Edith Head

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title: "Edith Head" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1897-births", "1981-deaths", "american-costume-designers", "american-people-of-austrian-jewish-descent", "american-people-of-german-jewish-descent", "american-women-costume-designers", "artists-from-los-angeles", "best-costume-design-academy-award-winners", "burials-at-forest-lawn-memorial-park-(glendale)", "california-people-in-design", "catholics-from-california", "catholics-from-nevada", "converts-to-roman-catholicism-from-judaism", "fashion-designers-from-los-angeles", "jewish-american-film-people", "jewish-fashion-designers", "jews-from-california", "jews-from-nevada", "los-angeles-high-school-alumni", "otis-college-of-art-and-design-alumni", "people-from-hollywood,-los-angeles", "people-from-redding,-california", "people-from-san-bernardino,-california", "people-from-searchlight,-nevada", "stanford-university-alumni", "uc-berkeley-college-of-letters-and-science-alumni", "20th-century-american-jews", "20th-century-american-women"] description: "American costume designer (1897–1981)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Head" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American costume designer (1897–1981) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Edith Head
birth_name	Edith Claire Posener
image	Edith Head (1976).jpg
caption	Head in 1976
birth_date
birth_place	San Bernardino, California, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation	Costume designer
resting_place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
alma_mater
spouse	{{plainlist
* {{marriage	Charles Head
* {{marriage	Wiard Ihnen
years_active	1923–1981
awards	Academy Award for Best Costume Design (8 wins)
::

| name = Edith Head | birth_name = Edith Claire Posener | image = Edith Head (1976).jpg | caption = Head in 1976 | birth_date = | birth_place = San Bernardino, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Costume designer | resting_place = Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California | alma_mater = | spouse = {{plainlist|

| years_active = 1923–1981 | awards = Academy Award for Best Costume Design (8 wins)

Edith Claire Head (; October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American film costume designer. She received a record 35 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and won a record eight times, making her both the most honored and most nominated woman in the Academy's history. She also holds the Guinness World Record for most-credited costume designer in film history, with a total of 432 credits.

Raised between California and Nevada, Head earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University before beginning a career as a French and Spanish languages teacher. After taking courses at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, she was hired in 1923 as a costume sketch artist at Famous Players–Lasky, which later became Paramount Pictures. She won acclaim for her design of Dorothy Lamour’s trademark sarong in the 1936 film The Jungle Princess, and became a household name after the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was created in 1948. Head was considered exceptional for her close working relationships with her subjects, with whom she consulted extensively; these included virtually every top female star in Hollywood.

Head worked at Paramount for 44 years, and was frequently loaned out by the studio for work on projects for other studios. While under contract at Paramount, she designed the costumes for several films by Alfred Hitchcock, including Notorious (1946), Vertigo (1958), The Birds (1963), and Marnie (1964). In 1968, after Paramount declined to renew her contract, Hitchcock invited her to join Universal Pictures. There she earned her eighth and final Academy Award for her work on The Sting in 1973.

Outside of film, Head was commissioned to design the official women's uniform for the United States Coast Guard in the 1970s, due to the increasing number of women in the Coast Guard, for which she received the Meritorious Public Service Award.

Early life

Head was born Edith Claire Posener on October 28, 1897 in San Bernardino, California,{{efn-lr|Head was known to joke about her age and birthplace, often providing conflicting answers. Her obituary in the Los Angeles Times notes: the daughter of Jewish parents, Max Posener and Anna E. Levy. Her father was a naturalized American citizen from Germany who came to the United States in 1876 at age eighteen, while her American mother was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1875, the daughter of an Austrian father and a Bavarian mother. Shortly before Head's birth, her father opened a small haberdashery in San Bernardino. The business failed within a year, after which he abandoned the family and relocated to El Paso, Texas.

In 1901, Head's mother Anna married Frank Spare, a mining engineer from Pennsylvania. Anna and Frank passed Edith off as their biological child, giving her his surname, and raised her in his Roman Catholic faith. Due to her stepfather's job, the family moved frequently during her childhood to various mining camps, with a significant portion spent in rural Searchlight, Nevada. A shy and introverted only child, Head often spent time building makeshift dollhouses out of cardboard boxes, and creating figures out of greasewood that naturally grew in the desert. She would also create costumes for animals, including her pet dog and cat, as well as wild horned lizards. "I had no other children for playmates," she recalled. "Naturally, all of my intensive imagination in child's play had to be connected to activities I could pursue alone." Head was teased by classmates due to her front teeth never growing in properly, and because of this, rarely smiled.

She completed her elementary school education in Redding, California in 1911, before the family lived for a period in Mexico, where Head learned to speak Spanish. Head and her mother subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, where she graduated from Los Angeles High School.

Head enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in 1915, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in letters and sciences with honors in French. She subsequently enrolled at Stanford University, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in romance languages in 1920. She became a language teacher with her first position as a replacement at The Bishop's School in La Jolla teaching French and Spanish. After one year, she took a position teaching French at the Hollywood School for Girls, where her students included Cecilia and Katherine DeMille, daughters of studio executive Cecil B. DeMille. Wanting a slightly higher salary, she told the school that she could also teach art, even though she had only briefly studied the discipline in high school. To improve her drawing skills, at this point rudimentary, she took evening classes at the Otis Art Institute and Chouinard Art College.

On July 25, 1923, she married Charles Head, a salesman for the Southern California Super Fine Metals Company, and the brother of one of her Chouinard classmates, Betty Head. Due to Charles's drinking problem and her reduced teaching salary during the summer months, Head began seeking work as a sketch artist to help supplement their income.

Career

1923—1929: Famous Players–Lasky

In 1923, despite lacking significant art, design, and costume design experience, the 26-year-old Head was hired as a costume sketch artist at the Famous Players–Lasky studios, which was later absorbed by Paramount Pictures. Later she admitted to "borrowing" other students' sketches for her job interview with the studio: "I was studying seascape and all I could draw was oceans. I needed a portfolio, so I borrowed sketches—I didn't steal them, I asked everybody in the class for a few costume design sketches. And I had the most fantastic assortment you've ever seen in your life. When you get a class of forty to give you sketches, you get a nice selection."

At Paramount, Head studied under lead designers Howard Greer, and later, Travis Banton. Head recounted the experience favorable, saying:

Head began designing costumes for the studio's silent films, commencing with The Wanderer in 1925 and, by the 1930s, had established herself as one of Hollywood's leading costume designers.

1930–1967: Paramount Pictures

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Color_photograph_of_Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg" caption="Oscar"] ::

Head remained employed by Paramount Pictures after the studio absorbed Famous Players–Lasky. Although Head was featured in studio publicity from the mid-1920s, she was originally overshadowed by the studio's lead designers, first Howard Greer, then Travis Banton. Head was instrumental in conspiring against Banton, and after his resignation in 1938 she became a high-profile designer in her own right. Her association with the "sarong" dress designed for Dorothy Lamour in The Hurricane (1937) made her well known among the general public, although Head was a more restrained designer than either Banton or Adrian.

She gained public attention for the top mink-lined gown she created for Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark (1944), which caused much comment owing to the mood of wartime austerity. The establishment, in 1949, of the Academy Award for Costume Design further boosted her career, giving her a record-breaking run of Award nominations and wins, beginning with her nomination for The Emperor Waltz. Head and other film designers like Adrian became well known to the public.

Head was known for her unique working style and, unlike many of her male contemporaries, usually consulted extensively with the female stars with whom she worked. As a result, she was a favorite among many of the leading female stars of the 1940s and 1950s, such as Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Jane Wyman, Rita Hayworth, Shirley MacLaine, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. In fact, Head was frequently "loaned out" by Paramount to other studios at the request of their female stars. She herself always dressed very plainly, preferring thick-framed glasses and conservative two-piece suits.

In 1946, Head worked for the first time with director Alfred Hitchcock on his spy film Notorious. Head was loaned from Paramount to Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) pictures to work with Hitchcock on this film, at the request of actress Ingrid Bergman. In this time period it was more often found that costume designers would design to reflect their own style. Head had a different outlook on this. She felt that it was more important to design pieces that reflected the character. During their time working on Notorious, Head and Hitchcock found that they were like-minded and had the same bluntness in their careers and attitudes. The costumes she designed for this film reflected restraint and the need to blend in. This style suited what Hitchcock was looking for since he did not want the clothes to be the focal point. The two would go on to work together many more times.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Edith_Head_ca_1955.jpg" caption="Head in 1955"] ::

On February 3, 1955 (Season 5 Episode 21), Head appeared as a contestant on the Groucho Marx quiz show You Bet Your Life. She and her partner won a total of $1,540. Her winnings were donated to charity.

Head also authored two books describing her career and design philosophy, The Dress Doctor (1959) and How To Dress For Success (1967). These books were re-edited in 2008 and 2011, respectively.

1968–1981: Universal Pictures

In 1968, at the age of 70, Head left Paramount Pictures and was contracted with Universal Pictures, where she remained until her death in 1981. By this point, Hollywood was rapidly changing from what it had been during Head's heyday in the 1930s-1940s. Studio-based production was giving way to outdoors and on-scene shooting, and many of the actresses from that era whom she worked with and knew intimately had retired or were working less. She thus turned more of her attention to TV, where some old friends such as Olivia de Havilland had begun working. She made a cameo appearance in 1973 on the detective series Columbo beside Anne Baxter, playing herself and displaying her Oscars to date. In 1974, Head received a final Oscar win for her work on The Sting (1973).

In the late 1970s, Head was asked to design a woman's uniform for the United States Coast Guard, because of the increasing number of women in the Coast Guard. Head called the assignment a highlight in her career and received the Meritorious Public Service Award for her efforts. Her designs for a TV mini-series based on the novel Little Women were well received. She also designed the costumes for Elizabeth Taylor in the Hallmark Hall of Fame segment "Return Engagement" (1978).

Her last film project was the black-and-white comedy Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), starring Steve Martin and Carl Reiner, a job Head was chosen for because of her expertise on 1940s fashions. She modeled Martin and Reiner's outfits on classic film noir and the movie, released in theaters just after her death, was dedicated to her memory.

Design style

Unlike most other designers of her time, Head never undertook couture or wholesale fashion work, opting to "work only in the context of a certain actress in a certain film." Olivia de Havilland, whose costumes were designed by Head for the films To Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949), said: "Every dress was perfect. Just putting them on, I became these women and I knew right where they were in the stories. Edith even came to New York with me before The Heiress and we studied the underwear at the Brooklyn Museum so it would be absolutely authentic."

Head herself regarded her work as apart from the world of fashion design, and did not consider herself a fashion designer. Commenting in 1978 on her view of her profession, she said:

Personal life

On July 25, 1923, she married Charles Head. The marriage ended in divorce in 1938, though she continued to be known professionally as Edith Head for the remainder of her life. She remarried to art director Wiard Ihnen in 1940, a marriage that lasted until his death from prostate cancer in 1979.

Though both of her parents were Jewish, Head was raised practicing Roman Catholicism, the faith of her stepfather, and remained a "staunch Catholic" through her later life. She was a regular parishioner of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills.

Death

In 1972, Head was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, an incurable bone marrow cancer which causes excessive, uncontrolled scar tissue accumulation in the bone marrow. To treat the disease, Head received regular blood transfusions to prevent severe anemia. Head died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles of complications from myelofibrosis on October 24, 1981.

A private funeral mass was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills, where actress Bette Davis gave a brief eulogy. Also in attendance were Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Ann Sothern, George Peppard, Loretta Young, Jane Wyman, and Lew Wasserman. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Legacy

Head holds the distinction of being the most-credited costume designer in history, with a total of 432 film credits to her name.

Over the course of her career, she was nominated for a total of 35 Academy Awards, annually from 1949 (the first year that the Oscar for Best Costume Design was awarded) through 1966, and won eight times—receiving more Oscars than any other woman.

Head's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which she received in 1974, is located at 6504 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

As a costume designer, Head has a total of 432 credits to her name.

Selected design credits

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Notable performer(s)	Notes	Ref.	1927	1929	1929	1933	1934	1936	1936	1937	1937	1938	1938	1939	1940	1940	1941	1941	1941	1942	1942	1942	1942	1943	1944	1944	1944	1944	1945	1945	1945	1945	1945	1946	1946	1946	1946	1947	1947	1947	1947	1947	1948	1948	1949	1949	1950	1950	1950	1951	1951	1951	1952	1952	1952	1952	1953	1953	1953	1953	1953	1954	1954	1954	1954	1955	1955	1955	1956	1956	1957	1957	1957	1958	1958	1958	1958	1959	1959	1960	1961	1961	1961	1962	1962	1963	1963	1963	1963	1963	1964	1964	1964	1964	1964	1965	1965	1965	1965	1965	1965	1965	1966	1966	1966	1966	1966	1967	1967	1968	1968	1969	1969	1969	1970	1973	1973	1974	1975	1975	1975	1976	1976	1976	1978	1980	1982
Wings		Uncredited
**	Uncredited
Wolf Song		Uncredited
She Done Him Wrong
Little Miss Marker
**
Rhythm on the Range
Ebb Tide
**
Dangerous to Know
Zaza
**
Road to Singapore
Untamed
**
Ball of Fire
Sullivan's Travels
I Married a Witch
Road to Zanzibar
Road to Morocco
Holiday Inn
Flesh and Fantasy
Double Indemnity
Lady in the Dark
Tender Comrade
**
I'll Be Seeing You
Incendiary Blonde
**
Masquerade in Mexico
Christmas in Connecticut
My Reputation
**
Notorious
Road to Utopia
Road to Rio
**
Cry Wolf
**
**
June Bride
Beyond Glory
**
Samson and Delilah
All About Eve
**
Sunset Boulevard
**
Payment on Demand
Here Comes the Groom
Just for You
Something to Live For
Road to Bali
Stolen Face
Scared Stiff
Houdini
**
Those Redheads from Seattle
Roman Holiday
Sabrina
Elephant Walk
White Christmas
Rear Window
To Catch a Thief
Artists and Models
Lucy Gallant
**
**
Three Violent People
Witness for the Prosecution
Funny Face
**
Separate Tables
Teacher's Pet
Vertigo
Alias Jesse James
That Kind of Woman
Heller in Pink Tights
**
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Blue Hawaii
**
Hatari!
Donovan's Reef
Critic's Choice
I Could Go On Singing
Love with the Proper Stranger
**
Sex and the Single Girl
Marnie
What a Way to Go!
Man's Favorite Sport?
**
Harlow
Love Has Many Faces
Ship of Fools
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
**
Inside Daisy Clover
**
Penelope
This Property Is Condemned
El Dorado
Waco
Torn Curtain
Hotel
Barefoot in the Park
Berserk!
Hellfighters
Sweet Charity
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Topaz
Myra Breckinridge
Ash Wednesday
**
Earthquake		Uncredited
**
Rooster Cogburn
**
Gable and Lombard
Family Plot
W. C. Fields and Me
Sextette
**
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid		Final feature film credit
::

Screen appearances

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.	1955	1961	1966	1973
Lucy Gallant	Herself
**	Dress designer	Uncredited
**	Herself
Columbo	Herself	Episode: "Requiem for a Falling Star"
::

Accolades

Head received eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, more than any other person, from a total of 35 nominations.

::data[format=table]

Institution	Year	Category	Nominated work	Outcome	Ref.	Academy Awards	British Academy Film Awards	Costume Designers Guild Awards
1949	Best Costume Design – Color	**
1950	Best Costume Design – Black & White	**
1951	All About Eve
Best Costume Design – Color	Samson and Delilah
1952	Best Costume Design – Black & White	**
1953	Carrie
Best Costume Design – Color	**
1954	Best Costume Design – Black & White	Roman Holiday
1955	Sabrina
1956	**
Best Costume Design – Color	To Catch a Thief
1957	Best Costume Design – Black & White	**
Best Costume Design – Color	**
1958	Best Costume Design	Funny Face
1959	**
1960	Best Costume Design – Black & White	Career
Best Costume Design – Color	**
1961	Best Costume Design – Black & White	**
Best Costume Design – Color	Pepe
1962	Pocketful of Miracles
1963	Costume Design – Black & White	**
Best Costume Design – Color	My Geisha
1964	Best Costume Design – Black & White	Love with the Proper Stranger
Wives and Lovers
Best Costume Design – Color	**
1965	Best Costume Design – Black & White	**
Best Costume Design – Color	What a Way to Go!
1966	Best Costume Design – Black & White	**
Best Costume Design – Color	Inside Daisy Clover
1967	**
1970	Best Costume Design	Sweet Charity
1971	Airport
1974	**
1976	**
1978	Airport '77
1976	Best Costume Design	**
1999	Hall of Fame
::

