Ann Roth
About
Biography
Filmography
Notes
Costume designer Ann Roth on a recent costuming difficulty: "There was an actress on Broadway recently who was playing a Jew. So I produced a Star of David for her to wear and she said she would never wear something like that. I said 'It's not about what you would wear, sweetheart, but what your character would wear'. I hadn't heard that kind of thing for years--most actors these days will go a long way to nail their characters." --quoted in The London Times, February 14, 2000
"That long period before shooting starts, when you're just sketching on your own, that's the part I love best. Irene Sharif [sic] once said that if you get 75 per cent of what you want on the screen, you're very lucky. I've been very lucky, most of all on 'The Day of the Locust', my all-time favorite. But that blue coat in 'Ripley', you get to see it only for a second, but I'm pretty proud of that, too." --Ann Roth quoted in the London Times, February 14, 2000
Biography
A veteran costume designer, Ann Roth had amassed more than twenty Broadway credits before entering films with George Roy Hill's "The World of Henry Orient" (1964). Over the past four decades, she has developed a close collaboration with director Mike Nichols both on stage and in features and is responsible for creating some of cinema's most seminal looks. From the contemporary looks of "Pretty Poison" (1968) and "The Owl and the Pussycat" (1970) to the mid-20th century sophistication of "The Mambo Kings" (1992) and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999) to the outlandish costumes of "The Birdcage" (1996), Roth's designs have been exceptional examples of historical and social accuracy in costuming.
Unlike many of her contemporaries, Roth excelled at designing modern-day costumes, and has also shown a flair for period pieces. She earned her degree from Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie-Mellon University) and by the late 1950s was working in New York theater. Among her numerous stage credits are "Purlie Victorious" (1961) and its musical version "Purlie" (1970), "Seesaw" (1973), her Tony-nominated work for the all-star revival of "The Royal Family" (1975), "The Crucifer of Blood" (1978) and "The House of Blue Leaves" (1986) and more recently, "Present Laughter" (1996).
On screen, Roth has designed signature costumes for characters as diverse as Jon Voight's titular "Midnight Cowboy" (1969, the white fringed jacket), Jane Fonda's prostitute in "Klute" (1971), Meryl Streep's "Silkwood" (1983), Glenn Close's "Maxie" (1985) and Melanie Griffith's "Working Girl" (1988). Roth has frequently dressed these stars in many of their other vehicles, always providing appropriate costumes, whether it be middle-class (Glenn Close in "The World According to Garp," 1982) or high society (Melanie Griffith in "Bonfire of the Vanities" 1990). Her work with Jane Fonda took her from her stylish "Klute" wear to the frumpy out-of-touch uniform favored by her meek "9 to 5" character, to the disheveled look donned by the alcohol-hazed woman in "The Morning After" (1986), each one ringing true in the film's context. "Dave" (1992), and "Primary Colors" (1998) proved Roth could outfit the White House, while "A Stranger Among Us" showed her capabilities with the strictly traditional, finely crafted clothing favored by Hasidim. A frequent collaborator of Mike Nichols, Roth has costumed no fewer than ten of his films, from the hard-hitting biopic "Silkwood" to the zany comedy "What Planet Are You From?" (2000).
The costumer has also demonstrated her range in several period dramas, such as her BAFTA Award-winning work in "The Day of the Locust" (1975), the Patsy Cline biopic "Sweet Dreams" (1985) and her Oscar-nominated efforts in Robert Benton's "Places in the Heart" (1984). The costumes for Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient" won Roth her first Oscar after over 30 prolific years in the movie business, and upon reteaming with Minghella in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," she was nominated for the prestigious trophy again, this time for her 1940s jet-set wardrobe.
