Ann Bishop Roth (born October 30, 1931) is an American costume designer. She has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for three Emmy Awards. In 2011, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Roth gained prominence for her collaborations with directors John Schlesinger, Mike Nichols, Anthony Minghella, and Stephen Daldry. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design five times, winning two awards for The English Patient (1996) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). She has also received four nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design, winning for The Day of the Locust (1975) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Roth also makes a cameo appearance in Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy film Barbie (2023).
Life and career Roth was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Eleanor and James Roth. Roth is a Carnegie Mellon graduate who began her career as a scenery painter for the Pittsburgh Opera. She intended to remain in the field of production design until she met Irene Sharaff at the Bucks County Playhouse. Sharaff invited her to California to assist her with costumes on the film Brigadoon and suggested Roth apprentice with her for five films and five Broadway productions before setting out on her own.
Roth's first Hollywood film was 1964's The World of Henry Orient, where her designs included "monogrammed handmade yellow silk pajamas" for glamorous womanizer Peter Sellers.
According to Glenn Frankel, Roth "designed not just costumes but characters" for the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. Roth found elegant but grimy white pants for Dustin Hoffman's character Ratso Rizzo on street-sale tables in New York City. Because Jon Voight's fringed suede jacket had to "look real and unhip," Roth made it herself. For Brenda Vaccaro's socialite character to wear in a sex scene, Roth paid $200 for a fox-fur jacket owned by one of her neighbors.
Roth as costume designer created a "show-stopping" nightgown for Barbra Streisand to wear in her first non-musical film The Owl and the Pussycat (1970). The short black nightgown featured appliqué pink hands cupping the breasts and, to quote Roth's own description, "a heart on her pee-pee." Interviewed in 2013 about the origins of the costume idea, Roth said that her research included "looking for dirty, erotic, skuzzy underwear" in the pornographic magazine Screw, after which "somehow or another I made it up." Roth later re-used her hands-on-breasts design for the 2013 stage play The Nance, which won that year's Tony Award for costume design.Official list of 2013 Tony Award Winners
Roth's first Oscar nomination was for 1984's Places in the Heart, set in Depression-era Texas. Roth persuaded Sally Field that, for her "going-into-town-to-ask-for-a-loan-at-the-bank" scenes, a 1930s-type crotchless girdle would help her to walk and sit the right way. The costume Oscar that year, however, went to Miloš Forman's Amadeus."Do the Oscars really reward the best costumes?" BBC (January 30, 2020)
Roth's costumes for three distinct time frames in The English Patient (1996) earned her first Oscar. According to producer Saul Zaentz, Roth worked for half her usual salary on the film "because she believed in the screenplay." Roth's research for the costumes included the British Royal Geographical Society archives and 1930s photos of Egypt by photojournalist Lee Miller. Many of the film's varied military uniforms were authentic from the period; others were copied line-for-line from originals by a Savile Row tailor.
Also in 1996, Roth did costumes for The Birdcage, a comedy film starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as the flamboyant owners of a Florida drag club. Talking about his costume, Williams remembered "those ballroom pants and the silk shirts with the shoulder pads. The details were amazing. This was a guy who was still living in the ’70s. The clothes captured exactly who Armand was for me."
Her most-awarded film was 2020's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, where her costume designs (including flapper costumes and a rubber body suit for Viola Davis based on the body measurements of Aretha Franklin) won the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Period Film, Britain's BAFTA, and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
In the 2023 film Barbie, Roth appears onscreen in a cameo role, portraying and credited as "the woman on a bench." In the scene, Barbie sits down besides Roth and tells the 91 year-old that she is "so beautiful", and Roth responds with a smile, "I know it." In a Rolling Stone interview, director Greta Gerwig said that the brief scene "doesn’t lead anywhere" but "If I cut the scene, I don’t know what this movie is about." Maureen Dowd in The New York Times described Roth's interaction with Barbie as a "pivotal scene."
Roth's more than one hundred screen credits for costume design include The World of Henry Orient, Midnight Cowboy, Klute, Working Girl, Silkwood, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Mambo Kings, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Cold Mountain, Closer, Freedomland, The Good Shepherd, Margot at the Wedding, Mamma Mia!, Evening, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Roth's dozens of stage credits include The Odd Couple, The Star-Spangled Girl, Purlie, Seesaw, They're Playing Our Song, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Biloxi Blues, Butley, The Vertical Hour, Deuce, and The Waverly Gallery.
Multiple collaborations 13 – Mike Nichols: Silkwood, Heartburn, Biloxi Blues, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge, Regarding Henry, Wolf, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, What Planet Are You From, Wit, Angels in America, Closer 5 – John Schlesinger: Midnight Cowboy, The Day of the Locust, Marathon Man, Honky Tonk Freeway, Pacific Heights 4 – Sidney Lumet: The Morning After, Family Business, Q&A, A Stranger Among Us 3 – Alan J. Pakula: Klute, Rollover, Consenting Adults 3 – Anthony Minghella: The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain 3 – Stephen Daldry: The Hours, The Reader, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 3 – Brian De Palma: Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, The Bonfire of the Vanities 3 – Herbert Ross: The Owl and the Pussycat, The Goodbye Girl, California Suite 3 – Hal Ashby: Coming Home, Second-Hand Hearts, The Slugger's Wife 3 – George Roy Hill: The World of Henry Orient, The World According to Garp, Funny Farm 3 – Noah Baumbach: Margot at the Wedding, While We're Young, White Noise 2 – M. Night Shyamalan: Signs, The Village 2 – Frank Oz: In & Out, The Stepford Wives
Filmography Film Year Title Director Notes1964 The World of Henry Orient George Roy Hill 1966 A Fine Madness Irvin Kershner 1967 Up the Down Staircase Robert Mulligan 1968 Sweet November Robert Ellis Miller Pretty Poison Noel Black 1969 Midnight Cowboy John Schlesinger1970 The Owl and the Pussycat Herbert Ross The People Next Door David Greene Jenny George Bloomfield 1971 The Pursuit of Happiness Robert Mulligan They Might Be Giants Anthony Harvey Klute Alan J. Pakula 1972 The Valachi Papers Terence Young with Giorgio Desideri1974 Crazy Joe Carlo Lizzani Law and Disorder Ivan Passer1975 The Day of the Locust John Schlesinger Mandingo Richard Fleischer The Happy Hooker Nicholas Sgarro1976 Burnt Offerings Dan Curtis Murder by Death Robert Moore Drum Steve Carver Marathon Man John Schlesingerwith Robert De Mora; uncredited Independence John Huston Short1977 The Goodbye Girl Herbert Ross 1978 Coming Home Hal Ashby Nunzio Paul Williams California Suite Herbert Ross 1979 Hair Miloš Forman Promises in the Dark Jerome Hellman 1980 Dressed to Kill Brian De Palma with Gary Jones 9 to 5 Colin Higgins The Island Michael Ritchie 1981 Only When I Laugh Glenn Jordan Second-Hand Hearts Hal Ashby Rollover Alan J. Pakula Blow Out Brian De Palma Honky Tonk Freeway John Schlesinger 1982 The World According to Garp George Roy Hill 1983 Silkwood Mike Nichols The Man Who Loved Women Blake Edwards The Survivors Michael Ritchie 1984 Places in the Heart Robert Benton 1985 Jagged Edge Richard Marquand Sweet Dreams Karel Reisz The Slugger's Wife Hal Ashby Maxie Paul Aaron 1986 The Morning After Sidney Lumet Heartburn Mike Nichols 1988 