Notes

References

Sources

References

1. Duka, John. (October 27, 1981). "Edith Head, Fashion Designer for the Movies, Dies". [[The New York Times]].
2. Henderson, Amy. (July 6, 2010). "Designing Woman: Edith Head in Hollywood". [[Smithsonian Institution]].
3. Shenton, Mark. (July 25, 2008). "Arts Theatre Shutters; Edith Head Will Now Play the Leicester Square Theatre".
4. (October 27, 1981). "Edith Head, designer of film costumes, dies". [[The San Bernardino Sun.
5. (October 27, 1981). "Designer Edith Head dies of rare disease". [[The Gazette (Montreal).
6. "Edith Head". [[Encyclopædia Britannica]].
7. Tangcay, Jazz. (October 28, 2020). "Sandy Powell, Trish Summerville and More on Why Edith Head’s Influence Continues to Resonate". [[Variety (magazine).
8. LoBianco, Lorraine. (November 22, 2005). "Edith Head Profile". [[Turner Classic Movies]].
9. "The 21st Academy Awards - 1949". [[Academy Awards]].
10. Meltzer, Marisa. (September 19, 2013). "Get Me Wardrobe!". [[The New York Times]].
11. Wakefield, Thirza. (October 20, 2015). "The same cloth: Edith Head and Alfred Hitchcock". [[British Film Institute]].
12. (Summer 2021). "Clothes Make the Character: Costume Collaborations of Edith Head and Alfred Hitchcock". The Missouri Review.
13. Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life. (October 22, 2013). "You Bet Your Life #54-21 Edith Head, Hollywood costume designer ('Foot', Feb 3, 1955)".
14. Smith, Olivia. "Women Find Favor With Coast Guard Fashion". U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office.
15. "Edith Head (1978)". Videofashion Vault.
16. "Head, Edith (1897–1981)". [[Cengage.
17. Morrison, Pat. (October 27, 1981). "From the Archives: Edith Head, Designer Who Dressed Film Greats, Dies". [[Los Angeles Times]].
18. (October 27, 1981). "Costume Designer Edith Head Dies". [[The Tampa Tribune]].
19. Scott, Vernon. (October 28, 1981). "Edith Head, who dressed more stars than any designer...". [[United Press International]].
20. Morrison, Pat. (October 29, 1981). "Mourners Fill Church for Edith Head Rites". [[Los Angeles Times]].
21. "Most credited costume designer". [[Guinness World Records]].
22. Fishko, Sara. (February 25, 2011). "Edith Head". [[WNYC]].
23. "Edith Head". [[Hollywood Chamber of Commerce]].
24. "Edith Head Credits". [[American Film Institute]].
25. "Fred Astaire as Ted Hanover (George Washington) in 'Holiday Inn' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
26. "Marjorie Reynolds as Linda Mason in 'Holiday Inn' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
27. Cosgrove, Jenna. (April 28, 2016). "Edith Head: Dress for Success". The 8 Percent.
28. "Betty Hutton as Pearl White in 'The Perils of Pauline' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
29. "Alan Ladd as Cadette "Rocky" Gilman in 'Beyond Glory' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
30. "Barbara Stanwyck as Vance Jeffords in 'The Furies' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
31. "Joan Fontaine as Jenny Carey in 'Something to Live For' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
32. Valdez, Maria G.. (October 28, 2013). "Google Doodle Honors Edith Head; Which 5 Latinas Did This Hollywood Designer Dress?". [[Latin Times]].
33. "Janet Leigh as Bess Houdini in 'Houdini' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Pictures Costume Design.
34. "Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Edmonds in 'Those Redheads From Seattle' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
35. "Grace Kelly as Lisa Carol Fremont in 'Rear Window' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
36. "Anne Baxter as Lorna in 'Three Violent People' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
37. (October 2, 2014). "Brilliant at ‘transforming people’ says Tippi Hedren of Edith Head". Artsmeme.
38. (June 4, 1965). "Designing Gal". [[The Daily News (Longview, Washington).
39. (February 1, 1969). "Friday's Highlights And Previews". [[Times Recorder]].
40. (July 19, 2001). "Paul Newman Costume Design Sketch by Edith Head from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"". [[Christie's]].
41. (July 19, 2001). "Katharine Ross Costume Design Sketch by Edith Head from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"". [[Christie's]].
42. "Steve Martin as Rigby Reardon in 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid' Designed by Edith Head". The Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design.
43. "The Pleasure of His Company – Credits". [[American Film Institute]].
44. "Edith Head Papers, 1934-1965". [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]].
45. Williams, Rob. (October 28, 2013). "Google Doodle Celebrates Oscar Award Winning Hollywood Costume Designer Edith Head". independent.co.uk.
46. "Film in 1976". [[British Academy Film Awards]].

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