Phyllis Dalton, Oscar-Winning Costume Designer Dies At 99

Phyllis Dalton, the revered British costume designer who created Peter O’Toole’s costume for David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and an Oscar winner for her work on Lean’s Doctor Zhivago and Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V passed away at the age of 99.

Phyllis died on January 9, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The cause of death and other details are not currently available.

Despite being a costume designer, Phyllis was not a small name in the Hollywood industry. During her 50-year-plus career, this costume designer received an Oscar and BAFTA nomination for Carol Reed’s Victorian-era best picture winner ‘Oliver!’ (1968). She won a BAFTA for ‘The Hireling’ (1973) which was set in post-World War 1.

She later landed an Emmy for Clive Donner’s 1982 telefilm ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’. It takes place amid the French Revolution.

Phyllis’s journey didn’t start with the direct entry to pedestal opportunities. She had to work her way to success.

She started as a wardrobe assistant on Laurence Olivier’s ‘Henry V’ (1944) and got her first costume designer credit dressing Richard Todd and Glynis Johns on ‘Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue’ (1953).

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Phyllis even aided the legendary Edith Head on Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ (1956).

Dalton received praise for the swashbuckling costumes in Rob Reiner’s ‘The Princess Bride’ (1987), the neo-noir thriller ‘Dead Again’ (1991) and the romantic comedy ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ (1993).

Dalton wasn’t even nominated for her most recognizable work — the precision military costumes and Arab wear she designed for Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

The director of the film, David Lean later expressed his disappointment to Phyllis. As per THR, the letter read, “In a letter, Lean wrote to her expressing his disappointment at the lack of recognition: “I blame Columbia and [producer] Sam [Spiegel] for not somehow getting you nominated for your wonderful job. You did it so beautifully that I think they failed to realize every costume was an original by you.”

The film received 10 Oscar nominations and won the prizes for Best Picture, director, cinematographer (Freddie Young), Art Direction (John Box, John Stoll, Dario Simoni), sound (John Cox), editing (Anne V. Coates) and Score (Maurice Jarre).

(With Inputs from ANI)

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