Anna Hill Johnstone

Anna Hill Johnstone (Pasadena, California April 7, 1913 - Lenox, Massachusetts October 16, 1992) was an American costume designer who was born in Greenville, South Carolina on April 7, 1913, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia.[1] Johnstone designed costumes for more than sixty films and received two Academy Award nominations for her work on The Godfather and Ragtime.[2] In 2006, she was posthumously awarded the Costume Designers Guild "Hall of Fame" award.[3] Johnstone, whose married name was Robinson, chose to be credited under her maiden name, and was often referred to as "Johnnie."[4] Johnstone worked with some of the most respected and idiosyncratic American film directors such as Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Frank Perry, Miloš Forman, and Francis Ford Coppola.[2][4] Some of Johnstone's film credits included Serpico, On the Waterfront, East of Eden, Baby Doll, Dog Day Afternoon, A Face in the Crowd, The Swimmer and The Godfather.[2][4][5][6]

Anna Hill Johnstone
Born
Anna Hill Johnstone

April 7, 1913
Pasadena, California, United States
DiedOctober 16, 1992(1992-10-16) (aged 79)
Lenox, Massachusetts
Alma materBarnard College
OccupationCostume designer
(film, television, theater)
Years active1948–1992
Spouse(s)Curville Jones Robinson
Letter from Anna Hill To Teresa Burcher Gammage after Anna Hill was married. Tress was a friend of Anna Hill from St. Catherine's School in Richmond, Va.

Career

Anna Hill Johnstone worked for over forty years in the film business on more than sixty films and was a frequent collaborator with Elia Kazan and Sidney Lumet.[2] She got her start working on student productions at Barnard College, later becoming a seamstress for summer stock stage shows. She graduated from Barnard in 1934 and forty years later, received another honorary degree there. Her first full credit for costume design was for the 1937 Broadway hit Having Wonderful Time.[1][4] Other stage productions would follow, including Bell, Book and Candle and A Streetcar Named Desire. In 1948, Johnstone made the move to working in films, obtaining her first costume design credit on Portrait of Jennie.[4] In 1953, Johnstone began her long association with noted film director Elia Kazan on his Academy Award-winning film, On the Waterfront. Other Kazan films that she worked on include, East of Eden, Baby Doll, A Face in the Crowd, Wild River, Splendor in the Grass and America America. She worked on more than a half dozen pictures with director Sidney Lumet including Fail Safe, Serpico, The Verdict and Dog Day Afternoon. In addition to her work with Lumet and Kazan, Johnstone was also a frequent collaborator with The Perrys, Frank and Eleanor, on films such as David and Lisa and The Swimmer.[2]

Personal life

For more than fifty years, Anna Hill Johnstone was married to Curville Jones Robinson, a mechanical engineer who died in 1989. Johnstone died in October 1992 after a long illness at the Kimball Farms nursing home in Lenox, Massachusetts.[4]

Selected filmography
Title Year Director Notes
Portrait of Jennie 1948 Dir. William Dieterle Assistant Costume Designer
On the Waterfront 1954 Dir. Elia Kazan Wardrobe Supervisor
East of Eden 1955 Dir. Elia Kazan Wardrobe Designed by
Baby Doll 1956 Dir. Elia Kazan Wardrobe Designed by
A Face in the Crowd 1957 Dir. Elia Kazan Costume Designer
Splendor in the Grass 1961 Dir. Elia Kazan Costume Designer
David and Lisa 1961 Dir. Frank Perry Costume Designer
America America 1963 Dir. Elia Kazan Costume Designer
Ladybug, Ladybug 1963 Dir. Frank Perry Costume Designer
Fail Safe 1964 Dir. Sidney Lumet Costume Designer
Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster 1965 Dir. Robert Gaffney Costume Designer
A Christmas Memory
(TV movie based on Truman Capote play)		 1966 Dir. Frank Perry Costume Designer
The Swimmer 1968 Dir. Frank Perry Costume Designer
Alice's Restaurant 1969 Dir. Arthur Penn Costume Designer
The Godfather 1972 Dir. Francis Ford Coppola Academy Award nomination "Best Costume Design"
Serpico 1973 Dir. Sidney Lumet Costume Designer
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three 1974 Dir. Joseph Sargent Costume Designer
The Stepford Wives 1975 Dir. Bryan Forbes Costume Designer
Dog Day Afternoon 1975 Dir. Sidney Lumet Costume Designer
The Last Tycoon 1976 Dir. Elia Kazan Costume Designer
The Wiz 1978 Dir. Sidney Lumet Costume Coordinator
King of the Gypsies 1978 Dir. Frank Pierson Costume Designer
Ragtime 1981 Dir. Milos Forman Academy Award nomination "Best Costume Design"
The Verdict 1982 Dir. Sidney Lumet Costume Designer
Garbo Talks 1984 Dir. Sidney Lumet Costume Designer
Running on Empty 1988 Dir. Sidney Lumet Costume Designer

Awards and nominations
  • 2006 – Costume Designers Awards – Hall of Fame Award
  • 1982 - Ragtime – Oscar nomination – Best Costume Design
  • 1973 – The Godfather – Oscar nomination – Best Costume Design
  • 1973 – The Godfather – BAFTA (British Academy Award) nomination – Best Costume Design
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References
  1. Anna Hill Johnstone – IBDB – credits
  2. Anna Hill Johnstone – IMBD
  3. IMDB Anna Hill Johnstone awards
  4. New York Times "Anna Johnstone, 79, A Designer of Costumes for Films and Plays" obituary – by Bruce Lambert - October 19, 1992
  5. Hollywood.com Anna Johnstone biography
  6. TCM Biography – Anna Hill Johnstone
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