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Anthony Powell

Three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Anthony Powell began his professional career as a teenager touring with his handmade marionettes. After graduating from London's Central School of Art and Design, he apprenticed as an assistant to other designers including Cecil Beaton. Simultaneously, Powell served as a lecturer at his alma mater. His costume designs for John Gielgud's production of "The School for Scandal" (1963) earned him a Tony Award and he also received a second nomination for his scenic design. Powell made his first Hollywood connection with director Irving Lerner who chose him to design the costumes for "The Royal Hunt of the Sun" (1969), which required styling both the Spanish conquistadors as well as the native Americans. His first Oscar came for his outlandish designs for Maggie Smith's Augusta in George Cukor's "Travels with My Aunt" (1972). The Academy honored him with back-to-back Oscars for his glamorous 30s designs for "Death on the Nile" (1978), particularly the women's outfits worn in the film by such luminaries as Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis and Maggie Smith, and his 19th Century attire for "Tess" (1979). The latter began a three-film collaboration with director Roman Polanski that included the lavish "Pirates" (1986) and the contemporary "Frantic" (1988). Additionally, Powell created the costumes and sets for the French stage production of "Amadeus," in which Polanski starred as well as directed.