About

Known credits:
107
Birthday:
1899-03-17
Place of birth:
Bristol, England, UK
Website:
N/A

Dolly Tree

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dolly Tree (17 March 1899–17 May 1962) was an English illustrator, actress and costume designer who during the 1930s and 1940s designed dresses for Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell, Maureen O'Sullivan and Judy Garland among others in addition to costuming historical dramas such as David Copperfield (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Born in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol in 1899 as Dorothy Marian Isbell, the daughter of Charles Edwin Isbell (1863-1942) , a solicitor, and Bertha Marian (née Keith-Williams) at an early age she discovered an aptitude for drawing before being drawn towards a career on the stage. In 1912 her family relocated to London and she began her career as an artist after seeing the play Vanity Fair at the Palace Theatre in 1916. Of the play she later wrote, ‘I was fascinated by the wonderful dancing and art of Regine Flory and admired her so much that I started to design a special poster of her, really to amuse myself, based on my recollections of this vivid artist seen across the footlights.’ A friend took her drawing to Sir Alfred Butt who bought it and gave her a two-year contract (c1917-1918) to design posters and programme covers for of all his shows including The Boy (1917), The Beauty Spot (1918), Going Up (1918), Telling the Tale (1918), The Latest Craze (1919), The Kiss Call (1919), Very Good Eddie (1919) and Hello America (1919). Her comic illustrations also appeared in various British newspapers and magazines.

Between 1915 and 1918 Dolly Tree appeared in five British silent films as an actress. In the United Kingdom her career as a costume designer began in the 1920s on various cabaret shows in London in particular; in 1923 she collaborated on her first film, Woman to Woman, directed by Graham Cutts and with Alfred Hitchcock as the co-screenwriter, artistic director and assistant director. Her work became popular in Paris where she became the first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergère.

In 1926 she moved to the United States, first working in New York where she created the costumes for the 1928 Broadway play Diamond Lil starring Mae West. She then went to Hollywood where she was involved in designing for 175 American films, firstly for Fox Studios (1929-1931) and then for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1931-1942), mainly as a designer of dresses, among others alongside Adrian. In 1931 while working at Fox Studios she met and married the American Naval officer Thomas Kimes. Although the marriage was a happy one but his career in the Navy kept them apart and they divorced in 1940. After her divorce Tree began to drink heavily which lead to her leaving MGM in 1942 and returning to Fox Studios where she married her second husband Don E. Whiteford. However, this marriage also did not work and they quickly divorced, which drove Tree further into alcoholism. Her second divorce, her heavy drinking and the death of her father in 1942 lead to her becoming increasing unreliable and losing her job.

Known for

Acting
1915 Love in a Wood Actor N/A
N/A

Costume & Make-Up
1942 Thunder Birds Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1942 The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1942 The Pied Piper Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1942 Tales of Manhattan Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1942 Ten Gentlemen from West Point Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1941 Billy the Kid Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1941 The Bad Man Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1941 The Trial of Mary Dugan Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1941 Maisie Was a Lady Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1940 Go West Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1940 Little Nellie Kelly Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1940 Dr. Kildare Goes Home Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1940 The Golden Fleecing Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1940 I Love You Again Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 60
Fair
1940 Gold Rush Maisie Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1940 We Who Are Young Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1940 Sporting Blood Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1940 Andy Hardy Meets Debutante Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1940 20 Mule Team Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1940 Congo Maisie Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 58
Average
1939 The Secret of Dr. Kildare Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1939 Another Thin Man Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 61
Fair
1939 At the Circus Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1939 Thunder Afloat Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1939 They All Come Out Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1939 On Borrowed Time Costume & Make-Up Costumer 59
Average
1939 Stronger Than Desire Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1939 Maisie Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1939 Tell No Tales Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1939 6,000 Enemies Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 59
Average
1939 The Kid From Texas Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1939 The Ice Follies of 1939 Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1939 Fast and Loose Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1939 Stand Up and Fight Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1938 The Girl Downstairs Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1938 The Shining Hour Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1938 Spring Madness Costume & Make-Up Costume Designer 58
Average
1938 Too Hot to Handle Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 58
Average
1938 The Chaser Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Master 59
Average
1938 Fast Company Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1938 Lord Jeff Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 59
Average
1938 Paradise for Three Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1938 Yellow Jack Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1938 Test Pilot Costume & Make-Up Costume Designer 59
Average
1938 The First Hundred Years Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1938 Arsène Lupin Returns Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1938 Of Human Hearts Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1937 Rosalie Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1937 Thoroughbreds Don't Cry Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1937 Navy Blue and Gold Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1937 Live, Love and Learn Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Master 58
Average
1937 Madame X Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1937 My Dear Miss Aldrich Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1937 Big City Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1937 A Day at the Races Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 62
Fair
1937 The Good Earth Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 59
Average
1937 Night Must Fall Costume & Make-Up Costumer 59
Average
1937 The Good Old Soak Costume & Make-Up Costume Design N/A
N/A
1937 Espionage Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1936 After the Thin Man Costume & Make-Up Costumer 62
Fair
1936 Sinner Take All Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1936 Mad Holiday Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1936 Libeled Lady Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 61
Fair
1936 Sworn Enemy Costume & Make-Up Costume Designer 59
Average
1936 Suzy Costume & Make-Up Costume Designer 58
Average
1936 The Devil-Doll Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 60
Fair
1936 Fury Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 63
Fair
1936 Trouble for Two Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 59
Average
1936 Absolute Quiet Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1936 The Unguarded Hour Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1936 Three Godfathers Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1936 The Garden Murder Case Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1936 Exclusive Story Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1936 Three Live Ghosts Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1936 Riffraff Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1935 A Tale of Two Cities Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 60
Fair
1935 Whipsaw Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Master 59
Average
1935 Kind Lady Costume & Make-Up Costumer 59
Average
1935 A Night at the Opera Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 66
Fair
1935 Rendezvous Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1935 It's in the Air Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1935 The Bishop Misbehaves Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1935 Woman Wanted Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1935 Mad Love Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 60
Fair
1935 Escapade Costume & Make-Up Costume Design N/A
N/A
1935 Public Hero Number 1 Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Master 59
Average
1935 Age of Indiscretion Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 58
Average
1935 The Casino Murder Case Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1935 Times Square Lady Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1935 David Copperfield Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1935 The Night Is Young Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Master 59
Average
1934 The Gay Bride Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1934 A Wicked Woman Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Supervisor 58
Average
1934 Hide-Out Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1934 Straight Is the Way Costume & Make-Up Costume Supervisor 59
Average
1934 The Thin Man Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 66
Fair
1934 Manhattan Melodrama Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 60
Fair
1934 You Can't Buy Everything Costume & Make-Up Wardrobe Designer 59
Average
1932 She Wanted a Millionaire Costume & Make-Up Costume Design N/A
N/A
1931 Skyline Costume & Make-Up Costume Design N/A
N/A
1931 Transatlantic Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 59
Average
1931 Bad Girl Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1931 Sporting Blood Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1931 Annabelle's Affairs Costume & Make-Up Costume Design N/A
N/A
1930 Just Imagine Costume & Make-Up Costume Design 58
Average
1927 The Arcadians Costume & Make-Up Costume Designer N/A
N/A