Description

Initialed lower right, ‘DJ’, for Dorothy Jeakins (American, 1914-1995) and dated 1957. Titled, ‘Look Homeward, Angel’ and ‘Eugene Grant, Anthony Perkins’. Inscribed with costume designer notes and bearing costumer’s fabric swatches. Costumes for this production were mostly undertaken by Motley Design Group (Margaret Harris, Audrey Sophia Harris and Elizabeth Montgomery). Jeakins was a close personal friend of Perkins and would likely have designed this costume as a personal favor to the actor

Premiering on November 28, 1957 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway, ‘Look Homeward, Angel’ ran for a total of 564 performances, closing on April 4, 1959. Directed by George Roy Hill, written by Ketti Frings, and based on Thomas Wolfe’s 1929 largely autobiographical novel of the same title, the cast starred Jo Van Fleet and Anthony Perkins. Ketti Frings won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. The production received Tony Award nominations for Best Play; Best Actor in a Play (Hugh Griffith and Anthony Perkins); Best Actress in a Play (Jo Van Fleet); Best Scenic Design (Jo Mielziner); Best Costume Design (Motley); and Best Director (George Roy Hill).

Academy-award winning costume designer Dorothy Jeakins began her career as an illustrator at Disney studios after studying at Otis Art Institute (Los Angeles). Her costume sketches are considered works of art. She then did fashion illustration for I. Magnin’s advertising department, where her sketches caught the eye of a studio director. He recommended her as co-designer for Joan of Arc, for which she was awarded the first-ever Oscar® for costume design.

She went on to win Academy Awards for Samson and Delilah and The Night of the Iguana. Among her other credits are South Pacific, The Sound of Music, The Ten Commandments, Finian’s Rainbow, True Grit, Little Big Man, Young Frankenstein, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and The Dead. One of the most versatile costume designers in the film industry, Jeakins received a Guggenheim grant to the Orient, and had a lifelong interest in ethnic and tribal costumes. In 1967, she was appointed curator of the Textile and Costume Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.See

Dimensions

14.75ʺW × 0.13ʺD × 20ʺH

Styles

American

Illustration

Frame Type

Unframed

Art Subjects

Figure

Fashion

Period

1950s

Country of Origin

United States

Item Type

Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned

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Materials

Fabric

Graphite

Paper

Condition

Good Condition, Original Design Modified, Some Imperfections

Color

Antique White

Condition Notes

Fair: paper laid down on archival, cotton-rag matboard; age-toning, minor restoration, minor abrasions, minor stains; unframed.Fair: paper laid down on archival, cotton-rag matboard; age-toning, minor restoration, minor abrasions, minor stains; unframed.