Stevenson

Edward (1906-1968). American fashion and costume designer. His name is linked to two masterpieces: Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), two films by Orson Welles. Having arrived in Hollywood in the 1920s, he began working for MGM in 1925; in 1927 he was assistant costume designer to Fox; and in 1928, he became head of First National’s costume department. He then opened his own fashion company, which kept him away from cinema for some time. He returned to work for the screen in the mid-1930s, creating the dresses for Roberta (1935). Having undertaken to work for eleven years with RKO, he designed the costumes for famous horror films like Murder, My Sweet (1944) and Out of the Past (1947). He dressed women stars such as Joan Fontaine, Susan Hayward, Dorothy McGuire, Irene Dunne, and Donna Reed. In the last 15 years of his career — and life — he worked almost exclusively for Lucille Ball, creating designs for her popular television shows (I Love Lucy) and films. It was one of her films, The Facts of Life (1960), that won him an Oscar.