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Philip Kaufman Stars and Bars Pat O'Connor Biloxi Blues Mike Nichols Funny Farm George Roy Hill Working Girl Mike Nichols 1989 Her Alibi Bruce Beresford Family Business Sidney Lumet The January Man Pat O'Connor with Neil Spisak1990 Everybody Wins Karel Reisz Q & A Sidney Lumet with Neil Spisak The Bonfire of the Vanities Brian De Palma Postcards from the Edge Mike Nichols Pacific Heights John Schlesinger with Bridget Kelly1991 Regarding Henry Mike Nichols 1992 The Mambo Kings Arne Glimcher with Gary Jones and Bridget Kelly School Ties Robert Mandel Consenting Adults Alan J. Pakula with Gary Jones A Stranger Among Us Sidney Lumet 1993 Dennis the Menace Nick Castle with Bridget Kelly Dave Ivan Reitman 1994 Guarding Tess Hugh Wilson with Sue Gandy Wolf Mike Nichols 1995 Sabrina Sydney Pollack with Gary Jones Just Cause Arne Glimcher 1996 The English Patient Anthony Minghella Before and After Barbet Schroeder The Birdcage Mike Nichols 1997 In & Out Frank Oz 1998 The Siege Edward Zwick Primary Colors Mike Nichols with Gary Jones Hush Jonathan Darby 1999 The Out-of-Towners Sam Weisman The Talented Mr. Ripley Anthony Minghella with Gary Jones2000 Finding Forrester Gus Van Sant What Planet Are You From? Mike Nichols 2001 Someone like You Tony Goldwyn with Michelle Matland2002 The Hours Stephen Daldry Signs M. Night Shyamalan Changing Lanes Roger Michell 2003 Cold Mountain Anthony Minghella with Carlo Poggioli2004 The Stepford Wives Frank Oz The Village M. Night Shyamalan Closer Mike Nichols 2006 The Good Shepherd Robert De Niro Freedomland Joe Roth with Michelle Matland2007 Evening Lajos Koltai Margot at the Wedding Noah Baumbach 2008 Mamma Mia! Phyllida Lloyd Doubt John Patrick Shanley What Just Happened Barry Levinson The Reader Stephen Daldry with Donna Maloney2009 Julie & Julia Nora Ephron 2010 Rabbit Hole John Cameron Mitchell Last Night Massy Tadjedin 2011 A Little Bit of Heaven Nicole Kassell The Resident Antti Jokinen Mr. Popper's Penguins Mark Waters Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Stephen Daldry 2012 Safe Boaz Yakin with Michelle Matland Hope Springs David Frankel 2013 The Way, Way Back Nat Faxon & Jim Rash with Michelle Matland2014 Lullaby Andrew Levitas While We're Young Noah Baumbach 2015 Ricki and the Flash Jonathan Demme 2016 The Girl on the Train Tate Taylor with Michelle Matland2017 The Yellow Birds Alexandre Moors with Lisa Loen and Donna MaloneyThe Only Living Boy in New York Marc Webb with Michelle MatlandThe Post Steven Spielberg 2018 The Seagull Michael Mayer 2020 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom George C. Wolfe 2021 The Humans Stephen Karam 2022 White Noise Noah Baumbach 2023 Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Kelly Fremon Craig Barbie Greta Gerwig Cameo 2025 Ella McCay James L. Brooks with Matthew Pachtman
Television Year Title Director Notes 1971 All the Way Home Fred Coe Television movie 1972 The Snoop Sisters Leonard B. Stern Episode: "The Female Instinct" 1974 Great Performances Kirk Browning & Ellis Rabb Episode: "Enemies" 1975 Valley Forge Fielder Cook Television movie1977 The Royal Family Kirk Browning & Ellis Rabb The Best of Families Several Miniseries1987 American Playhouse Jerry Zaks & Kirk Browning Episode: "The House of Blue Leaves" 2001 Wit Mike Nichols Television movie, HBO 2003 Angels in America Miniseries, HBO 2011 Mildred Pierce Todd Haynes
Theatre Work as a costume designer