Bernard Newman (18 November 1903 – 30 November 1966) was the head designer for Bergdorf Goodman and head costume designer for RKO Pictures. He designed costumes for some 35 movies, dressing stars including Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball and Helen Broderick. He was posthumously included in the Costume Designers Guild Hall of Fame in 2004.Costume Designers Guild 2004 Hall of Fame
Biography
Bernard Newman was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1903. He studied in Paris at the Art Student's League. He started working at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury goods department store in Manhattan, as a window dresser. He later became the head designer for Bergdorf Goodman,Sarah Berry in Screen style: Fashion and femininity in 1930s Hollywood page 15 (2000) and his clothes were worn by film stars like Kay Francis.Lynn Kear and John Rossman in Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career page 155 (2006)
Newman started working as costume designer in the film industry in 1933, mainly for RKO Pictures. In 1934, he was hired by the studio to design for the upcoming Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Roberta. The film took place in a Parisian fashion house and was an ideal opportunity for Newman to display his talents. The major success of Roberta secured Newman the position of head designer at RKO. Fifteen of Newman's costumes for the movie were reproduced and merchandised by the Modern Merchandising Bureau.Sarah Berry in Screen style: Fashion and femininity in 1930s Hollywood page 67-68 (2000)
Newman's films with Ginger Rogers were his most frequent and successful collaborations in Hollywood. His designs feature in four of her popular 1930s musicals with Fred Astaire, Roberta, Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, and Swing Time. Gregory Votolato in American Design in the Twentieth Century: Personality and Performance page 45 (1995) notes that John Harkrider designed the Swing Time Silver Sandal Set ("Never Gonna Dance") and the costumes used both on that set and on the "Bojangles of Harlem" set He created a blue dress with ostrich feathers, to Rogers's specification, which she wore in the "Cheek to Cheek" sequence of Top Hat. Its tendency to shed feathers as Rogers danced earned her the nickname of "Feathers" from the film's crew and co-star Fred Astaire.Turner Classic Movies on Top Hat Rogers: "I designed the dress and I was going to wear it!" Other films he worked on include Sylvia Scarlett with Katharine Hepburn and You Can't Take It with You.
Filmography YearFilmStarring1933 Rafter Romance Ginger Rogers1935 Roberta Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire1935 Star of Midnight Ginger Rogers, William Powell1935 Break of Hearts Katharine Hepburn, Charles Boyer1935 The Nitwits Wheeler & Woolsey1935 Top Hat Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers1935 I Dream Too Much Henry Fonda, Lily Pons1935 In Person Ginger Rogers1935 Sylvia Scarlett Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant1935 The Lady Consents Ann Harding, Herbert Marshall1935 Two in the Dark Walter Abel, Margot Grahame1935 Follow the Fleet Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers1936 The Witness Chair Ann Harding, Walter Abel1936 The Bride Walks Out Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Raymond1936 Swing Time Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers1936 Walking on Air Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern1936 Adventure in Manhattan Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea1936 Smartest Girl in Town Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern1936 Theodora Goes Wild Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas1936 More Than a Secretary Jean Arthur, George Brent1936 History Is Made at Night Jean Arthur, Charles Boyer1937 When You're In Love Cary Grant, Grace Moore1937 Vivacious Lady Ginger Rogers, Jimmy Stewart1938 You Can't Take It with You Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore1939 Green Hell Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Bennett1942 Tales of Manhattan1946 Deception Bette Davis, Paul Henreid1946 Humoresque Joan Crawford, John Garfield1947 Possessed Joan Crawford, Van Heflin1947 Deep Valley Ida Lupino, Dane Clark1947 Dark Passage Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall1947 Escape Me Never Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino1948 Hazard Paulette Goddard, Macdonald Carey1948 The Woman in White Eleanor Parker, Alexis Smith
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