On the small screen, Roth worked on the TV-movies "The Rivalry" and "The Silence" (both NBC, 1975) and the Bette Davis-Gena Rowlands vehicle "Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter" (CBS, 1979). She served as a consultant on the 1986 PBS' miniseries "Roanoak," for which she garnered an Emmy nod. That network also aired productions of "The House of Blue Leaves" (1987) and "O Pioneers!" (1991), for which Roth recreated her original stage designs.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Costume-Wardrobe (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Costume-Wardrobe (Special)
Costume-Wardrobe (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1958
First stage credits, "Maybe Tuesday", "Make a Million" and "The Disenchanted"
1964
First feature credit, "The World of Henry Orient"
1965
First collaboration with Mike Nichols, the Broadway production of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple"
1967
Costumed the high school-set drama "Up the Down Staircase"
1969
Was costume designer of "Midnight Cowboy"
1971
Designed the costumes for "Klute", featuring Jane Fonda
1972
Costumed the cast of the fact-based Mafia crime drama "The Valachi Papers"
1975
Was costume designer of "Nunzio", "The Day of the Locust" and "The Happy Hooker"
1975
Designed the costumes for NBC's "The Rivalry", an adaptation of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates
1976
Garnered first Tony nomination for the revival of "The Royal Family"
1977
Designed costumes for "Coming Home" (starring Jane Fonda) and Herbert Ross' "The Goodbye Girl" (script by Neil Simon)
1978
Designed the costumes for the Broadway run of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"
1978
Costumed Fonda again in "California Suite"
1979
Did the costumes for the stage musical "They're Playing Our Song" on Broadway
1979
Won second Tony nomination for "The Crucifer of Blood", a Victorian England-set drama about Sherlock Holmes
1980
Was designer of the mystery thriller "Dressed to Kill" and the comedy "9 to 5" (starring Jane Fonda)
1981
Costumed Jane Fonda again in "Rollover"; additionally designed costumes for the films "Blow Out", "Honky Tonk Freeway" and "Only When I Laugh"
1982
First designed costumes for Glenn Close in "The World According to Garp"
1983
Made first feature film collaboration with Mike Nichols as costumer of "Silkwood"
1984
Won first Oscar nomination for her designs for Robert Benton's "Places in the Heart"
1984
Designed costumes for the Broadway production of "Hurlyburly", directed by Nichols
1985
Served as costume consultant on the PBS special "Roanoke"; earned Emmy nomination
1985
Was costume designer for Broadway revivals of "The Odd Couple", "Singin' in the Rain" and "Arms and the Man"; also did costumes for Neil Simon's "Biloxi Blues"
1985
Costumed the casts of "The Slugger's Wife", "Jagged Edge", "Maxie" and "Sweet Dreams"
1986
Created clothing for the stage revival of "The House of Blue Leaves"; production transferred to Broadway
1986
Did costumes for Mike Nichols' "Heartburn" and dressed Jane Fonda in "The Morning After"
1988
Was costume designer for two features starring Daniel Day-Lewis: the striking drama "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and the lighthearted comedy "Stars and Bars"
1988
Designed costumes for Mike Nichols' "Working Girl"
1989
Was costume designer for Broadway's "Born Yesterday"
1989
Was costume designer of the films "The January Man", "Her Alibi" and "Family Business"
1990
Designed costumes for the features "Everybody Wins", "Q&A","Postcards From the Edge", "Pacific Heights" and "Bonfire of the Vanities"
1991
Was costume designer for Mike Nichols' "Regarding Henry"
1992
Designed costumes for the Broadway production of "Death and the Maiden" starring Glenn Close and "A Small Family Business"
1992
Costumed the casts of "The Mambo Kings", "A Stranger Among Us", "School Ties" and "Consenting Adults"
1993
Was costume designer for the feature adaptation of "Dennis the Menace and outfitted Sigourney Weaver in "Dave"
1994
Designed the costumes for the Mike Nichols psychological horror thriller "Wolf" and the comedy "Guarding Tess"
1995
Designed Glenn Close's costumes in the fact-based NBC TV-movie "Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story"
1995
Costumed the casts of "Just Cause" and "Sabrina"
1996
Won Best Costume Design Oscar for "The English Patient", directed by Anthony Minghella
1996
Was costume designer of the courtroom drama "Before and After" and Mike Nichols' "The Birdcage"
1996
Designed the costumes for the Broadway revival of "Present Laughter"
1997
Was costume designer of "In & Out"
1998
Costumed "Primary Colors" for Mike Nichols; additionally worked as designer of "The Siege" and "Hush"
1999
Was costume designer of "Random Hearts" and the modern-day remake of "The Out-of-Towners"
1999
Reteamed with Minghella for "The Talented Mr. Ripley"; earned an Academy Award nomination for her efforts
2003
Served as costume designer for drama "The Hours"; recieved an Oscar nomination for her achievements in costume design
Videos
Trailer
Bibliography
Notes
Costume designer Ann Roth on a recent costuming difficulty: "There was an actress on Broadway recently who was playing a Jew. So I produced a Star of David for her to wear and she said she would never wear something like that. I said 'It's not about what you would wear, sweetheart, but what your character would wear'. I hadn't heard that kind of thing for years--most actors these days will go a long way to nail their characters." --quoted in The London Times, February 14, 2000
"That long period before shooting starts, when you're just sketching on your own, that's the part I love best. Irene Sharif [sic] once said that if you get 75 per cent of what you want on the screen, you're very lucky. I've been very lucky, most of all on 'The Day of the Locust', my all-time favorite. But that blue coat in 'Ripley', you get to see it only for a second, but I'm pretty proud of that, too." --Ann Roth quoted in the London Times, February 14, 2000
