The Resume

(June 5, 1902-March 8, 1982)
Born in Oakland, California
Movie costume designer
Worked on over 150 films
Selected filmography includes 'King Kong' (1933), 'Flying Down to Rio' (1933), 'Little Women' (1933), 'Alice Adams' (1935), 'Stagecoach' (1939), 'Gone With the Wind' (1939), 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1939), 'Duel in the Sun' (1946), 'Adam's Rib' (1949), 'Annie Get Your Gun' (1950), 'An American in Paris' (1951), 'Singin' in the Rain' (1952), 'Raintree County' (1957), 'Two Weeks In Another Town' (1962) and 'How the West Was Won' (1962)

Why he might be annoying:

He went uncredited on 'King Kong' and its sequel 'Son of Kong.'
He quit studying law to pursue an movie acting career that never really panned out.
He specialized in period pieces - designing corseted hoopskirt gowns big enough to function as parachutes.
He said he loved working on period films because the directors were rarely knowledgeable enough about the period-era fashions to argue with him.
He was inexplicably snubbed for an Oscar nomination for Gone With the Wind, despite the film copping a nomination and/or win in almost every other major category.

Why he might not be annoying:

He dressed Katharine Hepburn for several of her early hit movies.
He successfully transitioned from bit part actor to an in-demand costume designer despite having no prior experience in the field.
Working on 'Gone with the Wind,' he created more than 5,000 separate items of clothing for more than fifty major characters.
He lampooned his own lavish period-piece style for several comedic scenes of 'Singin in the Rain.'
He shared an Oscar with Orry-Kelly and Irene Sharaff for 'An American in Paris.'
Margaret O'Brien recalled that - when they were working together on 1949's Little Women - an excited Elizabeth Taylor exclaimed: 'Oh my goodness, I get to wear Walter Plunkett clothes!'
He was openly gay and spent the last years of his life with his partner, Lee, to whom he left his estate.
Carol Burnett (and her designer Bob Mackie) famously parodied his design for Scarlet's green curtain dress (with the curtain rod still attached) in a skit on her show (that version of the dress is on display at the Smithsonian).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Allegedly Gay Men
• BoyWiththeGreenHair’s Profiles [Series 22]
• Designers
• Elia Kazan Films
• Erich Von Stroheim Films
• Film Pioneers [Silent Era]
• Frank Capra Films
• Gone With the Wind [1939]
• How the West was Won [1962]
• I Adopted a Child
• I Attended the Atlanta Premiere of ‘Gone With the Wind’ [December 15, 1939]
• I Attended University of California, Berkeley
• I Died in 1982 (Ranked: 79)
• I Lived in Santa Monica
• John Ford Films
• King Kong [1933, 1976, 2005]
• Profiles 56251-56500 (Ranked: 56339)
• Sigma Phi Fraternity
• Singin' in the Rain [1952]

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying