Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who had a long career in Hollywood that garnered eight Academy Awards—more than any other woman in history.
She was born Edith Claire Posener in Searchlight, Nevada, the daughter of Max Posener and Anna E. Levy. Her father was a mining engineer in the gold mine there. Whether her parents were married is unknown but, in 1901, her mother married Frank Spare and Edith ...
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Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who had a long career in Hollywood that garnered eight Academy Awards—more than any other woman in history.
She was born Edith Claire Posener in Searchlight, Nevada, the daughter of Max Posener and Anna E. Levy. Her father was a mining engineer in the gold mine there. Whether her parents were married is unknown but, in 1901, her mother married Frank Spare and Edith was passed off as his child. Though her birth parents were Jewish, Head would claim to be a Catholic later in life.
She moved to San Bernardino, California at an early age. She received a BA in French at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1918 and earned an MA in Romance Languages from Stanford University in 1920. She became a Languages teacher (specializing in French). Her first teaching position was at Bishop's School in La Jolla; but after one year she took a position teaching both Languages and Art at Hollywood School for Girls. To...
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