Walter Plunkett (June 5, 1902 inOakland, California – March 8, 1982) was a prolificcostume designer who worked on more than 150 projects throughout his career in theHollywoodfilm industry.

Born inOakland, California, Plunkett studied law at theUniversity of California, where he was a member of the California-Alpha chapter ofSigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, but showed greater interest in the school's theatrical group. He moved toNew York City in 1923 and began work as a stageactor as well as a costume and set designer. After some time inGreenwich Village, he moved back to California, this time to Hollywood, and found work as a movie extra. (He can be seen dancing withIrene, another future top designer, inErich von Stroheim's 1925 filmThe Merry Widow.) He soon made a career change to costume and wardrobe.

Plunkett's first credited work as a costume designer was the 1927 filmHard-Boiled Haggerty. AtRKO, he developed a huge costume and wardrobe department that became a major studio asset. Given free rein, he set about creating costumes that rivaled the work of his contemporaries, such asTravis Banton andAdrian.

Plunkett's best-known work is featured in two films,Gone with the Wind (1939) andSingin' in the Rain (1952), in which he lampooned his initial style of theRoaring Twenties.

In 1951, Plunkett shared anAcademy Award for Best Costume Design withOrry-Kelly andIrene Sharaff forAn American in Paris.

Plunkett retired in 1966, after having worked in films, onBroadway, and for theMetropolitan Opera. He spent the last years of his life with his long-term partner, Lee, whom he formally adopted so that he could inherit his estate. He died at age 79 inSanta Monica, California.

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  Flying Down to Rio (1933), designs forDolores del Río and
  Fred Astaire
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  Little Women (1933), designs forKatharine Hepburn and others
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  Gone with the Wind (1939), design forVivien Leigh
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  Gone with the Wind (1939), design forOlivia de Havilland
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  Singin' in the Rain (1952), designs forJean Hagen andGene Kelly
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  Singin' in the Rain (1952), asatiric "spider web" dress forJudy Landon as fictitiousvamp Olga Mara
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  Raintree County (1957), designs forElizabeth Taylor
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  How the West Was Won (1962), designs forDebbie Reynolds andGregory Peck

• Walter Plunkett atFMD
• Walter Plunkett atIMDb 
• Costume design work for Gone With The Wind
• Walter Plunkett costume design drawings for GONE WITH THE WIND, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

• American costume designers
• 1902 births
• 1982 deaths
• Best Costume Design Academy Award winners
• Artists from Oakland, California
• California people in fashion
• LGBTQ fashion designers
• LGBTQ people from California
• 20th-century American LGBTQ people

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