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William Travilla. Never Head Of This Dude.

Daniel Martin |

Came across this old You Bet Your Life video. I'm in the biz, and know my movies, but have no idea who William Travilla is. Should I?

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by Anonymousreply 46August 31, 2022 11:37 PM

He made Neely O'Hara younger than springtime and twice as exciting!

by Anonymousreply 4August 29, 2022 12:08 AM

Is that fake surname? Sounds fake.

by Anonymousreply 5August 29, 2022 12:11 AM

[quote] He made Neely O'Hara younger than springtime and twice as exciting!

He made her sparkle.

by Anonymousreply 6August 29, 2022 12:11 AM

[quote]I'm in the biz, and know my movies

Obviously not.

by Anonymousreply 7August 29, 2022 12:11 AM

My interest is what lies below the habiliments, namely tits and clits.

by Anonymousreply 8August 29, 2022 12:14 AM

I'm related. Like Ralph Lauren he was straight. One of the few costume designers who was.

by Anonymousreply 10August 29, 2022 12:20 AM

[quote] One of the few costume designers who was.

Few is correct.

by Anonymousreply 11August 29, 2022 12:21 AM

[quote]Is that fake surname? Sounds fake.

His grandfather killed a man in a Denver brothel in 1880. His father and uncles were vaudevillians with a Diving Seal act from roughly 1912-21 called The Travilla Bros or The Three Travillas. His aunt was Sybil Sealey who starred opposite Buster Keaton in six films. His uncle was screenwriter Jules Furthman.

His wife was Dona Drake who was black though passed for Latin/White. They separated in 1956 though never divorced and he had a 36 year relationship with his business partner Bill Sarris. A true bisexual, Sarris once told me "Travilla would fuck a knothole."

He designed for over 100 films, all three seasons of Julia (starring Diahann Carroll), two seasons of Dallas and several mini-series including The Thorn Birds and Eva Peron (starring Faye Dunaway). He also had a private fashion label, designing up until his unexpected death of lung cancer in November of 1990. His last professional job was the uniforms for BioSphere2.

by Anonymousreply 12August 29, 2022 12:21 AM

[quote]Like Ralph Lauren he was straight.

Um, no he wasn't. See the above.

by Anonymousreply 13August 29, 2022 12:22 AM

Then I was lied to by my cousin.

by Anonymousreply 14August 29, 2022 12:28 AM

[quote]I'm related.

I'm curious as to how as his daughter never had children. His only cousin was Jules Furthman, Junior, Although, he had a half-sister by his father's second marriage, so it is possible.

[quote]Then I was lied to by my cousin.

It seems you were.

by Anonymousreply 15August 29, 2022 12:30 AM

So the grandparents invented the name 'Travilla' in the 1910s.

by Anonymousreply 16August 29, 2022 12:36 AM

He designed the white halter top pleated skirt dress Marilyn Monroe wore in Seven Year Itch AND the pink evening gown for Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. So that's two of the most iconic Hollywood costumes.

by Anonymousreply 17August 29, 2022 12:37 AM

Travilla = "iconic" = illusionist.

by Anonymousreply 18August 29, 2022 12:40 AM

[quote]So the grandparents invented the name 'Travilla' in the 1910s.

No. Travilla is a common name (with variations in spelling) in the Midwest dating back to the 1700s. Lots of them in Philadelphia and Missouri. His great-grandfather Joseph Travilla was a merchant in 1858 Denver.

by Anonymousreply 19August 29, 2022 12:42 AM

[quote]His only cousin was Jules Furthman, Junior.

I will correct myself on this as he did have three sisters other than Sybil, although one never married. I'm not sure if the other two had children.

by Anonymousreply 20August 29, 2022 12:44 AM

In any event, my homophobic dickhead cousin lied to me, and I don't like being lied to. Wait till I have a word or two with him, the cocksucker.

by Anonymousreply 21August 29, 2022 1:11 AM

Hey, by coincidence I found this on another thread about Ann Sheridan.

