Oscar-Winning Costume Designer

Anthony Powell

By Richard Sandomir | April 29, 2021

The New York Times: Anthony Powell, Oscar-Winning Costume Designer, Dies at 85

He was honored for “Travels With My Aunt,” “Death on the Nile” and “Tess.” He was also renowned for the outlandish outfits he created for Glenn Close as the evil Cruella de Vil.

Anthony Powell, an inventive British costume designer who won three Oscars but is perhaps best known for the outlandish clothing he conceived for Glenn Close as the fur-loving Cruella de Vil in “101 Dalmatians” and its sequel, died on April 16 in London. He was 85.

The Costume Designers Guild announced his death but did not cite the cause. His fellow costume designer Tom Rand said he had died in a nursing home.

“There’s so much intelligence behind his work, no matter the genre or the character,” said Keith Lodwick, curator of theater and screen art at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. “You watch a movie like ‘Evil Under the Sun,’ and you see extraordinary detail — like in one scene, Roddy McDowall’s red socks match the red carnation on his jacket.”

Mr. Powell, who brought deep research to his work in both theater and film, won a Tony Award for the 1963 production of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 18th-century comedy of manners “The School for Scandal,” his first Broadway show. He collaborated on movies with Steven Spielberg and Roman Polanski. He won his Oscars for “Travels With My Aunt” (1972), directed by George Cukor; “Death on the Nile” (1978), directed by John Guillermin; and “Tess” (1979), the first of his three films with Mr. Polanski.

Read Full Article @TheNewYorkTimes

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