Leah Rhodes

Leah Rhodes started her working life rather modestly as a window dresser in her home town and in San Antonio. After moving from Texas to California in 1926 she gained on-the-job experience in the Warner Brothers wardrobe department, eventually becoming apprenticed to the legendary Orry-Kelly. By 1939, she was officially signed under contract as a fully-fledged costume designer and began to work on A-grade features, effectively replacing Orry-Kelly who had been drafted for wartime military service. Rhodes remained at Warners until 1950, then headed the costume department at Universal, followed by a spell at Paramount. She also designed for television and for specialty shows in Las Vegas. On Broadway, she collaborated with Edith Head on the costumes for "Edwin Booth" (1959), directed by José Ferrer. Many of her designs played an important part in creating screen history, as, for example, Lauren Bacall's gowns for The Big Sleep (1946) which set the standard for the Bacall 'look' in subsequent films. Leah's rich, colourful costumes also added immensely to the lavish Technicolor swashbuckler Adventures of Don Juan (1948), for which she, and co-designers Marjorie Best and Travilla, deservedly shared an Academy Award.