Sheridan discovered William Travilla's art at Dom the Beachcombers and brought him to Warner Bros where the 26-year-old designer created her film wardrobes for Nora Prentiss, The Unfaithful and Silver River. Then Woman on the Run and Appointment in Honduras after she left the studio, as well as her two late 1950s stage productions of Kind Sir and Odd Man In.

by Anonymousreply 22August 29, 2022 1:14 AM

if you listen to Groucho's show, he offers some pretty sound advice through his creeping sibilant S's. He's definitely had some speech coaching or is desperately trying to butch himself up.

by Anonymousreply 23August 29, 2022 1:22 AM

Not quite Bill Blass but getting there

by Anonymousreply 24August 29, 2022 1:31 AM

Dona Drake was absolutely stunning. Good God

by Anonymousreply 26August 29, 2022 1:34 AM

The funniest butched-up voice is the clip where LBJ is being fitted for some pants and tells the designer (forgot who) to leave enough room where his nuts are. That scene was used in the LBJ play that played on B'Way a few years ago.

by Anonymousreply 27August 29, 2022 1:35 AM

[quote] The funniest butched-up voice is the clip where LBJ is being fitted for some pants and tells the designer (forgot who) to leave enough room where his nuts are.

Here's the recording. According to Michael Beschloss it is a favorite of LBJ's great-grandchildren.

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by Anonymousreply 28August 29, 2022 1:38 AM

Dona Drake next to a trailer with Ronnie and under the poop deck (not dick)

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by Anonymousreply 29August 29, 2022 1:42 AM

[quote]Hey, by coincidence I found this on another thread about Ann Sheridan.

I posted that before this thread popped up.

by Anonymousreply 30August 29, 2022 2:08 AM

Dona led her own girls orchestra under the name RIta Rio during the 1930s.

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by Anonymousreply 31August 29, 2022 2:13 AM

[quote]William Travilla. Never Head Of This Dude.

Someone's gay card is about to be suspended ...

by Anonymousreply 35August 29, 2022 4:02 AM

Wasn’t he billed only as Travilla for his work on Knots Landing?

by Anonymousreply 36August 29, 2022 4:05 AM

The man who draped a fringed Idaho potato sack on Marilyn Monroe for a famous snapshot - proving that she looked good in anything.

by Anonymousreply 38August 29, 2022 5:53 AM

[quote]Was Travilla Spanish?

Nope. English on his father's side and Canadian German on his mother's.

by Anonymousreply 39August 29, 2022 1:02 PM

I remember Mr. T presenting the costume design award at the Emmys in the '80s, and...take your moment to laugh just at that setup. Anyway, Mr. T struggled with the pronunciation of "Travilla." Then Travilla was the winner, for Dallas, and Mr. T said, kind of surly, "The winner is that name I can't pronounce."

by Anonymousreply 40August 29, 2022 1:29 PM

I'm not gay R35, that's why I didn't know this cat. Film buff, yes, costume designers for films, no. Clueless or couldn't care less

by Anonymousreply 42August 29, 2022 5:47 PM

More sizzling Dona.

Her best friend at Paramount was Louisiana-born Dorothy Lamour ("Oh, umm...my 'exotic coloring'? It's due to my ancestry of Spanish, French and Irish and white Creole., Did you hear me? WHITE Creole!"

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by Anonymousreply 43August 29, 2022 7:29 PM

It's kind of amazing that this is the first I'm hearing of her. She was absolutely stunning. Can you imagine the kind of career she'd have today?

by Anonymousreply 44August 29, 2022 7:42 PM

The problem with Dona Drake is that her act was pretty much limited to belting out a song and doing that shimmy-tap dancing. if you watch the clips of her on YouTube, as Rita Rio or Rita Novella, it's always the same thing. I don't think she had much movie potential beyond specialty numbers and some supporting roles.

by Anonymousreply 45August 31, 2022 8:13 PM

She was pretty good with Bette Davis in Beyond the Forest. B

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by Anonymousreply 46August 31, 2022 11:37 PM

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