THEADORA VAN RUNKLE

Hollywood lost another bright light, costume designer and free spirit Theadora Van Runkle, who died November 4, 2011. Theadora was part of the new wave of designers that exploded on the scene in the 1960s, changing the approach to costume design and in the process launching some distinctive fashion trends. She is famous for her designs for Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde, and for several other films that also made Faye Dunaway famous. Part of her distinctive creativity was that she was mostly self-taught, and used her perceptive sense of street fashion along with her own research on period dress to design distinctive film costumes tied to the story characters.




Theadora Van Runkle in 1968

Theadora Van Runkle was born Dorothy Schweppe in 1928, the daughter of Eltsey Adair and Courtney Schweppe, heir to the Scheppes beverage family. The couple did not stay together and Eltsey and her daughter moved to California. She changed her own name to Theadora, and kept her name from her first marriage at age 16 to Robert Van Runkle. Theadora was always artistic, and got a job as the illustrator of fashion ads for the May Company department store, this in the day when illustrated fashion ads were common in newspapers.

She got a job as sketch artist for Dorothy Jeakins in 1966 when that designer was swamped designing the epic film Hawaii at United Artists. But the job didn't last past production of the film. Theadora then took her skills to a job with costume designer Renie at Twentieth Century-Fox, where Renie was designing Sand Pebbles, with Steve McQueen and Candice Bergen. Theadora actually designed the costumes of the  Chinese Red Candle girls in that movie, and boldly signed her own name on the sketches. While sketch artists would sometimes design a costume for which they received no credit, it was still considered cheeky to sign their names to the sketch. Luckily, Dorothy Jeakins called Theadora again and referred her to Warner Brothers, where they were producing a "little western."  Her good fortune continued as the director of that film, Arthur Penn, wanted a fresh "new wave" look and didn't want a lot of Hollywood veterans involved. The film was Bonnie and Clyde, and Theadora was panicked at being given the entire cast to costume. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Photofest

Van Runkle wanted to be fairly accurate as to the what rural folks of modest means wore in the 1930s. But she also wanted to give some flair to Faye Dunaway as Bonnie, and  she turned Clyde Barrow into a bit of a dandy, using Pretty Boy Floyd as a model. Early in her shopping for fabrics she ran into Edith Head, who tossed out the advice to do everything for Bonnie in chiffon. Instead, Theadora used sturdy maxi-skirts and sweaters. Combined with a variety of berets, the look quickly became a fashion trend after the film's release. Theadora was nominated for a Best Costume Oscar for her work on Bonnie and Clyde.




With some bank cash in hand, Bonnie improved her
wardrobe with this stripped suit.

Photos courtesy Photofest

Faye Dunaway's striking and photogenic beauty was a big part of Bonnie and Clyde's success, and she knew that Theadora's fresh fashion designs were right for her. Dunaway continued to ask for Theadora in several of her subsequent films.



Faye Dunaway in The Thomas Crowne Affair

Theadora's designs for Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crowne Affair were the perfect looks for the sophisticated but hip screen couple. For Dunaway Theadora managed to combine a 1960s brashness with a professional women's wardrobe. Theadora also worked with Steve McQueen to get him to look perfectly comfortable in rich-looking men's suits. He too wanted to continue having her work with him, and so she designed McQueen's cool-cop outfits for Bullitt in 1968, and for the period movie The Rievers in 1969. 

As the famous veteran costume designers retired, or their contracts were dropped by the increasingly frugal studios, young designers like Van Runkle and Donfeld were given a wide variety of designing assignments. Thus Theadora designed Lucille Ball's costumes for Mame in 1974. She hearkened back to the 1920s flapper look for Lucille Ball in the photo below.

Photofest

Probably Theadora's most ambitious assignment was costuming the epic Godfather II. Here she had to design for the gamut of film characters, from turn of the century Italian immigrants to Mafia mobsters and their families to swinging 1950s Las Vegas hipsters. She did a perfect job of helping build character through costume. She received her second Best Costume Oscar nomination for her work.



Robert De Niro as the young Vito Corleone

Theadora Van Runkle worked on many films during her career, films as diverse I Love You Alice B. Toklas, Myra Breckenridge, Heaven Can Wait, New York New York,The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Peggy Sue Got Married. She arrived at the studios during a pivotal moment in film history - the collapse of the studio system and the launching of a new wave of film-makers and stars. On those films and stars she made a lasting mark from her free-spirited and talented design creativity. She leaves us with that wonderful legacy.

Theadora Van Runkle, 1973