(UTV | UNITED KINGDOM) – Three-time Oscar winning British costume designer Anthony Powell has died at the age of 85.
Cousin of fellow costume designer Sandy Powell, he worked on both the second and third “Indiana Jones” films where he refined the look from ‘Raiders’, and was behind Glenn Close’s iconic designs as Cruella de Vil in the live-action “101 Dalmatians”.
Powell is also famous for the lavish costumes on display by the likes of Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Betty Davis, Mia Farrow, Lois Chiles, Jane Birkin and more as part of Peter Ustinov’s first two theatrical outings as Detective Hercule Poirot in “Death on the Nile” and “Evil Under the Sun’.
His work on “Death on the Nile” won him the costuming Oscar. He also pulled in Oscars for 1972’s “Travels with My Aunt” and 1979’s “Tess,” and landed nominations for “102 Dalmatians” and Spielberg’s “Hook”.
Powell’s works encompass many major filmmakers including William Friedkin on “Sorcerer,” “Papillon,” Robert Altman’s “Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson,” Roman Polanski’s “Frantic” and “The Ninth Gate,” Irving Lerner’s “The Royal Hunt of the Sun,” “Ishtar” and the film adaptation of TV’s “The Avengers” in 1998. His last screen credit was on the 2006 film “Miss Potter”.
Powell was also a major costume designer for Broadway, winning a Tony Award for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard”. Powell will be celebrated in a small, private gathering due to COVID restrictions and is survived by two nieces.
