Ann Roth

Roth worked across costume designer and designer. This article rests on 22 published texts and 8 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Ann Roth • Education — Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) • Birth Name — Ann Bishop Roth • Born — 30 October 1931 • Birthplace — Hanover, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Occupation — Costume designer • Years Active — 1957–present

Roth was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Eleanor and James Roth. Roth is a Carnegie Mellon graduate who began her career as a scenery painter for the Pittsburgh Opera. She intended to remain in the field of production design until she met Irene Sharaff at the Bucks County Playhouse. Sharaff invited her to California to assist her with costumes on the film Brigadoon and suggested Roth apprentice with her for five films and five Broadway productions before setting out on her own. Roth's first Hollywood film was 1964's The World of Henry Orient, where her designs included "monogrammed handmade yellow silk pajamas" for glamorous womanizer Peter Sellers. According to Glenn Frankel, Roth "designed not just costumes but characters" for the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. Roth found elegant but grimy white pants for Dustin Hoffman's character Ratso Rizzo on street-sale tables in New York City. Because Jon Voight's fringed suede jacket had to "look real and unhip," Roth made it herself. For Brenda Vaccaro's socialite character to wear in a sex scene, Roth paid $200 for a fox-fur jacket owned by one of her neighbors. Roth as costume designer created a "show-stopping" nightgown for Barbra Streisand to wear in her first non-musical film The Owl and the Pussycat (1970). The short black nightgown featured appliqué pink hands cupping the breasts and, to quote Roth's own description, "a heart on her pee-pee." Interviewed in 2013 about the origins of the costume idea, Roth said that her research included "looking for dirty, erotic, skuzzy underwear" in the pornographic magazine Screw, after which "somehow or another I made it up." Roth later re-used her hands-on-breasts design for the 2013 stage play The Nance, which won that year's Tony Award for costume design. Roth's first Oscar nomination was for 1984's Places in the Heart, set in Depression-era Texas. Roth persuaded Sally Field that, for her "going-into-town-to-ask-for-a-loan-at-the-bank" scenes, a 1930s-type crotchless girdle would help her to walk and sit the right way. The costume Oscar that year, however, went to Miloš Forman's Amadeus. Roth's costumes for three distinct time frames in The English Patient(1996) earned her first Oscar. According to producer Saul Zaentz, Roth worked for half her usual salary on the film "because she believed in the screenplay." Roth's research for the costumes included the British Royal Geographical Society archives and 1930s photos of Egypt by photojournalist Lee Miller. Many of the film's varied military uniforms were authentic from the period; others were copied line-for-line from originals by a Savile Row tailor. Also in 1996, Roth did costumes for The Birdcage, a comedy film starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as the flamboyant owners of a Florida drag club. Talking about his costume, Williams remembered "those ballroom pants and the silk shirts with the shoulder pads. The details were amazing. This was a guy who was still living in the ’70s. The clothes captured exactly who Armand was for me." Her most-awarded film was 2020's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, where her costume designs (including flapper costumes and a rubber body suit for Viola Davis based on the body measurements of Aretha Franklin) won the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Period Film, Britain's BAFTA, and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. In the 2023 film Barbie, Roth appears onscreen in a cameo role, portraying and credited as "the woman on a bench." In the scene, Barbie sits down besides Roth and tells the 91 year-old that she is "so beautiful", and Roth responds with a smile, "I know it." In a Rolling Stone interview, director Greta Gerwig said that the brief scene "doesn’t lead anywhere" but "If I cut the scene, I don’t know what this movie is about." Maureen Dowd in The New York Times described Roth's interaction with Barbie as a "pivotal scene." Roth's more than one hundred screen credits for costume design include The World of Henry Orient, Midnight Cowboy, Klute, Working Girl, Silkwood, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Mambo Kings, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Cold Mountain, Closer, Freedomland, The Good Shepherd, Margot at the Wedding, Mamma Mia!, Evening, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Roth's dozens of stage credits include The Odd Couple, The Star-Spangled Girl, Purlie, Seesaw, They're Playing Our Song, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Biloxi Blues, Butley, The Vertical Hour, Deuce, and The Waverly Gallery.

