Albert Wolsky, the two-time Oscar-winning costume designer behind films like “All That Jazz,” “Bugsy,” “Grease” and more, died May 23 in Los Angeles. He was 95.
Wolsky’s death was confirmed by several colleagues including fellow costume designer Christopher Lawrence in an Instagram post on Sunday.
“Albert Wolsky. A prince among men,” Lawrence wrote. “Such love and gratitude for your friendship and mentorship. You were the first to tell me that I was going to be a costume designer and the man I turned to for so many big decisions. I’m so sad.”
For “Grease,” Wolsky conceived the memorable 1950s looks including Olivia Newton-John’s skin-tight black pants and greaser leather jacket for her role as Sandy Olsson. They were actually sourced from vintage ’50s clothing, she revealed in her autobiography. “They were so old, and there was just one pair, so there was no room for error,” revealed Newton-John in the memoir. “One rip and disaster.” In 2019, Spanx founder Sara Blakely paid $162,000 for the pants at a charity auction.
Across his five decade-plus career, Wolsky earned more than 20 award nominations, including seven Academy Award nominations. Wolsky earned nods for costume design for “Sophie’s Choice” in 1983, “The Journey of Natty Gann” in 1986, “Toys” in 1993, “Across the Universe” in 2008 and “Revolutionary Road” in 2009. He won the Oscar for “All That Jazz” in 1980 and “Bugsy” in 1992.
Wolsky’s career designing for film and TV began in the 1960s when he worked on “Camelot” on Broadway and then on “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” as well as the TV movies “The Desperate Hours” in 1967 and both “Of Mice and Men” and “A Hatful of Rain” in 1968. He continued to pick up credits in the 1970s, with films including “Lenny,” “Little Murders,” “Fingers,” “The Turning Point” and more. He also costumed Andrew Bergman’s “Striptease” and Carl Reiner’s “Fatal Instinct,” as well as a string of iconic romantic comedies: Nora Ephron’s “You’ve Got Mail,” Garry Marshall’s “Runaway Bride” and Wayne Wang’s “Maid in Manhattan.”
His final credit was for David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam.”
Wolsky was born on November 24, 1930 in Paris. He attended City College of New York, and went on to begin pursuing costume design in the years following.
Source: variety.com
