Edith Head’s Oscar nominations, wins
Posted: July 2025
List of Oscar nominations and wins for Edith Head. Edith Head was nominated for 35 Academy Awards for Best Costume Design (some for color, some for black-and-white, some for a unified category) and won 8. Year indicates year/period for which films were released for awards consideration, not year of ceremony. Sources: Oscars.org, Internet Movie Database
1977: Airport ’77 (Best Costume Design) (shared with Burton Miller) — lost to Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (John Mollo). Other nominees: Julia (Anthea Sylbert), A Little Night Music (Florence Klotz), The Other Side of Midnight (Irene Sharaff)
1975: The Man Who Would Be King (Best Costume Design) — lost to Barry Lyndon (Ulla-Britt Söderlund, Milena Canonero). Other nominees: Funny Lady (Ray Aghayan, Bob Mackie), The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge (Yvonne Blake, Ron Talsky), The Magic Flute (Henny Noremark, Karin Erskine)
WON: 1973: The Sting (Best Costume Design) — Other nominees: The Way We Were (Dorothy Jeakins, Moss Mabry), Cries & Whispers (Marik Vos-Lundh), Ludwig (Piero Tosi), Tom Sawyer (Donfeld)
1970: Airport (Best Costume Design) — lost to Cromwell (Vittorio Nino Novarese). Other nominees: Darling Lili (Donald Brooks, Jack Bear), The Hawaiians (Bill Thomas), Scrooge (Margaret Furse)
1969: Sweet Charity (Best Costume Design) — lost to Anne of the Thousand Days (Margaret Furse). Other nominees: They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (Donfeld), Gaily, Gaily (Ray Aghayan), Hello, Dolly! (Irene Sharaff)
1966: The Oscar (Best Costume Design, Color) — lost to A Man for All Seasons (Elizabeth Haffenden, Joan Bridge). Other nominees: Juliet of the Spirits (Piero Gherardi), Gambit (Jean Louis), Hawaii (Dorothy Jeakins)
1965: The Slender Thread (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to Darling (Julie Harris). Other nominees: Morituri (Moss Mabry), A Rage to Live (Howard Shoup), Ship of Fools (Bill Thomas, Jean Louis)
1965: Inside Daisy Clover (Best Costume Design, Color) (shared with Bill Thomas) — lost to Doctor Zhivago (Phyllis Dalton). Other nominees: The Sound of Music (Dorothy Jeakins), The Agony and the Ecstasy (Vittorio Nino Novarese), The Greatest Story Ever Told (Vittorio Nino Novarese, Marjorie Best)
1964: A House Is Not a Home (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to The Night of the Iguana (Dorothy Jeakins). Other nominees: Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Norma Koch), Kisses for My President (Howard Shoup), The Visit (René Hubert)
1964: What a Way to Go! (Best Costume Design, Color) (shared with Moss Mabry) — lost to My Fair Lady (Cecil Beaton). Other nominees:
Mary Poppins (Tony Walton), Becket (Margaret Furse), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Morton Haack)
1963: Love with the Proper Stranger (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to 8½ (Piero Gherardi). Other nominees: Wives and Lovers (Edith Head), The Stripper (Travilla), Toys in the Attic (Bill Thomas)
1963: Wives and Lovers (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to 8½ (Piero Gherardi). Other nominees: Love with the Proper Stranger (Edith Head), The Stripper (Travilla), Toys in the Attic (Bill Thomas)
1963: A New Kind of Love (Best Costume Design, Color) — lost to Cleopatra (Irene Sharaff, Vittorio Nino Novarese, Renié). Other nominees: The Leopard (Piero Tosi), How the West Was Won (Walter Plunkett), The Cardinal (Donald Brooks)
1962: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Norma Koch). Other nominees: Days of Wine and Roses (Donfeld), The Miracle Worker (Ruth Morley), Phaedra (Deni Vachlioti)
1962: My Geisha (Best Costume Design, Color) — lost to The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (Mary Wills). Other nominees: Gypsy
(Orry-Kelly), The Music Man (Dorothy Jeakins), Bon Voyage! (Bill Thomas)
1961: Pocketful of Miracles (Best Costume Design, Color) (shared with Walter Plunkett) — lost to West Side Story (Irene Sharaff). Other nominees: Babes in Toyland (Bill Thomas), Back Street (Jean Louis), Flower Drum Song (Irene Sharaff)
WON: 1960: The Facts of Life (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) (shared with Edward Stevenson) — Other nominees: The Virgin Spring (Marik Vos-Lundh), Never on Sunday (Deni Vachlioti), The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (Howard Shoup), Seven Thieves (Bill Thomas)
