A Conversation With Edith Head

Source: The List (Issue 581)
Date: 1 August 2007
Written by: Miles Fielder

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Head of the pack

If you’re a film fan you’ll have recognised the superhero outfitter Edna Mode in the Pixar animation The Incredibles as an affectionate caricature of the legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head, who’s the subject of this one-woman show. If not you’ve got a lot to learn from writer-performer Susan Claassen, who’s bringing her show from Tinseltown to Tartantown.

‘She did what no woman did in the history of film,’ Claassen says. Indeed, she survived the boy’s club world of Hollywood to enjoy a 60-year career, during which she worked on a staggering 1131 films, earned 35 Oscar nominations and won eight. She dressed Bop Hope and Bing Crosby in kilts in The Road to Bali and Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King. ‘There are many myths about her,’ says Claassen. ‘But she was a discreet, tenacious personality. The show will give the inside scoop on Edith and on Golden Age Hollywood, from Sunset Boulevard to Elizabeth Taylor. She truly was ahead of her time.’

Assembly @ Hill Street, 623 3030, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 6.15pm, £9.50–10.50 (£8.50–9.50). Previews 3–4 Aug, £5.

More: Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Susan Claassen, Fringe (Edinburgh Festivals), Previews (Theatre)

Last updated: 25 Jul 2008 17:14 BST