Johnstone, Anna Hill (1913–1992)

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Johnstone, Anna Hill (1913–1992)

American costume designer in theater, film, and television, who was nominated for Academy Awards for The Godfather and Ragtime. Name variations: Anna Hill Johnstone; Anna Johnstone Robinson. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1913; died in Lennox, Massachusetts, on October 15, 1992; daughter of Albert Sidney Johnstone (a banker) and Anna Hill (Watkins) Johnstone; Barnard College, B.A., 1934; honorary degree from Barnard College in 1974; married Curville Jones Robinson (a mechanical engineer), on May 8, 1937 (died 1989).

Filmography as costume designer:

Portrait of Jennie (1948); On the Waterfront (1954); East of Eden (1955); Baby Doll (1956); Edge of the City (1957); A Face in the Crowd (1957); Odds Against Tomorrow (1959); Wild River (1960); Splendor in the Grass (1961); David and Lisa (1963); America, America (1963); Ladybug, Ladybug (1964); The Pawnbroker (1964); Fail Safe (1964); The Group (1966); Bye Bye Braverman (1968); The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968); Alice's Restaurant (1969); There Was a Crooked Man (1970); Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970); Who Is Harry Kellerman? (1971); The Godfather (1972); Play It Again, Sam (1972); Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972); The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1973); Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973); Serpico (1973); The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (1974); Gordon's War (1973); The Stepford Wives (1975); Dog Day Afternoon (1975); The Last Tycoon (1975); The Next Man (1976); The Wiz (1978); King of the Gypsies (1978); Going in Style (1979); Prince of the City (1980); Ragtime (1981); Daniel (1983); Heaven (1983); Running on Empty (1988).

Anna Johnstone was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1913. She began her costume career helping student productions during college and working as a seamstress in summer stock. In 1937, Johnstone received her first full credit for costuming for the Broadway hit Having Wonderful Time. Her stage productions included Bell, Book, and Candle, Lost in the Stars, Tea and Sympathy, The Tender Trap, and A Streetcar Named Desire.

Johnstone began working for films in 1948 with Portrait of Jennie, starring Jennifer Jones . In the next 40 years, Anna Hill Johnstone designed costumes for over 60 films and some television, working frequently with directors Elia Kazan and Sidney Lumet. Besides her Academy Award-nominated films The Godfather and Rag-time, her film credits include Serpico, The Wiz, On the Waterfront, East of Eden, America, America, Prince of the City, The Verdict, Running on Empty, Baby Doll, Edge of the City, Dog Day Afternoon, The Group, and A Face in the Crowd. While working on The Group in 1965, Johnstone spoke of how she would often find just the right clothes for a period piece by rummaging through the attics and closets of her friends in the Bronx and by scouring thrift shops on the East Side of Manhattan. She also revealed that she sometimes had to change what was scripted for technical reasons, such as substituting satin for taffeta to avoid rustling noises on the soundtrack. Johnstone died at the Kimball Farms nursing home in Lennox, Massachusetts, age 79.