Orry-Kelly
Orry- Kelly ( born December 31, 1897 in Kiama, New South Wales, Australia as John Orry Kelly, † February 27, 1964 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA ) was an Australian- American costume designer.
Career
After studying art John Orry Kelly first worked in Sydney, Australia as a tailor and window dresser. His acting ambitions led him then to relocation to the U.S., where he was initially based in New York. There, he shared an apartment, inter alia, with Cary Grant. From him prepared for a nightclub murals got him a job as a film title designer at the Fox Film Corporation. During this time he was also working as a costume designer on Broadway and stage sets.
After attempts to establish itself as a nightclub operator had failed against the backdrop of the Great Depression, he made his way to Hollywood in 1932. There he was active in the following years for the major movie studios Warner Brothers, Universal, RKO, 20th Century Fox and MGM. Already at the beginning of his Hollywood career, he designed costumes for a number of leading actresses of that time, like Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Kay Francis, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck and Merle Oberon. Among the best known films for which he provided over the years costume designs include The 42nd Street, Hell, where is thy victory, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, An American in Paris and Some Like it Hot. By the end of his career, in 1963 the now firmierende as Orry- Kelly artist was involved in more than 300 films. Among his last works were the costumes for Irma la Douce.
After a successful career that was crowned with three Oscars, but also overshadowed by many years of excessive drinking, he died in 1964 from liver cancer.