Joan Ellacott

Life Ellacott was born in London on 15 February 1920, and grew up in the USA.

Ellacott's first professional role came in 1946, when she assisted Elizabeth Haffenden on the Gainsborough Pictures film Jassy.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Ellacott specialised in British comedy films. In Mad About Men (1954), Ellacott dressed star Glynis Johns as two characters, a glamorous mermaid and her prim doppelgänger. She went on to design costume for many of the Carry On films of that era, including Carry on Sergeant (1958), Carry on Nurse (1959), Carry on Cruising (1962) and Carry on Cabby (1964), all directed by Gerald Thomas.

Later in the decade, Ellacott left film to design costumes for television's The Forsyte Saga (1967), The series of 25 episodes required 700 costumes for men, and nearly 1500 for women. For the costumes for Pride and Prejudice (1979, directed by Cyril Coke), Ellacott studied surviving costumes in museums to achieve authentic period cuts and fabrics.

In 1976, Ellacott collaborated with BBC costume designer James Acheson on the Doctor Who episode The Deadly Assassin. Ellacott's final credit was as costume designer for Duel of Hearts (1991), an adaptation of Barbara Cartland's romantic novel.

Ellacott's costume design for Brigette Bardot in Doctor at Sea (1955) was shown in the exhibition Stage and Screen: Designs from the James L Gordon Collection at the Hunterian Gallery, Glasgow.

Ellacott was married to actor Michael Mulcaster.

Awards and nominations Joan Ellacott was nominated for the following awards:

1977: Primetime Emmy Awards, Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama or Comedy Series for Madame Bovary. 1978: British Academy Television Awards, Best Costume Design for Anna Karenina. 1981: British Academy Television Awards, Best Costume Design for Pride and Prejudice.

These were BBC productions, made in the UK and distributed in the USA by Masterpiece Theatre, bringing Ellacott's costume designs to an international TV audience.