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Adrian (costume designer)

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Norma Shearer in an Adrian gown.
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Norma Shearer in an Adrian gown.

Adrian Adolph Greenberg (March 3, 1903 – September 13, 1959) was a Hollywood costume designer whose most famous costumes were for The Wizard of Oz and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1930s and 1940s. On occasion, he was credited in his film work as Gilbert Adrian, (a combination of his father's forename and his own), or simply as Adrian.

Contents

Early life

Adrian was born on March 3, 1903 in Naugatuck, Connecticut to Jewish immigrant parents Gilbert and Helena (Pollack) Greenburg. He attended the New York School for Fine and Applied Arts (now Parsons School of Design). In 1922, he transferred to NYSFAA's Paris campus and while there was hired by Irving Berlin. Adrian then designed the costumes for Berlin's The Music Box Revue.

Film Work

Adrian was hired as the head costume designer for Cecil B. DeMille's independent film studio. In 1928, Cecil B. DeMille moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Adrian was hired as chief costume designer at the studio. In his career at MGM, Adrian designed costumes for over 200 films. During this time, Adrian worked with some of the biggest female stars of the day like Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Jean Harlow, and Joan Crawford. Adrian was behind Crawford's signature outfits with large shoulderpads, which later spawned a fashion trend. The Women (1939), filmed in black and white, originally included a 10 minute fashion parade in Technicolor, which featured Adrian's most outré designs; often cut in tv screenings, it has been restored to the film by Turner Classic Movies.

Later life

Adrian left MGM in 1941 to set up his own independent fashion house, though he still worked closely with Hollywood. He married Janet Gaynor in 1939, and they remained married until his death in 1959. He only returned to MGM for a final film, 1952's Lovely to Look At. Despite his success, Adrian was never nominated for an Academy Award.

Quotes

"It was because of Garbo that I left M-G-M. In her last picture they wanted to make her a sweater girl, a real American type. I said, 'When the glamour ends for Garbo, it also ends for me. She has created a type. If you destroy that illusion, you destroy her.' When Garbo walked out of the studio, glamour went with her, and so did I." [[Citing sources citation needed]]

Filmography

  • Her Sister from Paris (1925)
  • The Eagle (1925)
  • Cobra (1925)
  • The Volga Boatman (1926)
  • Fig Leaves (1926)
  • For Alimony Only (1926)
  • Young April (1926)
  • Gigolo (1926)
  • The Little Adventuress (1927)
  • Vanity (1927)
  • His Dog (1927)
  • The Country Doctor (1927)
  • The Fighting Eagle (1927)
  • The Angel of Broadway (1927)
  • The Wise Wife (1927)
  • Dress Parade (1927)
  • The Forbidden Woman (1927)
  • The Wreck of the Hesperus (1927)
  • The Main Event (1927)
  • My Friend from India (1927)
  • Chicago (1927)
  • Almost Human (1927)
  • A Ship Comes In (1928)
  • Let 'Er Go, Gallegher (1928)
  • What Price Beauty? (1928)
  • Stand and Deliver (1928)
  • The Blue Danube (1928)
  • Midnight Madness (1928)
  • Skyscraper (1928)
  • Walking Back (1928)
  • The Masks of the Devil (1928)
  • Dream of Love (1928)
  • A Lady of Chance (1928)
  • A Woman of Affairs (1928)
  • A Single Man (1929)
  • Wild Orchids (1929)
  • The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929)
  • The Godless Girl (1929)
  • The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
  • The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
  • The Single Standard (1929)
  • Our Modern Maidens (1929)
  • The Unholy Night (1929)
  • The Thirteenth Chair (1929)
  • The Kiss (1929)

External links

 

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