Irene Sharaff

From Wikipedia

Irene Sharaff (January 23, 1910 - August 10, 1993) was an

American costume designer for stage and screen. Her work earned her five

Academy Awards and a Tony Award.

After working as a fashion illustrator in her youth, Sharaff

turned to set and costume design. Her debut production was the 1931 Broadway

production of Alice in Wonderland, starring Eva Le Gallienne. Her use of silks

from Thailand for The King and I (1951) created a trend in fashion and interior

decoration.

Sharaff's work was featured in the movies West Side Story

(Academy Award, 1961), Cleopatra (Academy Award, 1963), Meet Me in St. Louis,

Hello, Dolly!, Mommie Dearest, The Other Side of Midnight, Who's Afraid of

Virginia Woolf? (Academy Award, 1966), Guys and Dolls, The Best Years of Our

Lives, The King and I (Academy Award, 1956), An American in Paris (Academy

Award, 1951), Funny Girl and Porgy and Bess.

She also designed sets and costumes for American Ballet

Theatre, the New York City Ballet, and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and

contributed illustrations to fashion magazine's such as Vogue and Harper's

Bazaar. Among her Broadway design credits are Idiot's Delight, Lady in the

Dark, As Thousands Cheer, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Flower Drum Song, and

Jerome Robbins' Broadway.

The TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award was named

for Sharaff. 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.

Irene Sharaff died in New York City at the age of 83.