Edith Head Biography

Edith Head was an American costume designer, who over the course of her five-decade-long career, won a record eight Academy Awards. A California native, she earned a B.A. degree in letters and sciences with honours in French from the University of California, Berkeley and went on to obtain an M.A. degree in romance languages from Stanford University. Edith began her professional life as a language teacher at Bishop's School in La Jolla. Later, she joined Hollywood School for Girls. During her time there, she expressed her desire to teach art and subsequently attended evening classes at the Otis Art Institute and Chouinard Art College. In 1924, Edith Head landed a job as a costume sketch artist at Paramount Pictures. She first garnered fame for Dorothy Lamour’s trademark sarong dress. After the Academy set up a new category for costume design in 1948, Head became an immensely popular figure. Her close working relationships with her subjects set her apart from her peers. She provided fashion advice to virtually every female star of Hollywood, as well as a number of male actors. She spent 43 years at Paramount before joining Universal, potentially due to her successful collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock.