TRAVILLA William
William Jack Travilla.
Date of birth : March 22, 1920, Los Angeles, California .
Date of death : November 2, 1990, Los Angeles, California.
Profession dress designer, under contract with the Fox.
Addresses
1941 : 1541 N.Western Avenue, Hollywood.
1944 : 6727 Pacific Avenue.
Story
He graduated from Woodbury University and began to work in Hollywood in 1941.
On August 19, 1944 he married actress Dona Drake (November 15, 1914-June 20, 1989)(,
They had a daughter Nia Novella (August 16, 1951, Los Angeles-October 1st, 2002, California)().
In 1945, he was the youngest dress designer under contract with an important studio (the Warner).
After work on several B movies, he worked until finally earned an Oscar in 1949 for "The Adventures of Don Juan" and in 1951 he designed the costumes for "The Day the Earth Stood Still". He then worked mainly at the Twentieth-Century Fox.
In 1956 he separated with his wife, while they didn't divorce.
Link with Marilyn
He met Marilyn in 1950
when she asked to use the fitting room to dress a costume up.
They worked together in 8 movies.
1952 "Monkey Business" and "Don't Bother to Knock'
1953
1953 "How to Marry a Millionaire?".
1954 "There's No Business Like Show Business"
"Heat Wave" dress
1954 "River of No Return"
red and green saloon dress ;
white dress
pink bustier ,1956 "Bus Stop"
lace top, blue skirt ;,,
During his long career, he received an Academy Award for his work in "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1948), with Errol Flynn; he was nominated for his work in "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Bus Stop".
He designed the majority of Marilyn's most memorable costumes, including the dress with the crushing effect she wore in public appearences, like during the Photoplay magazine awards ceremony in 1953.
He helped her to slip into the gold lamé dress she had worn in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and with which she picked up her prize, the "Fastest Rising Star of 1952".
The last time he saw her was when she had dinner with Peter Lawford and Pat Newcomb,
a week before her death (according to some testimonies, this dinner
took place the very last evening). He reported that she looked hangdog
and dazed, and when he came to greet her at her table, she didn't
recognize him immediately. He was hurt and decided to tell her in
a letter he didn't have enough time to write.
In the late 1970s, he began working mainly in television, where he won two Emmy Awards.