1999 HALL OF FAME

Dorothy Jeakins (1914-1995)

As a young girl, Dorothy Jeakins found theater to be a "sweet escape into fantasy," which later led her to discover a vocation in costume design. She studied at the Otis Art Institute and after the Depression she worked briefly at the Disney studios as an illustrator for $16 a week, until a strike left her unemployed. She then took work as a fashion illustrator for I. Magnin's advertising department. When a studio art director saw her sketches, he recommended her as co-designer for "Joan of Arc," with Karinska. It was her first major film, and she won an Academy Award. Dorothy Jeakins also won Academy Awards for "Samson and Delilah" and "The Night of Iguana."

Some of her most unforgettable credits include her designs for "South Pacific," "The Sound of Music," "The Ten Commandments," "Finian's Rainbow," "True Grit," "Little Big Man," Young Frankenstein," "The Postman Always Rings Twice," and "The Dead," John Huston's last film.

One of the most versatile costume designers to work at the studios, Jeakins was knowledgeable in all aspects of costume design. Having received a Guggenheim Grant as a student to study in the Orient, she kept a life-long interest in every aspect of ethnic and tribal costume. Her film work reflects that passion.

She was the rare combination of costume historian and brilliant artist. Her costume sketches are works of art unto themselves. Edith Head, with whom she occassionally collaborated, once commented that Jeakins had a particularly good eye for color. Jeakins agreed and once described herself as having the "sensitive soul of an artist."

In 1967, she was appointed Curator of the Textile and Costume Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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