Your Toes Costume Designer	1939
The Oklahoma Kid Costume Designer	1939
The Old Maid Costume Designer	1939
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Costume Designer	1939
When Tomorrow Comes Costume Designer	1939
Wings of the Navy Costume Designer	1939
Women in the Wind Costume Designer	1939
Angels With Dirty Faces Costume Designer	1938
Comet over Broadway Costume Designer	1938
Four Daughters Costume Designer	1938
Four's a Crowd Costume Designer	1938
Jezebel Costume Designer	1938
My Bill Costume Designer	1938
Secrets of an Actress Costume Designer	1938
The Sisters Costume Designer	1938
Women Are Like That Costume Designer	1938
Another Dawn Costume Designer	1937
Confession Costume Designer	1937
Ever Since Eve Costume Designer	1937
Green Light Costume Designer	1937
Hollywood Hotel Costume Designer	1937
It's Love I'm After Costume Designer	1937
Kid Galahad Costume Designer	1937
Marked Woman Costume Designer	1937
Stolen Holiday Costume Designer	1937
That Certain Woman Costume Designer	1937
The Go-Getter Costume Designer	1937
The King and the Chorus Girl Costume Designer	1937
The Singing Marine Costume Designer	1937
Cain and Mabel Costume Designer	1936
China Clipper Costume Designer	1936
Colleen Costume Designer	1936
Freshman Love Costume Designer	1936
Give Me Your Heart Costume Designer	1936
Hearts Divided Costume Designer	1936
Isle of Fury Costume Designer	1936
Murder by an Aristocrat Costume Designer	1936
Polo Joe Costume Designer	1936
Satan Met a Lady Costume Designer	1936
Snowed Under Costume Designer	1936
Stage Struck Costume Designer	1936
The Golden Arrow Costume Designer	1936
The Petrified Forest Costume Designer	1936
The Singing Kid Costume Designer	1936
The Walking Dead Costume Designer	1936
The Widow from Monte Carlo Costume Designer	1936
Bright Lights Costume Designer	1935
Ceiling Zero Costume Designer	1935
Dangerous Costume Designer	1935
Devil Dogs of the Air Costume Designer	1935
Frisco Kid Costume Designer	1935
G-Men Costume Designer	1935
Going Highbrow Costume Designer	1935
I Found Stella Parish Costume Designer	1935
I Live for Love Costume Designer	1935
Living on Velvet Costume Designer	1935
Miss Pacific Fleet Costume Designer	1935
Oil for the Lamps of China Costume Designer	1935
Page Miss Glory Costume Designer	1935
Personal Maid's Secret Costume Designer	1935
Shipmates Forever Costume Designer	1935
Stars over Broadway Costume Designer	1935
Stranded Costume Designer	1935
Sweet Adeline Costume Designer	1935
The Case of the Curious Bride Costume Designer	1935
The Girl From Tenth Avenue Costume Designer	1935
The Goose and the Gander Costume Designer	1935
The Irish in Us Costume Designer	1935
The Pay-Off Costume Designer	1935
The Secret Bride Costume Designer	1935
The Traveling Saleslady Costume Designer	1935
The Woman in Red Costume Designer	1935
A Lost Lady Costume Designer	1934
A Modern Hero Costume Designer	1934
A Very Honorable Guy Costume Designer	1934
Dames Costume Designer	1934
Doctor Monica Costume Designer	1934
Easy to Love Costume Designer	1934
Fashions of 1934 Costume Designer	1934
Flirtation Walk Costume Designer	1934
Fog over Frisco Costume Designer	1934
Friends of Mr. Sweeney Costume Designer	1934
Gambling Lady Costume Designer	1934
Happiness Ahead Costume Designer	1934
He Was Her Man Costume Designer	1934
Heat Lightning Costume Designer	1934
Here Comes the Navy Costume Designer	1934
I've Got Your Number Costume Designer	1934
Jimmy the Gent Costume Designer	1934
Journal of a Crime Costume Designer	1934
Mandalay Costume Designer	1934
Midnight Alibi Costume Designer	1934
Registered Nurse Costume Designer	1934
Return of the Terror Costume Designer	1934
Side Streets Costume Designer	1934
The Big Shakedown Costume Designer	1934
The Case of the Howling Dog Costume Designer	1934
The Dragon Murder Case Costume Designer	1934
The Merry Wives of Reno Costume Designer	1934
The Personality Kid Costume Designer	1934
The St. Louis Kid Costume Designer	1934
Twenty Million Sweethearts Costume Designer	1934
Upper World Costume Designer	1934
Wonder Bar Costume Designer	1934
20,000 Years in Sing-Sing Costume Designer	1933
42nd Street Costume Designer	1933
Baby Face Costume Designer	1933
Captured Costume Designer	1933
Elmer the Great Costume Designer	1933
Employees' Entrance Costume Designer	1933
Ex-Lady Costume Designer	1933
Female Costume Designer	1933
Frisco Jenny Costume Designer	1933
Gold Diggers of 1933 Costume Designer	1933
Grand Slam Costume Designer	1933
Hard to Handle Costume Designer	1933
Havana Widows Costume Designer	1933
Heroes for Sale Costume Designer	1933
Ladies They Talk About Costume Designer	1933
Lady Killer Costume Designer	1933
Lilly Turner Costume Designer	1933
Mary Stevens, M.D. Costume Designer	1933
Picture Snatcher Costume Designer	1933
The House on 56th Street Costume Designer	1933
The Kennel Murder Case Costume Designer	1933
The Keyhole Costume Designer	1933
The King's Vacation Costume Designer	1933
The Life of Jimmy Dolan Costume Designer	1933
The Mayor of Hell Costume Designer	1933
The Mystery of the Wax Museum Costume Designer	1933
The Working Man Costume Designer	1933
Voltaire Costume Designer	1933
Central Park Costume Designer	1932
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang Costume Designer	1932
One Way Passage Costume Designer	1932
Scarlet Dawn Costume Designer	1932
Silver Dollar Costume Designer	1932
So Big Costume Designer	1932
The Cabin in the Cotton Costume Designer	1932
The Man Who Played God Costume Designer	1932
The Match King Costume Designer	1932
The Rich Are Always with Us Costume Designer	1932
Tiger Shark Costume Designer	1932
Winner Take All Costume Designer	1932
Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise Costume Designer	1931
Maybe It's Love Costume Designer	1930

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