Travilla
- Known for
- Costume & Make-Up
- Born
- March 22, 1920
- Died
- November 2, 1990 (aged 70)
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, USA
Biography
The man who draped a fringed Idaho potato sack on Marilyn Monroe for a famous snapshot - proving that she looked good in anything - was born on Catalina Island off the California coast on March 22 1920. He studied at the Chouinard School of Art in L.A., showing a precocious talent for drawing fashion design from an early age. By the time he was sixteen, he made money by selling sketches of costume designs for showgirls he had studied at burlesque houses. Found unfit for wartime duties due to flat feet, William Travilla made his way to Hollywood and signed his first contract as costume designer at Columbia in 1941. However, during his two-year tenure he received rather few assignments and left disillusioned. Little work came his way during the next few years, until, in 1946, he was spotted in a nightclub (selling travel sketches of the South Pacific) by the actress Ann Sheridan, who became an instant admirer of his work. Sheridan persuaded Travilla to become her personal costume designer at Warner Brothers. This didn't quite come to pass, though he did design her gowns for Nora Prentiss (1947). More importantly, he notched up his first major success by winning the Academy Award for the lavish and colourful costumes of Adventures of Don Juan (1948) in conjunction with Leah Rhodes and Marjorie Best. After his three year contract was up, Travilla went on to 20th Century Fox, for what would become the most productive period of his career in the film business. At the same time, he set up his own high end fashion salon, Travilla Inc., in Los Angeles, creating several collections of elegant, award-winning designs. Travilla dressed many established stars, from Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford, to Loretta Young. However, he is chiefly remembered for the iconic gowns, designed for Marilyn Monroe's famous hourglass shape in eight of her most popular films. These include her sexy satin number from How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), the gold lame dress with the sun ray pleats glimpsed in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and, subsequently, at the 1953 Photoplay Awards (over Travilla's objections); and, of course, the white cocktail dress famously uplifted above the subway grate in The Seven Year Itch (1955). One of three versions of the latter sold at auction for $ 4.6 million in 2011. Despite their close working relationship, Travilla later went on record describing Marilyn on a personal level as 'childlike' and plagued by feelings of inadequacy. After his contract with Fox expired in 1956, Travilla tended to his own exclusive label, designing a collection of ready-to-wear 'California' fashion. In the 1960's, he continued to freelance, working primarily for television. He showed off a young Connie Sellecca to great effect in a murder mystery revolving around the fashion industry, fittingly titled She's Dressed to Kill (1979). Ever synonymous with a bygone era of glamour, he went on to win two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Costume Design for The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) and for Dallas (1978). An exhibition of his personal collection, under the auspices of his longtime collaborator William Sarris, went on a world tour in 2008.
Known For
Filmography
The Thorn Birds
TV · Costume Design · 4 eps
Evita Peron
Movie · Costume Design
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy
Movie · Costume Design
This Year's Blonde
Movie · Costume Design
Caboblanco
Movie · Costume Design
The Silent Lovers
Movie · Costume Design
The Scarlett O'Hara War
Movie · Costume Design
She's Dressed to Kill
Movie · Costume Design
The Big Cube
Movie · Costume Design
The Secret Life of an American Wife
Movie · Costume Design
The Boston Strangler
Movie · Costume Supervisor
Valley of the Dolls
Movie · Costume Design
Mary, Mary
Movie · Costume Designer
The Stripper
Movie · Costume Design
Take Her, She's Mine
Movie · Costume Design
From the Terrace
Movie · Costume Design
Shirley Temple's Storybook
TV · Costume Designer · 1 ep
The Proud Ones
Movie · Costume Design
Bus Stop
Movie · Costume Design
The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
Movie · Costume Design
The Bottom of the Bottle
Movie · Costume Design
The Revolt of Mamie Stover
Movie · Costume Design
23 Paces to Baker Street
Movie · Costume Design
How to Be Very, Very Popular
Movie · Costume Design
The Rains of Ranchipur
Movie · Costume Design
The Seven Year Itch
Movie · Costume Design
White Feather
Movie · Costume Design
The Left Hand of God
Movie · Costume Design
The Tall Men
Movie · Costume Design
Princess of the Nile
Movie · Costume Design
Garden of Evil
Movie · Costume Design
Broken Lance
Movie · Costume Design
The Raid
Movie · Costume Design
River of No Return
Movie · Costume Design
Black Widow
Movie · Costume Design
There's No Business Like Show Business
Movie · Costume Design
Three Young Texans
Movie · Costume Design
Hell and High Water
Movie · Costume Designer
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Movie · Costume Design
The Girl Next Door
Movie · Costume Design
King of the Khyber Rifles
Movie · Costume Design
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Movie · Costume Design
Pickup on South Street
Movie · Costume Design
How to Marry a Millionaire
Movie · Costume Design
Man in the Attic
Movie · Costume Design
Powder River
Movie · Costume Design
Appointment in Honduras
Movie · Costume Design
Bloodhounds of Broadway
Movie · Costume Design
Monkey Business
Movie · Costume Designer
Don't Bother to Knock
Movie · Costume Design
Viva Zapata!
Movie · Costume Design
Dreamboat
Movie · Costume Design
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Movie · Costume Design
Meet Me After the Show
Movie · Costume Design
Bird of Paradise
Movie · Costume Design
On the Riviera
Movie · Costume Design
Rawhide
Movie · Costume Design
Mother Didn't Tell Me
Movie · Costume Design
Mister 880
Movie · Costume Design
I'll Get By
Movie · Costume Design
Panic in the Streets
Movie · Costume Design
The Gunfighter
Movie · Costume Design
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Movie · Costume Design
When Willie Comes Marching Home
Movie · Costume Design
American Guerrilla in the Philippines
Movie · Costume Design
No Way Out
Movie · Costume Design
Look for the Silver Lining
Movie · Costume Design
The Inspector General
Movie · Costume Design
Dancing in the Dark
Movie · Costume Design
Flamingo Road
Movie · Costume Design
Two Guys from Texas
Movie · Costume Design
Adventures of Don Juan
Movie · Costume Supervisor
Silver River
Movie · Costume Designer, Wardrobe Designer
Love and Learn
Movie · Wardrobe Designer
Escape Me Never
Movie · Costume Design
Cry Wolf
Movie · Costume Design
My Wild Irish Rose
Movie · Costume Design
Nora Prentiss
Movie · Costume Design
The Beast with Five Fingers
Movie · Wardrobe Designer
The Unfaithful
Movie · Costume Designer
The Verdict
Movie · Costume Design
The Desperadoes
Movie · Costume Design
The Woman of the Town
Movie · Costume Design
Fiesta
Movie · Costume Design