Walter Plunkett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walter Plunkett (June 2, 1902 - March 8, 1982) was a costume designer in the Hollywood movie industry.
Born in Oakland, California, he studied law at the University of California where he was a member of the California-Alpha chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, but showed greater interest in the campus' theatrical group. He moved to New York in 1923 and began work as a stage actor, as well as a costume and set designer. After some time in Greenwich Village, he moved back to California, this time to Hollywood, and found work as a movie extra. His acting work was short-lived, however, and he made a career change to costume and wardrobe. (He can be spotted dancing with Irene, another future top designer, in Erich von Stroheim's 1925 film "The Merry Widow".)
Plunkett's first credited work as a costume designer first appeared on screen in 1927 and during the late twenties and early thirties, while working at RKO, he built a huge costume and wardrobe department into an efficient and creative studio asset. With free reign at that studio, he set about creating costumes that rivaled the work of his contemporaries, such as Travis Banton and Adrian.
His best-known work is featured in two particular films, Gone with the Wind and Singin' in the Rain, in which he lampooned his initial style of the 'roaring 20s'.
He shared an Academy Award in 1951 with Orry-Kelly and Irene for "An American in Paris".
Plunkett retired in 1966, after having worked in films, on Broadway and for the Metropolitan Opera. He spent the last years of his life with his partner Lee, whom he formerly adopted so that he could inherit his estate.
