Orry-Kelly

Orry-Kelly
Born	Orry George Kelly December 31, 1897(1897-12-31) Kiama, New South Wales, Australia
Died	February 27, 1964(1964-02-27) (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Costume designer
Known for	Costume design
Awards	Academy Award for Costume Design 1951 An American in Paris 1957 Les Girls 1959 Some Like It Hot

Orry-Kelly was the professional name of Orry George Kelly (31 December 1897 – 27 February 1964), a prolific Hollywood costume designer.

He was born in Kiama, New South Wales in Australia, and was known as Jack Kelly. His father William Kelly, was born on the Isle of Man and was a gentleman tailor in Kiama. Orry was a name of an ancient King of Man. He studied art in Sydney, and worked as a tailor's apprentice and window dresser.

He journeyed to New York to pursue an acting career. He shared an apartment there with Charlie Spangles and Cary Grant. A job painting murals in a nightclub led to his employment by Fox East Coast studios illustrating titles. He designed costumes and sets for Broadway's Shubert Revues and George White's Scandals.

He went to Hollywood in 1932, working for all the major studios (Warner Brothers, Universal, RKO, 20th Century Fox, and MGM), and designed for all the great actresses of the day, including Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Dolores del Río, Ava Gardner, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck, and Merle Oberon.

He worked on many films now deemed classics, including 42nd Street, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, Harvey, Oklahoma!, Auntie Mame, and Some Like It Hot.

He won three Academy Awards for Best Costume Design (for An American in Paris, Cole Porter's Les Girls, and Some Like It Hot) and was nominated for a fourth (for Gypsy).

He wrote a column 'Hollywood Fashion Parade' for the International News Service, owned by William Randolph Hearst, during the war years.

A longtime alcoholic, he died of liver cancer in Hollywood and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). His pallbearers included Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Billy Wilder and George Cukor and his eulogy was read by Jack Warner. His Academy Awards went to Jack Warner's wife, Ann.

