DT
Dolly Tree
Actor, Additional Credits
Born March 17, 1899Died May 17, 1962 (63 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolly Tree (17 March 1899–17 May 1962) was an English illustrator, actress and costume designer who during the 1930s and 1940s designed dresses for Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell, Maureen O'Sullivan and Judy Garland among others in addition to costuming historical dramas such as David Copperfield (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Born in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol in 1899 as Dorothy Marian Isbell, the daughter of Charles Edwin Isbell (1863-1942) , a solicitor, and Bertha Marian (née Keith-Williams) at an early age she discovered an aptitude for drawing before being drawn towards a career on the stage. In 1912 her family relocated to London and she began her career as an artist after seeing the play Vanity Fair at the Palace Theatre in 1916. Of the play she later wrote, ‘I was fascinated by the wonderful dancing and art of Regine Flory and admired her so much that I started to design a special poster of her, really to amuse myself, based on my recollections of this vivid artist seen across the footlights.’ A friend took her drawing to Sir Alfred Butt who bought it and gave her a two-year contract (c1917-1918) to design posters and programme covers for of all his shows including The Boy (1917), The Beauty Spot (1918), Going Up (1918), Telling the Tale (1918), The Latest Craze (1919), The Kiss Call (1919), Very Good Eddie (1919) and Hello America (1919). Her comic illustrations also appeared in various British newspapers and magazines.
Between 1915 and 1918 Dolly Tree appeared in five British silent films as an actress. In the United Kingdom her career as a costume designer began in the 1920s on various cabaret shows in London in particular; in 1923 she collaborated on her first film, Woman to Woman, directed by Graham Cutts and with Alfred Hitchcock as the co-screenwriter, artistic director and assistant director. Her work became popular in Paris where she became the first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergère.
In 1926 she moved to the United States, first working in New York where she created the costumes for the 1928 Broadway play Diamond Lil starring Mae West. She then went to Hollywood where she was involved in designing for 175 American films, firstly for Fox Studios (1929-1931) and then for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1931-1942), mainly as a designer of dresses, among others alongside Adrian. In 1931 while working at Fox Studios she met and married the American Naval officer Thomas Kimes. Although the marriage was a happy one but his career in the Navy kept them apart and they divorced in 1940. After her divorce Tree began to drink heavily which lead to her leaving MGM in 1942 and returning to Fox Studios where she married her second husband Don E. Whiteford. However, this marriage also did not work and they quickly divorced, which drove Tree further into alcoholism. Her second divorce, her heavy drinking and the death of her father in 1942 lead to her becoming increasing unreliable and losing her job.
Dolly Tree (17 March 1899–17 May 1962) was an English illustrator, actress and costume designer who during the 1930s and 1940s designed dresses for Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell, Maureen O'Sullivan and Judy Garland among others in addition to costuming historical dramas such as David Copperfield (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Born in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol in 1899 as Dorothy Marian Isbell, the daughter of Charles Edwin Isbell (1863-1942) , a solicitor, and Bertha Marian (née Keith-Williams) at an early age she discovered an aptitude for drawing before being drawn towards a career on the stage. In 1912 her family relocated to London and she began her career as an artist after seeing the play Vanity Fair at the Palace Theatre in 1916. Of the play she later wrote, ‘I was fascinated by the wonderful dancing and art of Regine Flory and admired her so much that I started to design a special poster of her, really to amuse myself, based on my recollections of this vivid artist seen across the footlights.’ A friend took her drawing to Sir Alfred Butt who bought it and gave her a two-year contract (c1917-1918) to design posters and programme covers for of all his shows including The Boy (1917), The Beauty Spot (1918), Going Up (1918), Telling the Tale (1918), The Latest Craze (1919), The Kiss Call (1919), Very Good Eddie (1919) and Hello America (1919). Her comic illustrations also appeared in various British newspapers and magazines.
Between 1915 and 1918 Dolly Tree appeared in five British silent films as an actress. In the United Kingdom her career as a costume designer began in the 1920s on various cabaret shows in London in particular; in 1923 she collaborated on her first film, Woman to Woman, directed by Graham Cutts and with Alfred Hitchcock as the co-screenwriter, artistic director and assistant director. Her work became popular in Paris where she became the first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergère.
In 1926 she moved to the United States, first working in New York where she created the costumes for the 1928 Broadway play Diamond Lil starring Mae West. She then went to Hollywood where she was involved in designing for 175 American films, firstly for Fox Studios (1929-1931) and then for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1931-1942), mainly as a designer of dresses, among others alongside Adrian. In 1931 while working at Fox Studios she met and married the American Naval officer Thomas Kimes. Although the marriage was a happy one but his career in the Navy kept them apart and they divorced in 1940. After her divorce Tree began to drink heavily which lead to her leaving MGM in 1942 and returning to Fox Studios where she married her second husband Don E. Whiteford. However, this marriage also did not work and they quickly divorced, which drove Tree further into alcoholism. Her second divorce, her heavy drinking and the death of her father in 1942 lead to her becoming increasing unreliable and losing her job.
Dolly Tree Filmography
| 1916 | Two Lancashire Lasses in London · as Constance Hallett |
| 1915 | |
| 1915 | A Will of Her Own · as Cast |
| 1915 | The Disorder of the Bath · as Girl |
| 1944 | The Hairy Ape · as Costume Designer |
| 1942 | Thunder Birds: Soldiers of the Air · as Costume Design |
| 1942 | The Magnificent Dope · as Costume Designer |
| 1942 | The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe · as Costume Design |
| 1942 | The Pied Piper · as Costume Design |
| 1942 | Tales of Manhattan · as Costume Design |
| 1942 | Ten Gentlemen from West Point · as Costume Design |
| 1941 | Billy the Kid · as Costume Design |
| 1941 | The Bad Man · as Costume Design |
| 1941 | The Trial of Mary Dugan · as Costume Design |
| 1941 | The Wild Man of Borneo · as Costumer |
| 1941 | Maisie Was a Lady · as Costume Design |
| 1940 | Keeping Company · as Costume Designer |
| 1940 | Go West · as Costume Design |
| 1940 | Little Nellie Kelly · as Costume Design |
| 1940 | Wyoming · as Costume Designer |
| 1940 | Dr. Kildare Goes Home · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1940 | The Golden Fleecing · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1940 | I Love You Again · as Costume Design |
| 1940 | Gold Rush Maisie · as Costume Design |
| 1940 | We Who Are Young · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1940 | Sporting Blood · as Costume Design |
| 1940 | Andy Hardy Meets Debutante · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1940 | Edison, the Man · as Costume Designer |
| 1940 | 20 Mule Team · as Costume Design |
| 1940 | Young Tom Edison · as Costume Designer |
| 1940 | Congo Maisie · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1939 | The Secret of Dr. Kildare · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1939 | Another Thin Man · as Costume Design |
| 1939 | At the Circus · as Costume Design |
| 1939 | Thunder Afloat · as Costume Design |
| 1939 | They All Come Out · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1939 | On Borrowed Time · as Costumer |
| 1939 | Stronger Than Desire · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1939 | Maisie · as Costume Design |
| 1939 | 6,000 Enemies · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1939 | Tell No Tales · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1939 | Calling Dr. Kildare · as Costume Designer |
| 1939 | The Kid from Texas · as Costume Design |
| 1939 | The Ice Follies of 1939 · as Costume Design |
| 1939 | Let Freedom Ring · as Costume Designer |
| 1939 | Fast and Loose · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1939 | Stand Up and Fight · as Costume Design |
| 1938 | The Girl Downstairs · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1938 | The Shining Hour · as Costume Design |
| 1938 | Spring Madness · as Costume Designer |
| 1938 | Too Hot to Handle · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1938 | The Chaser · as Wardrobe Master |
| 1938 | Fast Company · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1938 | Lord Jeff · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1938 | Yellow Jack · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1938 | Paradise for Three · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1938 | Test Pilot · as Costume Designer |
| 1938 | Arsène Lupin Returns · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1938 | Of Human Hearts · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1937 | The First Hundred Years · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1937 | Rosalie · as Costume Design |
| 1937 | Thoroughbreds Don't Cry · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1937 | Navy Blue and Gold · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1937 | Live, Love and Learn · as Wardrobe Master |
| 1937 | Madame X · as Costume Design |
| 1937 | My Dear Miss Aldrich · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1937 | Big City · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1937 | A Day at the Races · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1937 | The Good Earth · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1937 | Night Must Fall · as Costumer |
| 1937 | The Good Old Soak · as Costume Design |
| 1937 | Espionage · as Costume Design |
| 1936 | After the Thin Man · as Costumer |
| 1936 | Sinner Take All · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1936 | Mad Holiday · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1936 | Libeled Lady · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1936 | Sworn Enemy · as Costume Designer |
| 1936 | Suzy · as Costume Designer |
| 1936 | The Devil-Doll · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1936 | Fury · as Costume Design |
| 1936 | Trouble for Two · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1936 | Absolute Quiet · as Costume Design |
| 1936 | The Unguarded Hour · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1936 | Three Godfathers · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1936 | Exclusive Story · as Costume Design |
| 1936 | Three Live Ghosts · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1936 | The Garden Murder Case · as Costume Design |
| 1935 | Riffraff · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1935 | A Tale of Two Cities · as Costume Design |
| 1935 | Whipsaw · as Wardrobe Master |
| 1935 | Kind Lady · as Costumer |
| 1935 | A Night at the Opera · as Costume Design |
| 1935 | Rendezvous · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1935 | It's in the Air · as Costume Design |
| 1935 | The Bishop Misbehaves · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1935 | Woman Wanted · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1935 | Mad Love · as Costume Design |
| 1935 | Escapade · as Costume Design |
| 1935 | David Copperfield · as Costume Design |
| 1935 | Public Hero Number 1 · as Wardrobe Master |
| 1935 | Age of Indiscretion · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1935 | The Casino Murder Case · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1935 | Times Square Lady · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1935 | One New York Night · as Costume Designer |
| 1935 | The Night Is Young · as Wardrobe Master |
| 1934 | The Gay Bride · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1934 | A Wicked Woman · as Wardrobe Supervisor |
| 1934 | Hide-Out · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1934 | Straight Is the Way · as Costume Supervisor |
| 1934 | The Thin Man · as Costume Design |
| 1934 | Manhattan Melodrama · as Costume Design |
| 1934 | You Can't Buy Everything · as Wardrobe Designer |
| 1933 | The Devil's Brother · as Costume Designer |
| 1932 | Business and Pleasure · as Costume Designer |
| 1932 | She Wanted a Millionaire · as Costume Design |
| 1931 | Riders of the Purple Sage · as Costume Designer |
| 1931 | Skyline · as Costume Design |
| 1931 | Wicked · as Costume Designer |
| 1931 | Bad Girl · as Costume Design |
| 1931 | Transatlantic · as Costume Design |
| 1931 | Sporting Blood · as Costume Design |
| 1931 | Hush Money · as Costume Designer |
| 1931 | Goldie · as Costume Designer |
| 1931 | The Black Camel · as Costume Designer |
| 1930 | Just Imagine · as Costume Design |
| 1927 | The Arcadians · as Costume Designer |
| 1923 | Woman to Woman · as Costume Designer |