Adrian (costume designer)
| Adrian | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Adrian Adolph Greenberg March 3, 1903 Naugatuck, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | September 13, 1959 (aged 56) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Costume designer |
| Spouse(s) | Janet Gaynor (m. 1939–59) (his death; 1 child) |
Adrian Adolph Greenberg (March 3, 1903 — September 13, 1959), widely known as Adrian, was an American costume designer whose most famous costumes were for The Wizard of Oz and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career, he designed costumes for over 250 films and his screen credits usually read as "Gowns by Adrian". On occasion, he was credited as Gilbert Adrian, a combination of his father's forename and his own.
Adrian was born on March 3, 1903 in Naugatuck, Connecticut, to Gilbert and Helena (Pollack) Greenberg. Contrary to some sources, Adrian's father Gilbert was born in New York and his mother Helena in Waterbury, Connecticut. It was his grandparents, who were immigrants. Joseph Greenburg and his wife Frances were from Russia, while Adolph Pollak and Bertha (Mendelsohn) Pollak were from Bohemia and Germany, respectively. He entered the New York School for Fine and Applied Arts (now Parsons School of Design in 1920. In 1922, he transferred to NYSFAA's Paris campus and while there was hired by Irving Berlin. Adrian then designed the costumes for Berlin's The Music Box Revue.
Adrian was hired by Rudolph Valentino's wife Natacha Rambova to design costumes for A Sainted Devil in 1924. He would also design for Rambova's film, What Price Beauty? (1925). Adrian became head costume designer for Cecil B. DeMille's independent film studio. In 1928, Cecil B. DeMille moved temporarily to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Adrian was hired as chief costume designer at the studio. While DeMille eventually returned to Paramount, Adrian stayed on at MGM. In his career at that studio, Adrian designed costumes for over 200 films.
During this time, Adrian worked with some of the biggest female stars of the day like Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Jeanette MacDonald, Jean Harlow, Katharine Hepburn and Joan Crawford. He worked with Crawford 28 times, Shearer 18 and Harlow 9. He worked with Garbo over the course of most of her career. The Eugénie hat he created for her in the film Romance became a sensation in 1931 and influenced millinery styles for the rest of the decade. Adrian was behind Crawford's signature outfits with large shoulder pads, which later spawned a fashion trend.
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