Costume design credits

• Sunday in New York (1963)
• Irma la Douce (1963)
• In the Cool of the Day (1963)
• Two for the Seesaw (1962)
• Gypsy (1962)
• The Chapman Report (1962)
• Five Finger Exercise (1962)
• Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
• A Majority of One (1961)
• Some Like It Hot (1959)
• The Hanging Tree (1959)
• Auntie Mame (1958)
• Wonderful Town (1958 television film)
• Too Much, Too Soon (1958)
• Cole Porter's Les Girls (1957, by George Cukor)
• Oklahoma! (1955)
• The Star (1952)
• Pat and Mike (1952, by George Cukor)
• The Lady Says No (1952)
• An American in Paris (1951, by Vincente Minnelli)
• Under the Gun (1951)
• Harvey (1950)
• South Sea Sinner (1950)
• Deported (1950)
• One Way Street (1950)
• Woman in Hiding (1950)
• Undertow (1949)
• Once More, My Darling (1949)
• Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
• Take One False Step (1949)
• The Lady Gambles (1949)
• Caught (1949, by Max Ophüls)
• Family Honeymoon (1949)
• Rogues' Regiment (1948)
• Larceny (1948)
• For the Love of Mary (1948)
• One Touch of Venus (1948)
• Berlin Express (1948)
• A Woman's Vengeance (1948)
• Night Song (1948)
• Mother Wore Tights (1947)
• Something in the Wind (1947)
• Ivy (1947)
• The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947)
• Temptation (1946)
• London Town (1946)
• A Stolen Life (1946)
• The Dolly Sisters (1945)
• Conflict (1945)
• The Corn Is Green (1945)
• Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
• Mr. Skeffington (1944)
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
• Old Acquaintance (1943)
• Princess O'Rourke (1943)
• Watch on the Rhine (1943)
• This Is the Army (1943)
• Mission to Moscow (1943)
• Edge of Darkness (1943)
• The Hard Way (1943)
• Casablanca (1942)
• George Washington Slept Here (1942)
• Now, Voyager (1942)
• In This Our Life (1942)
• Murder in the Big House (1942)
• Always in My Heart (1942)
• Kings Row (1942)
• Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1942)
• The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
• The Maltese Falcon (1941)
• The Little Foxes (1941)
• The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
• Throwing a Party (1941 short)
• Million Dollar Baby (1941)
• Affectionately Yours (1941)
• The Great Lie (1941)
• The Lady and the Lug (1941 short)
• The Strawberry Blonde (1941)
• Honeymoon for Three (1941)
• The Letter (1940)
• A Dispatch from Reuter's (1940)
• No Time for Comedy (1940)
• My Love Came Back (1940)
• All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
• The Sea Hawk (1940)
• 'Til We Meet Again (1940)
• Virginia City (1940)
• On Your Toes (1939)
• The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
• The Old Maid (1939)
• When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
• Indianapolis Speedway (1939)
• Juarez (1939)
• Dark Victory (1939)
• Women in the Wind (1939)
• The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
• Wings of the Navy (1939)
• King of the Underworld (1939)
• Comet Over Broadway (1938)
• Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
• The Sisters (1938)
• Secrets of an Actress (1938)
• Four Daughters (1938)
• All Rights Reserved (1938)
• My Bill (1938)
• Women Are Like That (1938)
• Jezebel (1938)
• Tovarich (1937)
• Hollywood Hotel (1937)
• First Lady (1937)
• It's Love I'm After (1937)
• That Certain Woman (1937)
• Confession (1937)
• The Singing Marine (1937)
• Ever Since Eve (1937)
• Another Dawn (1937)
• Kid Galahad (1937)
• The Go Getter (1937)
• Call It a Day (1937)
• Marked Woman (1937)
• Grand Passion (1937)
• Green Light (1937)
• Stolen Holiday (1937)
• Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
• Three Men on a Horse (1936)
• Here Comes Carter (1936)
• Polo Joe (1936)
• Isle of Fury (1936)
• Cain and Mabel (1936)
• Give Me Your Heart (1936)
• Stage Struck (1936)
• China Clipper (1936)
• Jailbreak (1936)
• Satan Met a Lady (1936)
• The White Angel (1936)
• Hearts Divided (1936)
• Murder by an Aristocrat (1936)
• The Golden Arrow (1936)
• The Law in Her Hands (1936)
• Sons o' Guns (1936)
• The Gentleman from Big Bend (1936)
• I Married a Doctor (1936)
• The Singing Kid (1936)
• Snowed Under (1936)
• Colleen (1936)
• The Walking Dead (1936)
• The Petrified Forest (1936)
• Freshman Love (1936)
• Ceiling Zero (1936)
• Dangerous (1935)
• The Widow from Monte Carlo (1935)
• The Girl from 10th Avenue (1935)

