Out Spotlight CVII

Today's Out Spotlight is the prolific Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly

John Orry-Kelly was born December 31,1897 Kiama, New South Wales in Australia, he grew up to study art there, becoming a tailor's apprentice and window dresser in Sydney.

Orry-Kelly was the professional name of John Orry Kelly, some sources cite his name as George Orry Kelly. Taking the name Orry was the name of an ancient King of Man. His father William Kelly, was born on the Isle of Man and was a gentleman tailor in Kiama.

He traveled to New York to pursue an acting career and ended up shared an apartment there with actors Charlie Spangles and Cary Grant. A job painting murals in a nightclub led to a job at Fox East Coast studios illustrating titles. He designed costumes and sets for Broadway's Shubert Revues and George White's Scandals.

During his time in New York, he became friends with Boston-born Mitchell ("Mit") Foster and MGM's biggest star William "Billy" Haines, who forced to enter a 'lavendar marriage' or choose his lover Jimmy Shields. It has been said that Kelly was the boyfriend of English circus performer Archie Leach, later known as Cary Grant during their time in New York. These early friendships became lifelong relationships.

Orry-Kelly headed west to Hollywood in 1932, where Cary Grant introduced him to the head of Warner Brothers' wardrobe department, where he stayed for eleven years.working for all the major studios (Warner Brothers, Universal, RKO, 20th Century Fox, and MGM), and designed costumes for all the great actresses of the day, including Bette Davis, Olivia DeHavilland, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Ann Sheridan, and Merle Oberon.

At the time there was a triumverante of three gay costume designers in Hollywood Travis Banton, Andrian and Orry-Kelly. Each of them headed the costume department at one of Hollywood's three largest dream factories and each had their own special muse in the form of a great movie star. Travis Banton worked for Paramount Pictures and his most famous creations draped the gorgeous body of Marlene Dietrich; Adrian toiled at MGM, the studio at the very top of the heap, designing gowns for the enigmatic Greta Garbo; while Orry-Kelly punched the clock at working class Warner Bros. Not they were the only gay designers in Hollywood, but they have become the most known. Whereas Banton and Adrian were circumspect about there homosexuality (both of them would marry women for appearances sake), Orry-Kelly was considered by some to be the most outrageous queen in Hollywood. Although, by contrast, he designed far less extravagant and fanciful gowns than the other two men.

His style differed from those of other Hollywood designers. He avoided Adrian's black-and-white contrasts in favor of a wide range of grays. His fabrics were of as high quality as Banton's, but he disliked the Paramount love of "shimmer." Nonetheless, his costumes were never dull. He cut with style and enhanced with intricate details. Tiny pleats and piping created subtle surface shadows, as did the textured embroideries, open work, crocheted lace, and trapunto. Appreciating skilled handiwork, he even included handpainted fabrics for some of his designs. As more daring decoration, he might add polka dots or punctuate with rows of buttons.

However, decoration was not his aim when working with Bette Davis. As a former actor, he understood the necessity of depicting a character's depth. Davis demanded that each role have a life of its own, with costumes playing a significant part in defining each character's image. At times, Orry-Kelly virtually resculpted her body to achieve a desired effect, and their successes included Jezebel , Dark Victory , The Little Foxes , Now, Voyager , and many others. One of Davis's earliest and least favorite films, Fashions of 1934 , which stars some of Orry-Kelly's more imaginative creations, stands out as a delightful spoof of the fashion world.

His unpretentious style well served Warner Bros. He peopled its gritty gangster features with many a well-heeled moll. He'd take the kind of girl that "a man's man" could "go for," and wrap her in wools as beautiful as any fur. His costumes for The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca spoke with the rich spareness of Hemingway.

His costume work is now deemed classic, including 42nd Street, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, Harvey, Oklahoma!, Auntie Mame, and Some Like It Hot.

He won three Academy Awards for costume design (for An American in Paris, Cole Porter's Les Girls, and Some Like It Hot) and was nominated for a fourth (for Gypsy).

A longtime alcoholic, he died of liver cancer in Hollywood, California February 27, 1964 and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). His pallbearers included Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Billy Wilder and George Cukor and his eulogy was read by Jack Warner. His Oscars went to Jack Warner's wife Ann.