# Albert Wolsky

Albert Wolsky (born November 24, 1930) is an American costume designer. He has worked both on stage shows as well as for film, and has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design seven times, winning two awards for his work on the films All That Jazz (1979) and Bugsy (1991).

## Early life, military service and early career

Wolsky was born in Paris, France, but during World War II, he and the rest of his family fled to the United States to escape the German occupation. After graduating from the City College of New York, he served in the army from 1953 to 1956, spending most of his enlistment in Japan. Once he returned to the United States, he began working in his father's travel agency. However, he decided to change careers and took an assistant's job with notable costume maker Helene Pons. His first show with Pons was Camelot. After a year and a half working together, they went separate ways. The two continued to be friends for years to come.

## Career

Wolsky became a well regarded costume designer, working both on Broadway and in the motion picture industry.
He began his career as costume designer for the theatre by assisting costume designer Ann Roth on A Case of Libel (1963); he later assisted Roth on The Odd Couple (1965), Patricia Zipprodt on Fiddler on the Roof (1964), and Theoni Aldredge on Illya Darling (1967). The first play Wolsky did on his own was called Generation in 1965. He went on to serve as principal costume designer for both plays and musicals, including The Sunshine Boys (1972) and Sly Fox (1976). Wolsky was announced as the designer for the 2012 Broadway production of The Heiress.
The first film Wolsky worked on was The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. He had been recommended to the film by Theoni Aldridge. Wolsky worked on many films including Harry and Tonto, The Turning Point, Grease and Manhattan. He worked with Bob Fosse, a leading Broadway director, on All That Jazz and won his first Academy Award. Wolsky went on to work with Fosse twice more. He won his second Academy Award for Bugsy in 1991 and has been nominated five other times, most recently for his work on Julie Taymor's Beatles-inspired musical Across the Universe (2007) and Sam Mendes's Revolutionary Road (2008).
In 2010, Wolsky donated his costume design sketches to the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

## Film credits

| Year | Title | Director |
| 1968 | The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter | Robert Ellis Miller |
| 1969 | Popi | Arthur Hiller |
| 1970 | Loving | Irvin Kershner |
| 1970 | Lovers and Other Strangers | Cy Howard |
| 1970 | Where's Poppa? | Carl Reiner |
| 1971 | Little Murders | Alan Arkin |
| 1971 | Born to Win | Ivan Passer |
| 1971 | Lady Liberty | Mario Monicelli |
| 1972 | The Trial of the Catonsville Nine | Gordon Davidson |
| 1972 | Last of the Red Hot Lovers | Gene Saks |
| 1972 | Up the Sandbox | Irvin Kershner |
| 1974 | Harry and Tonto | Paul Mazursky |
| 1974 | The Gambler | Karel Reisz |
| 1974 | Lenny | Bob Fosse |
| 1976 | Next Stop, Greenwich Village | Paul Mazursky |
| 1977 | Thieves | John Berry |
| 1977 | The Turning Point | Herbert Ross |
| 1978 | Fingers | James Toback |
| 1978 | An Unmarried Woman | Paul Mazursky |
| 1978 | Grease | Randal Kleiser |
| 1978 | Moment by Moment | Jane Wagner |
| 1979 | Manhattan | Woody Allen |
| 1979 | Meteor | Ronald Neame |
| 1979 | All That Jazz | Bob Fosse |
| 1980 | Willie & Phil | Paul Mazursky |
| 1980 | The Jazz Singer | Richard Fleischer |
| 1981 | Paternity | David Steinberg |
| 1982 | Tempest | Paul Mazursky |
| 1982 | Still of the Night | Robert Benton |
| 1982 | Sophie's Choice | Alan J. Pakula |
| 1983 | Star 80 | Bob Fosse |
| 1983 | To Be or Not to Be | Alan Johnson |
| 1984 | Moscow on the Hudson | Paul Mazursky |
| 1985 | The Falcon and the Snowman | John Schlesinger |
| 1985 | The Journey of Natty Gann | Jeremy Kagan |
| 1986 | Down and Out in Beverly Hills | Paul Mazursky |
| 1986 | Legal Eagles | Ivan Reitman |
| 1986 | Crimes of the Heart | Bruce Beresford |
| 1987 | Nadine | Robert Benton |
| 1988 | Moon over Parador | Paul Mazursky |
| 1989 | Chances Are | Emile Ardolino |
| 1989 | Cookie | Susan Seidelman |
| 1989 | She-Devil | Susan Seidelman |
| 1989 | Enemies, A Love Story | Paul Mazursky |
| 1990 | Funny About Love | Leonard Nimoy |
| 1991 | Scenes from a Mall | Paul Mazursky |
| 1991 | Bugsy | Barry Levinson |
| 1992 | Toys | Barry Levinson |
| 1993 | The Pickle | Paul Mazursky |
| 1993 | Fatal Instinct | Carl Reiner |
| 1993 | The Pelican Brief | Alan J. Pakula |
| 1994 | Junior | Ivan Reitman |
| 1995 | The Grass Harp | Charles Matthau |
| 1996 | Up Close and Personal | Jon Avnet |
| 1996 | Striptease | Andrew Bergman |
| 1997 | Red Corner | Jon Avnet |
| 1997 | The Jackal | Michael Caton-Jones |
| 1998 | You've Got Mail | Nora Ephron |
| 1999 | Runaway Bride | Garry Marshall |
| 1999 | Galaxy Quest | Dean Parisot |
| 2000 | Lucky Numbers | Nora Ephron |
| 2002 | Road to Perdition | Sam Mendes |
| 2002 | Maid in Manhattan | Wayne Wang |
| 2004 | The Manchurian Candidate | Jonathan Demme |
| 2005 | Jarhead | Sam Mendes |
| 2006 | Ask the Dust | Robert Towne |
| 2007 | Across the Universe | Julie Taymor |
| 2007 | Charlie Wilson's War | Mike Nichols |
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | Sam Mendes |
| 2009 | Duplicity | Tony Gilroy |
| 2011 | Larry Crowne | Tom Hanks |
| 2014 | Birdman | Alejandro González Iñárritu |
| 2016 | Rules Don't Apply | Warren Beatty |
| 2019 | Ad Astra | James Gray |
| 2021 | The Woman in the Window | Joe Wright |
| 2022 | Amsterdam | David O. Russell |

## Honors and awards

* Academy Awards
** Winner: All That Jazz, 1980; Bugsy, 1992
** Nominee: Sophie's Choice, 1983; The Journey of Natty Gann, 1986; Toys, 1993; Across the Universe, 2008; Revolutionary Road, 2009
* Hollywood Film Award, Costume Designer of the Year, 2004
* Costume Designers Guild, Career Achievement Award, 1999
* TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award, 2010
* Antoinette Perry Award
** 2013 Best Costume Design of a Play for The Heiress (nominee)
* Drama Desk Award
** 1976 Outstanding Costume Design for They Knew What They Wanted (nominee)
** 1976 Outstanding Costume Design for A Memory of Two Mondays / 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (nominee)
** 1977 Outstanding Costume Design for Sly Fox (nominee)

## Memberships

Wolsky is a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

## Personal life

His partner of thirty-nine years was actor James Mitchell who died in 2010.