Bernard Newman (designer)

Bernard Newman
Bernard Newman, Ginger Rogers, and a seamstress in 1935
BornNovember 18, 1903
Joplin, Missouri
DiedNovember 30, 1966
New York City, New York
OccupationCostume designer
SpouseHelen Keeler (m. 1935, div. ?)

Bernard Newman (18 November 1903 – 30 November 1966) was the head designer for Bergdorf Goodman and head costume designer for RKO Pictures. He designed costumes for some 35 movies, dressing stars including Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball and Helen Broderick. He was posthumously included in the Costume Designers Guild Hall of Fame in 2004.[1]

Biography

Design for Ginger Rogers in Swing Time's "Never Gonna Dance", 1936

Bernard Newman was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1903.[2] He studied in Paris at the Art Student's League. He started working at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury goods department store in Manhattan, as a window dresser.[1] He later became the head designer for Bergdorf Goodman,[3] and his clothes were worn by film stars like Kay Francis.[4]

Newman started working as costume designer in the film industry in 1933, mainly for RKO Pictures. In 1934, he was hired by the studio to design for the upcoming Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Roberta. The film took place in a Parisian fashion house and was an ideal opportunity for Newman to display his talents. The major success of Roberta secured Newman the position of head designer at RKO.[5] Fifteen of Newman's costumes for the movie were reproduced and merchandised by the Modern Merchandising Bureau.[6]

Newman's films with Ginger Rogers were his most frequent and successful collaborations in Hollywood. His designs feature in four of her popular 1930s musicals with Fred Astaire, Roberta, Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, and Swing Time.[7][8] He created a blue dress with ostrich feathers, to Rogers's specification, which she wore in the "Cheek to Cheek" sequence of Top Hat. Its tendency to shed feathers as Rogers danced earned her the nickname of "Feathers" from the film's crew and co-star Fred Astaire.[9][10] Other films he worked on include Sylvia Scarlett with Katharine Hepburn and You Can't Take It with You.[1]

Filmography

Year Film Starring
1933 Rafter Romance Ginger Rogers
1935 Roberta Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire
1935 Star of Midnight Ginger Rogers, William Powell
1935 Break of Hearts Katharine Hepburn, Charles Boyer
1935 The Nitwits Wheeler & Woolsey
1935 Top Hat Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
1935 I Dream Too Much Henry Fonda, Lily Pons
1935 In Person Ginger Rogers
1935 Sylvia Scarlett Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant
1935 The Lady Consents Ann Harding, Herbert Marshall
1935 Two in the Dark Walter Abel, Margot Grahame
1935 Follow the Fleet Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
1936 The Witness Chair Ann Harding, Walter Abel
1936 The Bride Walks Out Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Raymond
1936 Swing Time Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
1936 Walking on Air Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern
1936 Adventure in Manhattan Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea
1936 Smartest Girl in Town Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern
1936 Theodora Goes Wild Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas
1936 More Than a Secretary Jean Arthur, George Brent
1936 History Is Made at Night Jean Arthur, Charles Boyer
1937 When You're In Love Cary Grant, Grace Moore
1937 Vivacious Lady Ginger Rogers, Jimmy Stewart
1938 You Can't Take It with You Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore
1939 Green Hell Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Bennett
1942 Tales of Manhattan
1946 Deception Bette Davis, Paul Henreid
1946 Humoresque Joan Crawford, John Garfield
1947 Possessed Joan Crawford, Van Heflin
1947 Deep Valley Ida Lupino, Dane Clark
1947 Dark Passage Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall
1947 Escape Me Never Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino
1948 Hazard Paulette Goddard, Macdonald Carey
1948 The Woman in White Eleanor Parker, Alexis Smith

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Costume Designers Guild Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine 2004 Hall of Fame
  2. ^ Leese, Elisabeth (1991). Costume design in the movies (2 ed.). Courier Dover Publications. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-486-26548-3. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  3. ^ Sarah Berry in Screen style: Fashion and femininity in 1930s Hollywood page 15 (2000)
  4. ^ Lynn Kear and John Rossman in Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career page 155 (2006)
  5. ^ Gleason, Clare M. (1998). Bernard Newman: Forgotten Designer of New York and Hollywood (M.A. thesis). S.U.N.Y. Institute of Technology.
  6. ^ Sarah Berry in Screen style: Fashion and femininity in 1930s Hollywood page 67-68 (2000)
  7. ^ Gregory Votolato in American Design in the Twentieth Century: Personality and Performance page 45 (1995)
  8. ^ Mueller, John (1986). Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films. London: Hamish Hamilton. p. 415. ISBN 0-241-11749-6. notes that John Harkrider designed the Swing Time Silver Sandal Set ("Never Gonna Dance") and the costumes used both on that set and on the "Bojangles of Harlem" set
  9. ^ Turner Classic Movies on Top Hat
  10. ^ Rogers, Ginger (1991). Ginger, My Story. New York: Harper Collins. p. 143. ISBN 0-06-018308-X. Rogers: "I designed the dress and I was going to wear it!"