• Broadway Hostess (1935)
• Miss Pacific Fleet (1935)
• Frisco Kid (1935)
• Stars Over Broadway (1935)
• The Payoff (1935)
• I Found Stella Parish (1935)
• Shipmates Forever (1935)
• Personal Maid's Secret (1935)
• I Live for Love (1935)
• The Goose and the Gander (1935)
• Little Big Shot (1935)
• Page Miss Glory (1935)
• Going Highbrow (1935)
• We're in the Money (1935)
• The Irish in Us (1935)
• Bright Lights (1935)
• Broadway Gondolier (1935)
• Stranded (1935)
• Oil for the Lamps of China (1935)
• The Girl from 10th Avenue (1935)
• In Caliente (1935)
• Go Into Your Dance (1935)
• The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)
• The Florentine Dagger (1935)
• Traveling Saleslady (1935)
• Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
• Living on Velvet (1935)
• While the Patient Slept (1935)
• The Right to Live (1935)
• The Woman in Red (1935)
• Devil Dogs of the Air (1935)
• Bordertown (1935)
• Maybe It's Love (1935)
• The White Cockatoo (1935)
• Sweet Adeline (1934)
• I Sell Anything (1934)
• Murder in the Clouds (1934)
• The Secret Bride (1934)
• Babbitt (1934)
• Flirtation Walk (1934)
• I Am a Thief (1934)
• Gentlemen Are Born (1934)
• Big-Hearted Herbert (1934)
• The Firebird (1934)
• The St. Louis Kid (1934)
• Happiness Ahead (1934)
• Kansas City Princess (1934)
• Madame DuBarry (1934)
• A Lost Lady (1934)
• The Case of the Howling Dog (1934)
• British Agent (1934)
• Desirable (1934)
• The Dragon Murder Case (1934)
• Dames (1934)
• Side Streets (1934)
• Housewife (1934)
• The Personality Kid (1934)
• Friends of Mr. Sweeney (1934)
• A Very Honorable Guy (1934)
• Midnight Alibi (1934)
• Return of the Terror (1934)
• Here Comes the Navy (1934)
• Dr. Monica (1934)
• The Circus Clown (1934)
• Fog Over Frisco (1934)
• The Key (1934)
• The Merry Frinks (1934)
• Smarty (1934)
• He Was Her Man (1934)
• Merry Wives of Reno (1934)
• Upperworld (1934)
• Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934)
• Harold Teen (1934)
• Registered Nurse (1934)
• A Modern Hero (1934)
• Gambling Lady (1934)
• Jimmy the Gent (1934)
• Journal of a Crime (1934)
• Heat Lightning (1934)
• Wonder Bar (1934)
• As the Earth Turns (1934)
• Fashion Follies (1934)
• Fashions of 1934 (1934)
• Mandalay (1934)
• Dark Hazard (1934)
• I've Got Your Number (1934)
• Bedside (1934)
• Hi, Nellie! (1934)
• Massacre (1934)
• Easy to Love (1934)
• The Big Shakedown (1934)
• The Working Man (1933)
• Lady Killer (1933)
• Son of a Sailor (1933)
• Convention City (1933)
• The House on 56th Street (1933)
• Havana Widows (1933)
• Female (1933)
• College Coach (1933)
• The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
• Goodbye Again (1933)
• Captured! (1933)
• Voltaire (1933)
• Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933)
• She Had to Say Yes (1933)
• The Narrow Corner (1933)
• Baby Face (1933)
• The Mayor of Hell (1933)
• Breadline (1933)
• The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
• Private Detective 62 (1933)
• The Silk Express (1933)
• Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
• Ex-Lady (1933)
• Lilly Turner (1933)
• Picture Snatcher (1933)
• Elmer, the Great (1933)
• The Adopted Father (1933)
• Central Airport (1933)
• The Little Giant (1933)
• The Mind Reader (1933)
• The Keyhole (1933)
• Girl Missing (1933)
• Blondie Johnson (1933)
• Grand Slam (1933)
• Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
• Ladies They Talk About (1933)
• 42nd Street (1933)
• Hard to Handle (1933)
• Parachute Jumper (1933)
• Employees' Entrance (1933)
• The King's Vacation (1933)
• Lawyer Man (1933)
• The Match King (1932)
• Frisco Jenny (1932)
• 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
• Central Park (1932)
• Silver Dollar (1932)
• I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
• You Said a Mouthful (1932)
• They Call It Sin (1932)
• Scarlet Dawn (1932)
• Three on a Match (1932)
• The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
• The Crash (1932)
• One Way Passage (1932)
• Tiger Shark (1932)
• Life Begins (1932)
• Two Against the World (1932)
• Crooner (1932)
• Winner Take All (1932)
• The Rich Are Always with Us (1932)
• So Big! (1932)

References

• Mann, William J., Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969, Viking Press, New York, 2001. ISBN 0-14-200114-7

External links

Biography portal

• Orry-Kelly at the Internet Movie Database
• Orry-Kelly at the Internet Broadway Database
• Orry-Kelly at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	31 December 1897
Place of birth	Kiama, New South Wales, Australia
Date of death	27 February 1964
Place of death	Los Angeles, California, United States