Shirley Ann Russell
{{Short description|British film costume designer (1935–2002)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shirley Russell
| birth_name = Shirley Ann Kingdon
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|03|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = London, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|03|04|1935|03|11|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| occupation = Costume designer
| spouse = {{marriage|Ken Russell|1956|1978|reason=divorced}}
| children = 5
| years_active = 1956–2002
| image=File:Shirley_Ann_Russell.jpg
}}
Shirley Ann Russell ({{née|Kingdon}}; 11 March 1935 – 4 March 2002) was a British costume designer. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two British Academy Television Craft Awards, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and an Emmy Award.
Career
File:Waltham Forest College - 707 Forest Road Walthamstow London E17 4JB.jpg
Russell studied Fashion at Walthamstow College of Art, and she later attended the Royal College of Art. She ran her own firm of film costumiers, called The Last Picture Frock, particularly specialising in 1930s and 1940s clothing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/mar/22/guardianobituaries|title=Obituary: Shirley Russell|last=Rule|first=Vera|date=2002-03-22|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-01|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The firm was sold to the costumier Angels{{Cite web|url=https://www.angels.co.uk/|title=Angels Corporate – Angels Costumes. Costume suppliers to the entertainment industry, film, television and theatre, photographic, pop promos|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-10-11}} in the 1970s. Her interest in historic costume began when she assisted Doris Langley Moore, the founder of the Fashion Museum, Bath.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/mar/22/guardianobituaries|title=Obituary: Shirley Russell|last=Rule|first=Vera|date=2002-03-22|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-01|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} She was a widely-acknowledged expert on period costuming and was often called upon by art dealers to help them date paintings.{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Melanie |title=Movie workers: the women who made British cinema |date=2021 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-04387-1 |series=Women and film history international |location=Urbana |page=151}}
Russell's costume designs were detailed and nuanced, using costume to show subtle distinctions in class.{{Cite book|title=The St James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia|last=Unterberger|first=Amy L|publisher=Visible Ink Press|year=1999|pages=357}} She was known for the weight and authenticity her design lent to characters.{{Cite journal|last=Garvey|first=Adrian|date=2018|title=The Boy Friend: Ken Russell's "Anti-Musical"|journal=British Culture & Society in the 1970s|pages=225–234}} In 1969's film Women in Love her designs signalled the social and cultural differences between the two Brangwen sisters and the Crich family, and were nominated for a Best Costume Design BAFA. She designed for stars such as Vanessa Redgrave in A Song at Twilight,{{Cite web|url=http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O131235|title=Costume design {{!}} Russell, Shirley {{!}} V&A Search the Collections|date=2019-10-11|website=V and A Collections|language=en|access-date=2019-10-11}} Rudolf Nureyev in Valentino{{Cite web|url=http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1314774|title=Valentino {{!}} Russell, Shirley {{!}} V&A Search the Collections|date=2019-10-11|website=V and A Collections|language=en|access-date=2019-10-11}} and Roger Daltrey in Lisztomania.{{Cite web|url=http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1314740|title=Listzomania {{!}} Russell, Shirley {{!}} V&A Search the Collections|date=2019-10-11|website=V and A Collections|language=en|access-date=2019-10-11}} Her design for Daltrey was described by Russell as "fantasticated gear" - the jacket had huge labels featuring keyboard motifs.{{Cite book|title=Women in British Cinema|last=Harper|first=Sue|publisher=Continuum|year=2000|isbn=0826447325}} Another "fantasticated design" is 'The Acid Queen' from Tommy.{{Cite book|title=British Film Culture in the 1970s|last=Smith|first=Justin|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2012}}
Collaborations with her husband Ken Russell included: Women in Love, Amelia and the Angel, The Music Lovers, The Devils, The Boy Friend, Savage Messiah, Mahler, Tommy, Lisztomania, and Valentino. Russell's other credits include The Little Prince, Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Return of the Soldier, The Razor's Edge, Hope and Glory, The Bride, Yanks, Gulliver's Travels, I Dreamed of Africa, and Shackleton.
{{clear}}
Selected filmography
=== Film ===
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
!Title !Director !Notes |
|---|
| 1958
| rowspan="9" | Ken Russell | Short film |
| 1964
| |
| 1967
| Credited as Shirley Kingdon |
| 1969
| |
| rowspan="3" | 1971
| |
| The Devils
| |
| The Boy Friend
| |
| 1972
| |
| rowspan="2" | 1974
| Mahler | |
| The Little Prince
| |
| rowspan="3" | 1975
| Inserts | |
| Tommy
| rowspan="3" | Ken Russell | |
| Lisztomania
| |
| 1977
| |
| rowspan="3" | 1979
| Agatha | Also production designer |
| Yanks
| |
| Cuba
| |
| rowspan="2" | 1981
| |
| Reds
| |
| 1982
| |
| 1984
| John Byrum | |
| 1985
| |
| 1987
| |
| 1997
| |
| 2000
| |
| 2001
| Enigma | Michael Apted | |
=== Television ===
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
!Title !class="unsortable"|Notes |
|---|
| 1966
| Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World | Television film |
| 1967–1970
| Omnibus | 3 episodes |
| 1983
| Wagner | 10 episodes |
| 1996
| 2 episodes |
| 2000
| 2 episodes |
| 2002
| 2 episodes |
Awards and nominations
Personal life
Russell was born as Shirley Ann Kingdon in London, England. Whilst studying at Walthamstow College of Art, she met her husband the film director Ken Russell, to whom she was married from 1956 to 1978.{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/473374/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Russell, Shirley (1935-2002) Biography|website=www.screenonline.org.uk|access-date=2019-10-01}} They both converted to Roman Catholicism prior to their marriage.[http://www.moviecrazed.com/outpast/russellken.html Ken Russell at Moviecrazed.com] They had five children: Xavier, James, Alexander, Victoria and Toby. Following her divorce from Ken Russell, she lived for many years with director Jonathan Benson in Chiswick.
=Death=
She died from cancer[https://books.google.com/books?id=RA71s6Ih9D8C&dq=shirley+russell+2002+cancer+costume&pg=PT83 Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of the Devils] in March 2002, one week before her 67th birthday.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0751455}}
- [http://www.iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-article-shirley-russell.html A tribute to Shirley Russell]
{{BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Shirley}}
Category:Best Costume Design BAFTA Award winners
Category:British costume designers
Category:British women costume designers
Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism
Category:Deaths from cancer in England