Irene Sharaff
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Irene Sharaff (b. 23 January 1910, Boston - d. August 10, 1993, New York City) was an award-winning American costume designer.
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[edit] Beginnings
Irene Sharaff was brought up by her mother. As a teenager she studied painting at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now the Parsons School of Design) in New York City. She moved to Paris where she continued her study of art at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.
In 1928 she was hired by Aline Bernstein at Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre as her assistant for costumes, scenery and properties. She made her professional debut in 1932 with Alice in Wonderland. Sharaff later created scenery and costumes for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo, the New York City Ballet, and the Royal Ballet in London.
[edit] Hollywood and Broadway
Sharaff contributed to more than sixty stage productions. Her stylish designs were based on meticulous research. The rich costumes for The King and I made Thai silk fashionable. In Hollywood she was nominated 15 times for the Academy Award for her costume designs and won five times : An American in Paris, (for which she also designed the scenery for Gene Kelly's ballet sequence), The King and I, West Side Story, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award, was named after her and she was its first recipient in 1993. The award is now bestowed annually to a costume designer who, over the course of his or her career, has achieved great distinction and mastery of the art in theatre, film, opera or dance .
[edit] Filmography
- 1981 Mommie Dearest
- 1977 The Other Side of Midnight
- 1970 The Great White Hope
- 1969 Hello, Dolly!
- 1969 Justine
- 1968 Funny Girl
- 1967 The Taming of the Shrew
- 1967 Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park
- 1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- 1965 The Sandpiper
- 1963 Cleopatra
- 1961 Flower Drum Song
- 1961 West Side Story
- 1960 Can-Can
- 1959 Porgy and Bess
- 1956 The King and I
- 1955 Guys and Dolls
- 1954 A Star is Born (Production Designer)
- 1954 Brigadoon
- 1953 Call Me Madam
- 1951 The Guy Who Came Back
- 1951 An American in Paris
- 1950 Shadow on the Wall
- 1950 Key to the City
- 1949 In the Good Old Summertime
- 1948 Every Girl Should Be Married
- 1948 A Song Is Born
- 1947 The Unfinished Dance
- 1947 The Romance of Rosy Ridge
- 1947 Fiesta
- 1947 The Hucksters
- 1947 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
- 1947 Song of the Thin Man
- 1947 The High Barbaree
- 1947 The Arnelo Affair
- 1947 The Beginning or the End
- 1947 If Winter Comes
- 1947 Living in a Big Way
- 1947 The Bishop's Wife
- 1946 Two Sisters from Boston
- 1946 The Secret Heart
- 1946 Courage of Lassie
- 1946 The Dark Mirror
- 1946 Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
- 1946 Ziegfeld Follies Production Designer
- 1946 Easy to Wed
- 1946 The Green Years
- 1946 The Hoodlum Saint
- 1946 The Best Years of Our Lives
- 1945 Twice Blessed
- 1945 The Valley of Decision
- 1945 The Picture of Dorian Gray
- 1945 Adventure
- 1945 The Hidden Eye
- 1945 Her Highness and the Bellboy
- 1944 Meet Me in St. Louis
- 1944 Gaslight
- 1944 The Thin Man Goes Home
- 1944 Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
- 1944 Gentle Annie
- 1944 Broadway Rhythm
- 1943 Swing Shift Maisie
- 1943 A Stranger in Town
- 1943 I Dood It
- 1943 Madame Curie
- 1943 The Human Comedy
- 1941 The Devil and Miss Jones
- 1941 Mr. and Mrs. Smith
- 1941 You'll Never Get Rich
- 1939 Eternally Yours
- 1938 Vivacious Lady
