Ann Roth

A graduate of Carnegie Tech, Ann Roth entered the theatrical world as a scenic painter for the Pittsburgh Opera before being hired as assistant to Broadway costumer Irene Sharaff. By the mid-'50s, Roth was one of the Great White Way's leading costume designers, and in 1964 she extended her activities to films. Ann Roth's motion picture credits include such New York-based productions as The World of Henry Orient (1964), Up the Down Staircase (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), and Klute (1971), and such Hollywood efforts as Murder By Death (1976), California Suite (1977), Sweet Dreams (1985), and Postcards From the Edge (1990). In 1996, Roth received an Academy Award for her work on The English Patient (1996). The credits of costume designer Ann Roth are often confused with those of another Ann Roth, who toured in vaudeville with her more famous sister Lillian Roth. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide