
Irene
Personal Info
Known for
Costume & Make-Up
Gender
Female
Birthday
1901-12-08
Day of Death
1962-11-15 (60 years old)
Place of Birth
Baker, Montana, USA
Irene
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irene Maud Lentz (December 8, 1901 – November 15, 1962) also known mononymously and professionally as Irene, was an American fashion designer and costume designer. Her work as a clothing designer in Los Angeles led to her career as a costume designer for films in the 1930s. Lentz also worked under the name Irene Gibbons.
Lentz had been taught sewing as a child and, with a flair for style, she decided to open a small dress shop. The success of her designs in her tiny store eventually led to an offer from the Bullocks Wilshire luxury department store to design for their Ladies Custom Salon which catered to a wealthy clientele including a number of Hollywood stars.
Lentz's designs at Bullocks gained her much attention in the film community and she was contracted by independent production companies to design the wardrobe for some of their productions. Billing herself simply as "Irene", her first work came in 1933 on the film Goldie Gets Along featuring her designs for star Lily Damita. However, her big break came when she was hired to create the gowns for Ginger Rogers for her 1937 film Shall We Dance with Fred Astaire. This was followed by more designs in another Ginger Rogers film as well as work for other independents such as Walter Wanger Productions, Hal Roach Studios as well as majors such as RKO, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures. During the 1930s, Irene Lentz designed the film wardrobe for leading ladies such as Constance Bennett, Hedy Lamarr, Joan Bennett, Claudette Colbert, Carole Lombard, Ingrid Bergman, and Loretta Young among others. She "is generally regarded as the originator of the dressmaker suit" that was popular in the late 1930s.
Through her work, Lentz met and married short story author and screenwriter Eliot Gibbons, brother of multi-Academy Award winning Cedric Gibbons, head of art direction at MGM Studios. Despite her success, working under the powerful set designer Cedric while being married to his brother Eliot was not easy. Irene confided to her close friend Doris Day that the marriage to Eliot was not a happy one. Generally regarded as the most important and influential production designer in the history of American films, Cedric Gibbons hired Lentz when gown designer Adrian left MGM in 1941 to open his own fashion house. By 1943 she was a leading costume supervisor at MGM, earning international recognition for her "soufflé creations" and is remembered for her avant-garde wardrobe for Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).
In 1950, Lentz left MGM to open her own fashion house. After Lentz was out of the film industry for nearly ten years, Doris Day requested her services for the production Midnight Lace (Universal, 1960). The following year she did the costume design for another Day film, Lover Come Back (1961), and during 1962 worked on her last production, A Gathering of Eagles (1963).
Lentz was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White for B.F.'s Daughter (1948). She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color for Midnight Lace (1960).
Known For
Acting
(1945)
The Great Morgan
as Irene (uncredited)
(1924)
Picking Peaches
as The Store Manager's Wife
(1924)
Ten Dollars or Ten Days
as The Cashier
(1923)
The Dare-Devil
as The Second Heroine
(1922)
A Tailor-Made Man
as Miss Nathan
(1922)
The Duck Hunter
as The Sportsman's Boss's Wife
Crew
(1963)
A Gathering of Eagles
Costume Design
(1961)
Lover Come Back
Costume Design
(1960)
Midnight Lace
Costume Design
(1950)
Key to the City
Costume Design
(1950)
Please Believe Me
Costume Design
(1950)
Shadow on the Wall
Costume Design
(1949)
Neptune's Daughter
Costume Design
(1949)
The Great Sinner
Costume Design
(1949)
The Bribe
Costume Design
(1949)
The Sun Comes Up
Costume Design
(1949)
Scene of the Crime
Costume Design
(1949)
In the Good Old Summertime
Costume Design
(1949)
The Barkleys of Broadway
Costume Design
(1948)
Easter Parade
Costume Design
(1948)
Tenth Avenue Angel
Costume Design
(1948)
State of the Union
Costume Design
(1948)
The Pirate
Costume Supervisor
(1948)
B.F.'s Daughter
Costume Design
(1948)
Julia Misbehaves
Costume Design
(1948)
On an Island with You
Costume Design
(1947)
The Arnelo Affair
Costume Design
(1947)
Living in a Big Way
Costume Design
(1947)
The Unfinished Dance
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
Desire Me
Costume Design
(1947)
This Time for Keeps
Costume Design
(1947)
Fiesta
Costume Design
(1947)
Song of the Thin Man
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
Undercover Maisie
Costume Design
(1947)
Green Dolphin Street
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
The Sea of Grass
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
Cass Timberlane
Costume Design
(1947)
Merton of the Movies
Costume Design
(1947)
High Barbaree
Costume Design
(1947)
The Hucksters
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
Dark Delusion
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
Song of Love
Costume Supervisor
(1947)
Cynthia
Costume Design
(1946)
Up Goes Maisie
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
The Hoodlum Saint
Costume Design
(1946)
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
Easy to Wed
Costume Design
(1946)
Faithful in My Fashion
Costume Design
(1946)
Two Smart People
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
Courage of Lassie
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
The Secret Heart
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
The Harvey Girls
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
Two Sisters from Boston
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
Till the Clouds Roll By
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
Undercurrent
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
Lady in the Lake
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
The Yearling
Costume Supervisor
(1946)
Bad Bascomb
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Week-End at the Waldorf
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Anchors Aweigh
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Yolanda and the Thief
Costume Design
(1945)
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Dangerous Partners
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
She Went to the Races
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
The Valley of Decision
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Adventure
Costume Design
(1945)
National Velvet
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Her Highness and the Bellboy
Costume Design
(1945)
The Clock
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
The Sailor Takes a Wife
Costume Design
(1945)
Without Love
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
The Hidden Eye
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Ziegfeld Follies
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Between Two Women
Costume Design
(1945)
Thrill of a Romance
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
Costume Design
(1945)
Son of Lassie
Costume Supervisor
(1945)
Twice Blessed
Costume Designer
(1944)
Kismet
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Gentle Annie
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Nothing But Trouble
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
See Here, Private Hargrove
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Bathing Beauty
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Music for Millions
Costume Design
(1944)
Gaslight
Costume Design
(1944)
Broadway Rhythm
Costume Design
(1944)
Two Girls and a Sailor
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Meet the People
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
The Thin Man Goes Home
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Mrs. Parkington
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
The White Cliffs of Dover
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
The Canterville Ghost
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Maisie Goes to Reno
Costume Supervisor
(1944)
Rationing
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Slightly Dangerous
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
The Human Comedy
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
No Time for Love
Costume Design
(1943)
Girl Crazy
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Swing Shift Maisie
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Lost Angel
Costume Design
(1943)
Madame Curie
Costume Supervisor, Costume Design
(1943)
Du Barry Was a Lady
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Cabin in the Sky
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Thousands Cheer
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Best Foot Forward
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Cry 'Havoc'
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Above Suspicion
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Swing Fever
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
A Guy Named Joe
Costume Supervisor
(1943)
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
Costume Design
(1942)
Tales of Manhattan
Costume Design
(1942)
The Palm Beach Story
Costume Design
(1942)
The Wife Takes a Flyer
Costume Design
(1942)
You Were Never Lovelier
Costume Design
(1942)
Reunion in France
Costume Design
(1942)
They All Kissed the Bride
Costume Design
(1942)
To Be or Not to Be
Costume Design
(1942)
The Talk of the Town
Costume Design
(1942)
Take a Letter, Darling
Costume Design
(1941)
You'll Never Get Rich
Costume Design
(1941)
The Devil and Miss Jones
Costume Design
(1941)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Costume Design
(1941)
That Uncertain Feeling
Costume Design
(1940)
Waterloo Bridge
Costume Design
(1940)
Too Many Husbands
Costume Design
(1940)
Arise, My Love
Costume Design
(1940)
Lucky Partners
Costume Design
(1940)
Hired Wife
Costume Designer
(1940)
Green Hell
Costume Design
(1940)
Seven Sinners
Costume Designer
(1939)
Midnight
Costume Design
(1939)
Eternally Yours
Costume Design
(1939)
In Name Only
Costume Design
(1939)
Intermezzo: A Love Story
Costume Design
(1939)
Bachelor Mother
Costume Design
(1938)
You Can't Take It with You
Costume Design
(1938)
Topper Takes a Trip
Costume Design
(1938)
Vivacious Lady
Costume Design
(1938)
Merrily We Live
Costume Design
(1938)
Algiers
Wardrobe Designer
(1938)
Trade Winds
Costume Design
(1937)
Topper
Costume Design
(1937)
Shall We Dance
Costume Design
(1936)
Wedding Present
Costume Design
(1933)
Goldie Gets Along
Costume Design