1960: Pepe (Best Costume Design, Color) — lost to Spartacus (Valles, Bill Thomas). Other nominees: Can-Can (Irene Sharaff),
Midnight Lace (Irene), Sunrise at Campobello (Marjorie Best)
1959: Career (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to Some Like It Hot (Orry-Kelly). Other nominees: The Diary of Anne Frank (Charles Le Maire, Mary Wills), The Gazebo (Helen Rose), The Young Philadelphians (Howard Shoup)
1959: The Five Pennies (Best Costume Design, Color) — lost to Ben-Hur (Elizabeth Haffenden). Other nominees: Porgy and Bess (Irene Sharaff), The Best of Everything (Adele Palmer), The Big Fisherman (Renié)
1958: The Buccaneer (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White or Color) (shared with Ralph Jester, John Jensen) — lost to Gigi (Cecil Beaton). Other nominees: Bell Book and Candle (Jean Louis), A Certain Smile (Charles Le Maire, Mary Wills), Some Came Running (Walter Plunkett)
1957: Funny Face (Best Costume Design) (shared with Hubert de Givenchy) — lost to Les Girls (Orry-Kelly). Other nominees: An Affair to Remember (Charles Le Maire), Pal Joey (Jean Louis), Raintree County (Walter Plunkett)
1956: The Proud and Profane (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to The Solid Gold Cadillac (Jean Louis). Other nominees: Seven Samurai (Kôhei Ezaki), The Power and the Prize (Helen Rose), Teenage Rebel (Charles Le Maire, Mary Wills)
1956: The Ten Commandments (1956) (Best Costume Design, Color) (shared with Ralph Jester, John Jensen, Dorothy Jeakins, Arnold Friberg) — lost to The King and I (Irene Sharaff). Other nominees: Giant (Moss Mabry, Marjorie Best), Around the World in 80 Days (Miles White), War and Peace (Maria De Matteis)
1955: The Rose Tattoo (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to I’ll Cry Tomorrow (Helen Rose). Other nominees: The Pickwick Papers (Beatrice Dawson), Queen Bee (Jean Louis), Ugetsu (Tadaoto Kainoshô)
1955: To Catch a Thief (Best Costume Design, Color) — lost to Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (Charles Le Maire). Other nominee: Guys and Dolls (Irene Sharaff), Interrupted Melody (Helen Rose), The Virgin Queen (Charles Le Maire, Mary Wills)
WON: 1954: Sabrina (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — Other nominees: The Earrings of Madame De... (Georges Annenkov, Rosine Delamare), Executive Suite (Helen Rose), Terminal Station (Christian Dior), It Should Happen to You (Jean Louis)
WON: 1953: Roman Holiday (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — Other nominees: From Here to Eternity (Jean Louis), The Actress (Walter Plunkett), Dream Wife (Helen Rose, Herschel McCoy), The President’s Lady (Charles Le Maire, Renié)
1952: Carrie (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — lost to The Bad and the Beautiful (Helen Rose). Other nominees: Affair in Trinidad (Jean Louis), My Cousin Rachel (Charles Le Maire, Dorothy Jeakins), Sudden Fear (Sheila O’Brien)
1952: The Greatest Show on Earth (Best Costume Design, Color) (shard with Dorothy Jeakins, Miles White) — lost to Moulin Rouge (Marcel Vertès). Other nominees: Hans Christian Andersen (Antoni Clave, Mary Wills, Barbara Karinska), The Merry Widow (Helen Rose, Gile Steele),
With a Song in My Heart (Charles Le Maire)
WON: 1951: A Place in the Sun (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) — Other nominees: Kind Lady (Walter Plunkett, Gile Steele), The Model and the Marriage Broker (Charles Le Maire, Renié), The Mudlark (Edward Stevenson, Margaret Furse), A Streetcar Named Desire (Lucinda Ballard)
WON: 1950: All About Eve (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) (shared with Charles Le Maire) — Other nominees: Born Yesterday (Jean Louis), The Magnificent Yankee (Walter Plunkett)
WON: 1950: Samson and Delilah (Best Costume Design, Color) (shared with Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele, Gwen Wakeling) — Other nominees: The Black Rose (Michael Whittaker) That Forsyte Woman (Walter Plunkett, Valles)
WON: 1949: The Heiress (Best Costume Design, Black-and-White) (shared with Gile Steele) — Other nominee: Prince of Foxes (Vittorio Nino Novarese)
1948: The Emperor Waltz (Best Costume Design, Color) (shared with Gile Steele) — lost to Joan of Arc (Dorothy Jeakins, Barbara Karinska)
Edith Head’s last film as costume designer was Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982), released after her death. According to the Internet Movie Database, Edith Head was an uncredited costume designer on Wings (1929), the first Oscar Best Picture Winner.