Age, Biography and Wiki
William Travilla was born on 22 March, 1920 in Los Angeles, California, U.S., is an American costume designer (1920–1990). Discover William Travilla's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 70 years old?
Popular As |
N/A |
Occupation |
Fashion designer |
Age |
70 years old |
Zodiac Sign |
Aries |
Born |
22 March 1920 |
Birthday |
22 March |
Birthplace |
Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Date of death |
2 November, 1990 |
Died Place |
Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Nationality |
United States
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We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 22 March.
He is a member of famous costume designer with the age 70 years old group.
William Travilla Height, Weight & Measurements
At 70 years old, William Travilla height not available right now. We will update William Travilla's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.
Physical Status |
Height |
Not Available |
Weight |
Not Available |
Body Measurements |
Not Available |
Eye Color |
Not Available |
Hair Color |
Not Available |
Who Is William Travilla's Wife?
His wife is Dona Drake (m. 1944-1989)
Family |
Parents |
Not Available |
Wife |
Dona Drake (m. 1944-1989) |
Sibling |
Not Available |
Children |
1 |
William Travilla Net Worth
His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is William Travilla worth at the age of 70 years old? William Travilla’s income source is mostly from being a successful costume designer. He is from United States. We have estimated William Travilla's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.
Net Worth in 2024 |
$1 Million - $5 Million |
Salary in 2024 |
Under Review |
Net Worth in 2023 |
Pending |
Salary in 2023 |
Under Review |
House |
Not Available |
Cars |
Not Available |
Source of Income |
costume designer |
William Travilla Social Network
Instagram |
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Wikipedia |
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Imdb |
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Timeline
William Travilla (March 22, 1920 – November 2, 1990), known professionally as Travilla, was an American costume designer for theatre, film, and television.
He is perhaps best known for designing costumes for Marilyn Monroe in eight of her films, as well as two of the most iconic dresses in cinematic history.
Travilla was born and raised in Los Angeles.
During adolescence, became interested in art and enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.
When Travilla was sixteen, he began to frequent burlesque clubs in order to design the dancers' costumes.
He sold pencil sketches of costume designs to the showgirls.
After inheriting $5,000 from his grandfather, Travilla used the money to travel.
He spent a year in the South Seas and Tahiti, an area which influenced his art work and designs.
After being designated 4F due to flat feet, Travilla enrolled at Woodbury University where he studied fashion designing.
Upon graduating from Woodbury, Travilla began working at Western Costume in Hollywood as ghost-sketcher for studio designers.
After a stint at Western, Travilla took a job designing at Jack's of Hollywood.
At Jack's, he was given assignments working for ice skater and actress Sonja Henie as well as for United Artists and Columbia Pictures.
Actress Ann Sheridan began collecting Travilla's work and, shortly thereafter, requested that Warner Bros. hire Travilla as her personal costume designer.
His designs for Sheridan were featured in the 1947 film noir Nora Prentiss.
The film was a hit and Travilla was hired to design costumes for Sheridan in her next film, the 1948 Western Silver River.
After work on several B movies, Travilla worked his way upward through the studio until he earned an Oscar in 1949 for the Errol Flynn swashbuckler Adventures of Don Juan, and in 1951 designed the costumes in the now classic sci-fi tale of morality The Day the Earth Stood Still.
He then worked mainly at Twentieth Century-Fox, where his credits included Elia Kazan's Viva Zapata!.
The couple had a daughter, Nia, in August 1951.
By 1952, Travilla had begun working with Marilyn Monroe and created the costumes for Don't Bother to Knock and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
He went on to design the costumes for several more of her films.
Besides winning his first Oscar, Travilla was also nominated for the Academy Award for How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953, There's No Business Like Show Business in 1954 and The Stripper in 1963.
Travilla created one of the most famous costumes in all of film – the pleated ivory cocktail dress Monroe wore in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch.
Monroe is wearing it while standing on a New York City Subway ventilation grate; the dress rises up around her as a train passes below ground.
Photographs of this scene have become synonymous with Monroe herself.
Travilla and Drake separated in 1956 but remained legally married until Drake's death in 1989.
In the late 1970s, Travilla began working mainly in television.
In 1980, he won the Emmy for "Outstanding Costume Design for a Limited Series or a Special" for The Scarlett O'Hara War, and in 1985 he won the Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Costumes for a Series" for his work on the television show Dallas.
Travilla also designed several evening gowns for Lena Horne in the 1980s.
One of his most widely seen latter-day projects was the TV mini-series The Thorn Birds in 1983.
Travilla was nominated for Emmy Awards seven times for his work on television.
On November 2, 1990, Travilla died of lung cancer at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
An exhibition of the personal collection of William Travilla began a world tour in 2008.
The show began in England, then came to Los Angeles and in 2009 to Palm Springs, California.
The collection includes gowns worn by Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Dandridge, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Faye Dunaway, Judy Garland, Sharon Tate, Jane Russell, Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Diahann Carroll, Susan Hayward, Loretta Young, Joanne Woodward, Barbara Stanwyck and many other women in film and television, as well as his Oscar, patterns, sewing room artifacts and numerous original watercolor renderings of his costume designs.
The iconic dress, which was later purchased by actress Debbie Reynolds, sold for $4,600,000 (USD) during a 2011 auction.