Submitted by Steve Churchill on the Turner Classic Movies Fan Site:
Edith Head. In her 48 year career from 1924 through 1982, first at Paramount and then Universal Pictures, Edith won a record 8 Oscars for Best Costume Design. This number would certainly be higher, but the award category was not established until 1949, by which time she was already a well-known designer in Hollywood. She designed not only for the greatest actresses of the day, but also a few actors, working repeatedly with Barbara Stanwyck, Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and John Wayne. She worked well with and was like-minded when it came to collaborating with Alfred Hitchcock. The movies she brought home the Oscar for were: The Heiress; Samson & Delilah; All about Eve; A Place in the Sun; Roman Holiday, Sabrina; The Facts of Life & The Sting. She even designed women's uniforms for the U.S. Coast Guard. She appeared in a few films and tv spots as herself, wrote books on fashion and has been the inspiration of a one-woman play and been referenced in song. The character of Edna Mode in Pixar's "The Incredibles" movies was inspired by and a tribute to Edith Head.