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Sophie Wachner
C. Aubrey Smith, Freddie Bartholomew & Dolores Costello in Little Lord Fauntleroy
Born	(1879-11-05)November 5, 1879 Akron, Ohio
Died	September 13, 1960(1960-09-13) (aged 80) Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Known for	Costume design
Notable work	He Who Gets Slapped, Just Imagine, A Connecticut Yankee
Spouse	Harold Powers ​ ​(m. 1920; died 1943)​

Sophie Wachner (November 5, 1879 – September 13, 1960) was an American costumer who designed costumes for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Fox, and Selznick International Pictures in the early 20th century. Her work appeared in films such as Just Imagine, A Connecticut Yankee, and Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Early life

Wachner was born in 1879 in Akron, Ohio, to Jewish immigrant parents from Hungary. She first began a career in teaching in Akron Public Schools, but in 1909 moved to New York City to design costumes on Broadway. She and her aunt, Frederica De Wolfe, spent ten years there, and during this time Wachner worked as a costumer for Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. In 1919, she moved to Los Angeles to work for Goldwyn Studios.

Career

Wachner joined Goldwyn Studios in August 1919, as they set up a new headquarters for their costume department. Wachner was well-known among the Los Angeles clothiers who supplied Goldwyn Studios' productions. While employed there, Wachner's opinion was greatly respected by the actors and directors she worked with, who "court her favor exactly as they court the favor of the public". William Wellman and G. B. Manly gave her the nickname 'Colonel Wachner'. Her early work for Goldwyn included costumes for the Hobart Henley film So This Is Marriage, which included a technicolor sequence depicting the story of Bathsheba and David, and He Who Gets Slapped, a 1924 psychological thriller starring Lon Chaney. For the 1930 film Just Imagine, she collaborated with Alice O'Neill and Dolly Tree to create a wardrobe for futuristic 1980s New Yorkers and Martians. Wachner left Goldwyn Studios for Fox in 1924, and worked there until 1930, when she was fired to cut costs. Wachner worked in Hollywood for over fifteen years, with her final film Little Lord Fauntleroy being released in 1936.

Filmography

References

1. ^ Jorgensen, Jay; Scoggins, Donald L. (6 October 2015). Creating the illusion : a fashionable history of Hollywood costume designers. Philadelphia: Hachette. p. 14. ISBN 9780762458073.
2. "Studio News". Los Angeles Herald. 8 September 1920. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
3. ^ Fischel, Jack R. (2009). Encyclopedia of Jewish American popular culture. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 113. ISBN 9780313087349.
4. Wilk, Ralph (23 November 1935). "A little from "lots"". The Film Daily. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
5. ^ "Wachner, Sophie", AFI Catalog, American Film Institute
6. "News in sub-titles". The Studio Skeleton. 1 (7): 3. 2 August 1919. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
7. Heustis, Reed (22 September 1919). "Beauty, talent, and pork are located at Goldwyn Studio". Los Angeles Herald. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
8. "Tall, slender girls have their inning". Madera Tribune. 25 October 1922. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
9. Prophater, Anna (December 1923). "Hidden hands of filmdom". Screenland. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
10. "Shoot!". The Studio Skeleton. 1 (16): 3. 4 October 1919. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
11. "Elaborate biblical scenes to be made in color for Metro Production". American Cinematographer. 4: 13. November 1924. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
12. Maclean, Adrianne L. (7 October 2016). Costume, makeup, and hair. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. pp. 27–30. ISBN 9780813571539.

External links

• Sophie Wachner at IMDb

• American costume designers
• American people of Jewish descent
• 1879 births
• 1960 deaths