- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEdith Claire Posener
- Nickname
- The Doctor
- Height5′ 1½″ (1.56 m)
- Edith Head was born on October 28, 1897 in San Bernardino, California, USA. She was a costume designer and actress, known for Sabrina (1954), All About Eve (1950) and The Sting (1973). She was married to Wiard Ihnen and Charles Head. She died on October 24, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- SpousesWiard Ihnen(September 8, 1940 - June 22, 1979) (his death)Charles Head(July 25, 1923 - 1938) (divorced)
- Her 35 Oscar nominations and eight awards make her both the most honored costume designer and woman in Academy Award history to date.
- The character "Edna Mode" in Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles (2004) was modeled on her.
- Her trademark "sunglasses" were not "sunglasses" but rather blue lensed glasses. Looking through a blue glass was a common trick of costumers in the days of Black and White film to get a sense of how a color would photograph. Edith had a pair of glasses made out of the proper shade of blue glass to save herself from looking through a single lens. Her friends commonly would see her in regular "clear" glasses.
- The project she was most proud of was in the late 1970s when she designed a woman's uniform for the United States Coast Guard, in response to growing number of women in the service. She received the Meritorious Public Service Award for her efforts.
- Extremely diplomatic, she went out of her way to get along with co-workers and rarely gossiped. In later interviews, however, she mentioned that she did not enjoy working with Mary Martin, Claudette Colbert or Hedy Lamarr. In Paulette Goddard's case, she thought it was insensitive for the glamorous star to bring her bulging jewelry boxes to the studio workroom and tell her seamstresses (who were working for minimum wage) that they could "look, but not touch".
- 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 completely 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.
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