• 13 – Mike Nichols: Silkwood, Heartburn, Biloxi Blues, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge, Regarding Henry, Wolf, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, What Planet Are You From, Wit, Angels in America, Closer • 5 – John Schlesinger: Midnight Cowboy, The Day of the Locust, Marathon Man, Honky Tonk Freeway, Pacific Heights • 4 – Sidney Lumet: The Morning After, Family Business, Q&A, A Stranger Among Us • 3 – Alan J. Pakula: Klute, Rollover, Consenting Adults • 3 – Anthony Minghella: The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain • 3 – Stephen Daldry: The Hours, The Reader, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close • 3 – Brian De Palma: Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, The Bonfire of the Vanities • 3 – Herbert Ross: The Owl and the Pussycat, The Goodbye Girl, California Suite • 3 – Hal Ashby: Coming Home, Second-Hand Hearts, The Slugger's Wife • 3 – George Roy Hill: The World of Henry Orient, The World According to Garp, Funny Farm • 3 – Noah Baumbach: Margot at the Wedding, While We're Young, White Noise • 2 – M. Night Shyamalan: Signs, The Village • 2 – Frank Oz: In & Out, The Stepford Wives

• Year — Title — Director — Notes • 1971 — All the Way Home — Fred Coe — Television movie • 1972 — The Snoop Sisters — Leonard B. Stern — Episode: "The Female Instinct" • 1974 — Great Performances — Kirk Browning & Ellis Rabb — Episode: "Enemies" • 1975 — Valley Forge — Fielder Cook — Television movie • 1977 — The Royal Family — Kirk Browning & Ellis Rabb • The Best of Families — Several — Miniseries • 1987 — American Playhouse — Jerry Zaks & Kirk Browning — Episode: "The House of Blue Leaves" • 2001 — Wit — Mike Nichols — Television movie, HBO • 2003 — Angels in America — Miniseries, HBO • 2011 — Mildred Pierce — Todd Haynes

Work as a costume designer • Year — Title — Venue • 1957 — Small War on Murray Hill — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway • 1958 — Maybe Tuesday — Playhouse Theatre, Broadway • Make a Million — Morosco Theatre, Broadway • Disenchanted — Coronet Theatre, Broadway • 1959 — A Desert Incident — John Golden Theatre, Broadway • Chéri — Morosco Theatre, Broadway • Take Me Along — Shubert Theatre, Broadway • 1960 — The Cool World — Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway • Face of a Hero • 1961 — A Far Country — Music Box Theatre, Broadway • Purlie Victorious — Longacre Theatre, Broadway • Look, We've Come Through — Hudson Theatre, Broadway • 1962 — Isle of Children — Cort Theatre, Broadway • Venus at Large — Morosco Theatre, Broadway • 1963 — Natural Affection — Booth Theatre, Broadway • Children from Their Games — Morosco Theatre, Broadway • A Case of Libel — Longacre Theatre, Broadway • The Public Eye — Morosco Theatre, Broadway • 1964 — The Last Analysis — Belasco Theatre, Broadway • Slow Dance on the Killing Ground — Plymouth Theatre, Broadway • I Had a Ball — Martin Beck Theatre, Broadway • 1965 — The Odd Couple — Plymouth Theatre, Broadway • Mrs. Dally — John Golden Theatre, Broadway • The Impossible Years — Playhouse Theatre, Broadway • 1966 — The Wayward Stork — Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway • The Star-Spangled Girl — Plymouth Theatre, Broadway • 1967 — Something Different — Cort Theatre, Broadway • 1968 — Happiness Is Just a Little Thing Called a Rolls Royce — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway • 1969 — Play It Again, Sam — Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway • My Daughter, Your Son — Booth Theatre, Broadway • Tiny Alice — ANTA Theatre, Broadway • Three Sisters • 1970 — Gantry — George Abbot Theatre, Broadway • Purlie — ANTA Theatre, Broadway • The Engagement Baby — Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway • 1971 — Father's Day — John Golden Theatre, Broadway • 1972 — Fun City — Morosco Theatre, Broadway • Twelfth Night — Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway • Children! Children! — Ritz Theatre, Broadway • 6 Rms Riv Vu — Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway Lunt-Fontaine Theatre, Broadway • Enemies — Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway • 1972–73 — Purlie — Billy Rose Theatre, Broadway • 1973 — The Merchant of Venice — Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway • Seesaw — Uris Theatre, Broadway Mark Hellinger Theatre, Broadway • The Women — 46th Street Theatre, Broadway • 1976 — The Royal Family — Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway • The Heiress — Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway • 1977 — The Importance of Being Earnest — Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway • 1978 — Do You Turn Somersaults? — 46th Street Theatre, Broadway • 1978–82 — The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas • 1978–79 — The Crucifer of Blood — Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway • 1978 — First Monday in the Morning — Majestic Theatre, Broadway • 1979–81 — They're Playing Our Song — Imperial Theatre, Broadway • 1979 — Strangers — John Golden Theatre, Broadway • 1980–81 — Lunch Hour — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway • 1982–84 — The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas — Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway • 1982–83 — Present Laughter — Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway • 1983 — The Misanthrope • 1984 — Open Admissions — Music Box Theatre, Broadway • 1984–85 — Design for Living — Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway • Hurlyburly — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway • 1985–86 — Biloxi Blues — Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway • 1985 — Arms and the Man — Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway • 1985–86 — The Odd Couple — Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway • Singin' in the Rain — Gershwin Theatre, Broadway • 1986–87 — Social Security — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway • The House of Blue Leaves — Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway Plymouth Theatre, Broadway • Born Yesterday — 46th Street Theatre, Broadway • 1992 — Death and the Maiden — Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway • A Small Family Business — Music Box Theatre, Broadway • 1993 — Any Given Day — Longacre Theatre, Broadway • 1994 — What's Wrong With This Picture? — Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway • 1996–97 — Present Laughter — Walter Kerr Theatre, Play • 2000–02 — The Tale of the Allergist's Wife • 2005–06 — The Odd Couple — Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway • 2006–07 — Butley — Booth Theatre, Broadway • The Vertical Hour — Music Box Theatre, Broadway • 2007 — The Year of Magical Thinking — Booth Theatre, Broadway • Deuce — Music Box Theatre, Broadway • 2009 — Hedda Gabler — American Airlines Theatre, Broadway • 2011 — The Book of Mormon — Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway • 2012 — Death of a Salesman — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway • Gore Vidal's The Best Man — Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway • 2013 — The Nance — Lyceum Theatre, Broadway • The Testament of Mary — Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway • I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers — Booth Theatre, Broadway • 2013–14 — Betrayal — Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway • 2014 — A Raisin in the Sun • 2014–15 — This is Our Youth — Cort Theatre, Broadway • It's Only a Play — Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway • A Delicate Balance — John Golden Theatre, Broadway • 2015 — Fish in the Dark — Cort Theatre, Broadway • 2015–16 — Sylvia • Misery — Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway • 2016 — Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed — Music Box Theatre, Broadway • Blackbird — Belasco Theatre, Broadway • 2016–17 — The Front Page — Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway • 2017–18 — Meteor Shower — Cort Theatre, Broadway • 2018 — Three Tall Women — John Golden Theatre, Broadway • The Iceman Cometh — Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway • Carousel — Imperial Theatre, Broadway • To Kill a Mockingbird — Shubert Theatre, Broadway • 2018–19 — The Waverly Gallery — John Golden Theatre, Broadway • The Prom — Longacre Theatre, Broadway • 2019 — King Lear — Cort Theatre, Broadway • Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus — Booth Theatre, Broadway • 2020 — Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Ann Roth was born on 30 October 1931 in Hanover. Roth held the nationality of United States. Roth was educated at Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts.

Academy Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • 1984 — Best Costume Design — Places in the Heart • 1996 — The English Patient • 1999 — The Talented Mr. Ripley • 2002 — The Hours • 2020 — Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Primetime Emmy Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • 1986 — Outstanding Costumes - Miniseries — Roanoak: Part 1 • 2004 — Angels in America: Perestroika • 2011 — Mildred Pierce: Part 2 Tony Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • 1976 — Best Costume Design — The Royal Family • 1979 — The Crucifer of Blood • 1986 — The House of Blue Leaves • 2011 — Best Costume Design in a Musical — The Book of Mormon • 2013 — Best Costume Design of a Play — The Nance • 2016 — Best Costume Design in a Musical — Shuffle Along • 2018 — Carousel • Best Costume Design of a Play — Three Tall Women • The Iceman Cometh • 2019 — To Kill a Mockingbird • Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus