Jenny Beavan

Jenny Beavan, OBE (born 1950) is an English costume designer. She has won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in 1986 for A Room With A View. She also won another Academy Award and the BAFTA Award for Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road, and has been nominated 10 times for the Academy Award. Beavan also received a Tony Award nomination for Best Costume Design for the play Private Lives.

Jenny Beavan OBE
Born	1950 (age 69–70) London, England
Occupation	Costume designer
Years active	1978 — present
Spouse(s)	Ian Albery (m. ?–1985; 1 child)

Early life

Beavan was born in London, England. Her father was a cellist, her mother a viola player.[1] She credits them for instilling a strong work ethic.[2] She also has a sister.

Career

Jenny Beavan is known for her work on Merchant Ivory films.[3] In the 1970s, she worked on set design for London theatrical productions.[1] She joined the field of film costume design after obtaining an unpaid position to design garments for a small Merchant Ivory film, Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures.[1][2][4] This began her long relationship with Merchant Ivory productions.

She has frequently worked with costume designer John Bright, who runs the costume-rental house Cosprop, and credits him with educating her as she was starting out her career. She said she was helped by "just listening to him and learning from him, learning the history and the politics of clothing".[3] Since then, the two have collaborated on more than ten films together and have shared six Oscar nominations.[3]

In 2016, Beavan won the BAFTA for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Beavan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to drama production.[5][6]

In June 2018, Beavan was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Arts University Bournemouth alongside dancer Darcey Bussell, graphic designer Margaret Calvert OBE and director and screenwriter Edgar Wright.[7]

Personal life

She has one daughter, Caitlin,[1] a theatre producer born in 1985. They worked together on the West End theatre production of Third Finger Left Hand at Trafalgar Studios in 2013.

Film credits

Year	Title	Director
1979	The Europeans	James Ivory
1980	Jane Austen in Manhattan
1984	The Bostonians
1985	A Room with a View
1987	Maurice
1988	A Summer Story	Piers Haggard
	The Deceivers	Nicholas Meyer
1990	Mountains of the Moon	Bob Rafelson
1991	White Fang	Randal Kleiser
	Impromptu	James Lapine
1992	Howards End	James Ivory
1993	Swing Kids	Thomas Carter
	The Remains of the Day	James Ivory
1994	Black Beauty	Caroline Thompson
1995	Sense and Sensibility	Ang Lee
	Jefferson in Paris	James Ivory
1996	Jane Eyre	Franco Zeffirelli
1997	Metroland	Philip Saville
1998	Ever After	Andy Tennant
1999	Anna and the King
	Tea with Mussolini	Franco Zeffirelli
2001	Gosford Park	Robert Altman
2002	Possession	Neil LaBute
2003	Timeline	Richard Donner
2004	Alexander	Oliver Stone
2005	Casanova	Lasse Hallström
2006	The Black Dahlia	Brian De Palma
	Amazing Grace	Michael Apted
2008	Defiance	Edward Zwick
2009	Sherlock Holmes	Guy Ritchie
2010	The King's Speech	Tom Hooper
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	Guy Ritchie
2012	Gambit	Michael Hoffman
2015	Child 44	Daniel Espinosa
	Mad Max: Fury Road	George Miller
2016	A United Kingdom	Amma Asante
	A Cure for Wellness	Gore Verbinski
2017	Life	Daniel Espinosa
2018	Christopher Robin	Marc Forster
	The Nutcracker and the Four Realms	Lasse Hallström Joe Johnston
2019	Mrs Lowry & Son	Adrian Noble
2020	Dolittle	Stephen Gaghan
2021	Cruella	Craig Gillespie

Academy Award nominations

The Academy Awards has recognized Beavan's costume work ten times, with her winning the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for A Room with a View and Mad Max: Fury Road.[8]

• 1984 – The Bostonians – Shared with John Bright. Lost to Amadeus.
• 1986 – A Room with a View – Shared with John Bright. Won
• 1987 – Maurice – Shared with John Bright. Lost to The Last Emperor.
• 1992 – Howards End – Shared with John Bright. Lost to Bram Stoker's Dracula.
• 1993 – The Remains of the Day – Shared with John Bright. Lost to The Age of Innocence.
• 1995 – Sense and Sensibility – Shared with John Bright. Lost to Restoration.
• 1999 – Anna and the King – Lost to Topsy-Turvy.
• 2001 – Gosford Park – Lost to Moulin Rouge!.
• 2010 – The King's Speech – Lost to Alice in Wonderland.
• 2015 – Mad Max: Fury Road [9] Won

References

1. Dam, Julie K.L (6 March 2000). "Fit for a King". People. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
2. Stewart, Victoria (21 June 2010). "Jenny Beavan explains how to succeed as a costume designer". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
3. Macdonald, Moira (19 February 2011). "'King's Speech' costume designer Jenny Beavan brings history to life". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
4. "Jenny Beavan". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
5. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N10.
6. New Year Honours 2017: Olympic heroes and entertainers recognised. BBC News, 30 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
7. Reader, Jane (8 July 2018). "Strictly judge Dame Darcey honoured by Arts University Bournemouth". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
8. "Jenny Beavan". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2014-09-19. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
9. "88th Academy Awards". Retrieved January 14, 2016.

External links

• Jenny Beavan on IMDb