Florence Klotz
| Florence Klotz | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kathrina Klotz |
| Born |
October 28, 1920 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died |
November 1, 2006 Manhattan |
| Nationality |
 United States |
| Field | costume designer |
| Awards | Tony Award for Best Costume Design |
Florence Klotz (October 28, 1920 – November 1, 2006) was an American costume designer on Broadway and film.
Biography
Originally named as Kathrina Klotz, she later changed her name to "Florence" and was often nicknamed "Flossie".
Born in Brooklyn, New York, she graduated from Parsons School of Design, and went to work painting fabrics for Brooks Costumes.[1][2]
Klotz began her career in 1951 as an assistant to Irene Sharaff, who designed the costumes for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's The King and I It was there she met her companion for the next half century Ruth Mitchell who later would co-produce Broadway shows with Harold S. Prince.
She worked with Jerome Robbins, designing costumes for Madama Butterfly for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the film version of A Little Night Music. She became friendly with actress Elizabeth Taylor on the set of this last venture, for which Klotz was nominated for an Academy Award — Taylor asked Klotz to design the lavender dress she wore for her wedding to Senator John Warner in 1976. Other musicals she designed for included City of Angels, On the Twentieth Century, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, Grind, and The Little Foxes.
Costume design
Klotz designed costumes for many Broadway productions, including:
- Show Boat
- Kiss of the Spider Woman
- City of Angels
- Roza
- Rags
- Jerry's Girls
- Grind
- Peg
- A Doll's Life
- The Little Foxes
- Goodbye Fidel
- Harold and Maude
- On the Twentieth Century
- Side by Side by Sondheim
- Legend
- Pacific Overtures
- Dreyfus in Rehearsal
- A Little Night Music
- Follies
- Norman, Is That You?
- Paris Is Out!
- "It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman"
- The Best Laid Plans
- Mating Dance
- One by One (1964)
- The Owl and the Pussycat
- Nobody Loves an Albatross
- On an Open Roof
- Never Too Late
- Take Her, She's Mine
- Jerome Robbins' Ballet: U.S.A.
- A Call on Kuprin
- Carousel
Death
Klotz died at her Manhattan home of cardiac arrest at age 86. She is survived by her niece, Suzanne DeMarco. Klotz's partner, producer and stage manager Ruth Mitchell, died in 2000.[3]
Awards
All of the Tony Awards Klotz won were for musicals produced by Hal Prince with whom she had a long association.
- 1995: Show Boat
- 1993: Kiss of the Spider Woman: The Musical
- 1985: Grind
- 1976: Pacific Overtures
- 1973: A Little Night Music
- 1972: Follies
She won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design five times, three L.A. Critic Circle Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards. In 2002, she received the Patricia Zipprodt Award from the Fashion Institute of Technology; and in 2005, she won the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award.
References
- ↑ Michael Portantiere (2 November 2006). "Florence Klotz, Tony Award Winning Costume Designer, Dies at 86". TheatreMania. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- ↑ Andrew Gans; Robert Simonson (2 November 2006). "Florence Klotz, Tony-Winning Costume Designer, Dead at 86". Playbill. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- ↑ Campbell Robertson (3 November 2006). "Florence Klotz, 86, Creator of Broadway Styles, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
External links
- Florence Klotz at the Internet Broadway Database
- Florence Klotz at the Internet Movie Database
- Florence Klotz obituary, San Jose Mercury News
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