Irene Sharaff

Irene Sharaff (January 23, 1910 – August 16, 1993) was an American costume designer for stage and screen. Her accolades include five Academy Awards and a Tony Award. Sharaff is universally recognized as one of the greatest costume designers of all time.

Background Sharaff was born in Boston to parents of Armenian descent. She studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, the Art Students League of New York, and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.

Career

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, Virginia, 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.

Death Sharaff died in New York City of congestive heart failure, complicated by emphysema, at the age of 83.

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 A Happening in Central Park (TV Special) 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 (Costume and Production Designer) 1954 Brigadoon 1953 Call Me Madam 1951 The Guy Who Came Back 1951 An American in Paris 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 The Hucksters 1947 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947 Song of the Thin Man 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; uncredited) 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 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 You'll Never Get Rich 1939 Eternally Yours 1938 Vivacious Lady

Awards and nominations AwardYearCategoryWorkResult Academy Awards 1952 Best Costume Design – Color An American in Paris 1954 Call Me Madam 1955 Brigadoon Best Art Direction – Color A Star Is Born Best Costume Design – Color 1956 Guys and Dolls 1957 The King and I 1960 Porgy and Bess 1961 Can-Can 1962 West Side Story Flower Drum Song 1964 Cleopatra 1967 Best Costume Design – Black-and-White Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1968 Best Costume Design The Taming of the Shrew 1970 Hello, Dolly! 1978 The Other Side of Midnight British Academy Film Awards 1970 Best Costume Design Funny Girl Tony Awards 1952 Best Costume Design The King and I 1957 Candide / Happy Hunting / Shangri-La / Small War on Murray Hill 1958 West Side Story 1959 Flower Drum Song 1964 The Girl Who Came to Supper 1966 Sweet Charity 1968 Hallelujah, Baby!

Other recognition Sharaff was the first recipient of the TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, which was named in her honor. Sharaff was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1997. Sharaff was inducted into the Costume Designers Guild Hall of Fame in 1999.