Adrian | |
|---|---|
 Adrian in 1944 | |
| Born | Adrian Adolph Greenburg (1903-03-03)March 3, 1903 Naugatuck, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | September 13, 1959(1959-09-13) (aged 56) |
| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
| Occupation | Costume designer |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Adrian Adolph Greenburg (March 3, 1903 – September 13, 1959), widely known mononymously asAdrian, was an Americancostume designer whose most famous costumes were forThe Wizard of Oz and hundreds ofMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer films between 1928 and 1941. He was usually credited onscreen with the phrase "Gowns by Adrian". Early in his career he chose the professional nameGilbert Adrian, a combination of his father's forename and his own.
Adrian was born on March 3, 1903, inNaugatuck, Connecticut, to Gilbert and Helena (née Pollak) Greenburg. Adrian's father Gilbert was born inNew York and his mother Helena inWaterbury, Connecticut. Both sides of the family wereJewish. Joseph Greenburg and his wife Frances were from Russia, while Adolph Pollak and Bertha (née Mendelsohn) Pollak were from Bohemia and Germany, respectively.
In 1920 Adrian entered the New York School for Fine and Applied Arts (nowParsons School of Design).[1] In 1922 he transferred to the NYSFAA Paris campus, and while there, he was contracted byIrving Berlin to design settings and costumes for Berlin'sMusic Box Revue of 1922–23 in New York.
Adrian was brought to Hollywood in November 1924 byRudolph Valentino's wifeNatacha Rambova to design costumes forThe Hooded Falcon. The Valentino company dissolved, and Adrian's first screen credit was for the Constance Talmadge comedyHer Sister from Paris. In 1925 Adrian was hired as a costume designer byCecil B. DeMille's independent film studio. In 1928 DeMille moved toMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Adrian was provisionally hired as a costume designer for M-G-M. After a few months, he signed a contract as head designer, ultimately remaining for thirteen years and 200 films.
Adrian worked with the biggest female stars of the day:Greta Garbo,Norma Shearer,Jeanette MacDonald,Jean Harlow,Katharine Hepburn andJoan Crawford. He designed twenty-eight Crawford films, eighteen Shearer films, and nine Harlow films. He worked with Garbo from 1928, when he arrived, until 1941, when both departed the company.[2] TheEugénie hat he created for her filmRomance became a sensation and influenced millinery styles.[3][4] When Adrian emphasized Crawford's shoulders by designing outfits withshoulder pads, these created a trend.
Adrian was famous forevening gown designs, a talent displayed inThe Women. Though filmed in black and white,The Women includes aTechnicolor fashion show of Adrian designs. Adrian was acclaimed for the period costumes ofRomeo and Juliet; the extravagant costumes ofThe Great Ziegfeld; and the opulent gowns ofCamille andMarie Antoinette. Adrian insisted on the finest materials and workmanship for the execution of his designs, cultivating fabric manufacturers in Europe and New York.[citation needed]
Adrian's best known film isThe Wizard of Oz, for which he designed the red-sequinedruby slippers worn byJudy Garland.
Adrian left MGM on September 5, 1941, to open his own fashion firm.[5][6] Adrian had contemplated leaving MGM for a year or two, upset with budgetary retrenchments caused by theGreat Depression and changes in public taste.[7][8] He had a serious disagreement with directorGeorge Cukor, producer Bernard Hyman, and MGM headLouis B. Mayer over the style of costumesGreta Garbo should wear in the upcomingTwo-Faced Woman, which began preproduction about April 1941.[9] Adrian apparently resolved to leave the studio after this disagreement.[6][8] He notified MGM of his decision on July 16, 1941. Adrian's departure from the studio came as a shock to Louis B. Mayer. Adrian's last day was to have been August 15, but he offered to stay on to wrap up various projects. Mayer kept him on the payroll until September 5.[6] Adrian was not terminated by MGM, nor did he resign; his three-year contract merely expired.[8][10]Robert Kalloch, Columbia Pictures' chief costume and fashion designer, was named Adrian's replacement[11] largely because his designs strongly resembled Adrian's.[12]
Adrian continued to design fashions for the occasional film project through the 1940s, most notably forHumoresque in 1946. He designed clothes forJoan Crawford for 17 years at MGM.
Adrian marriedJanet Gaynor on August 14, 1939. Gaynor had been unmarried for six years since her previous marriage had ended. This relationship has been called alavender marriage, since Adrian was openly gay within the film community while Gaynor was rumored to be gay or bisexual.[13] Both Adrian and Gaynor went on record to say they were happily married, and they remained so until his death in 1959. Gaynor and Adrian had one son, Robin[14] (born July 6, 1940).
In 1942 Adrian established Adrian, Ltd., at 233 North Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, in the building formerly occupied by the Victor Hugo restaurant. (He had been courted by retailers to design for public sale but rebuffed those offers. In 1932 Macy's Cinema Shop had copied his work with the studio's tacit approval, much in the same way that department stores produced so-called "Paris fashions," which were unapproved copies of French couturiers' works.)[citation needed]
He often worked with textile designerPola Stout, in a famous collaboration that began in the 1940s.[15]Adrian's fashion line filled the gap left by Paris, which could not export during the German occupation. American women responded to Adrian's clean-lined designs, and he exerted a strong influence on American fashion until the late 1940s.
Adrian returned to MGM in 1952 for one film,Lovely to Look At. He was never nominated for anAcademy Award as the costume category did not exist during the time of his major work for the studios.
Adrian was stricken with a heart attack in 1952. Because he never assigned work to assistants, preferring to do all drafts and designs himself, the business could not be continued under his name. Consequently, he was forced to close Adrian, Ltd.
Adrian and his wife Janet bought afazenda (ranch) in Anápolis, in the state of Goiás, in the interior of Brazil. They spent a few years developing it, frequently in the company of their friends Richard Halliday andMary Martin.
In 1958 Adrian came out of retirement to design costumes forAt the Grand, a musical version of the 1932 filmGrand Hotel that starredPaul Muni andViveca Lindfors and played only in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In 1959 Adrian was hired to design costumes for the upcomingBroadway musicalCamelot. While at work on this project in his studio, Adrian suffered a fatalheart attack. He was posthumously awarded theTony Award for Best Costume Design in a Musical.[16] He is buried inHollywood Forever Cemetery.[17]
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