Background
Orry-Kelly was born on December 31, 1897, in Kiama, Australia, the son of William George Kelly and Florence Evalean Purdue.
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Orry-Kelly was born on December 31, 1897, in Kiama, Australia, the son of William George Kelly and Florence Evalean Purdue.
Orry's early interest in drawing and painting was encouraged by his mother, who enrolled him in art classes while he was still very young. Another strong interest, acting, was not encouraged.
On completing his schooling, Orry deferred to his mother's wishes and accepted employment in a bank. His banking career lasted only eight months, coming to an end when he joined a traveling company of the musical comedy Irene. In 1923, Kelly went to New York City to pursue an acting career. Unable to find acting jobs, he supported himself by painting murals in private residences, restaurants, and nightclubs, sketching nightclub patrons, painting silk shawls, and, with his neighbor and friend Cary Grant, creating hand-blocked neckties. His nightclub murals, seen by Julian Johnstone, a 20th Century-Fox executive, led to a job with that film company, illustrating titles for silent movies. By the late 1920's Kelly was back in the theater - as a designer of sets and costumes. Actresses Ethel Barrymore and Judith Anderson were among those who wore his costumes. Katharine Hepburn was costumed by Kelly for Death Takes a Holiday, her Broadway debut.
The 1929 stock market crash cut short Kelly's Broadway designing career. A few ventures into the nightclub business proved unsuccessful, and he left New York to design for the St. Louis Opera Company. From St. Louis he went to Reno, Nevada, where he decorated a nightclub, and then to Hollywood, where Cary Grant, also newly arrived, helped him by showing some of his sketches to executives at Warner Brothers. The studio had just signed contracts with two famous actresses, Kay Francis and Ruth Chatterton, and was without a designer to create costumes for these important stars. Kelly was hired, and was put under contract as Orry-Kelly. The hyphenization of his first and last names was thought by studio executives to conjure a more exotic designer image than plain "Mr. Kelly" could.
Orry-Kelly's first picture, The Rich Are Always with Us (1932), starred Ruth Chatterton and featured Bette Davis. The designer was closely associated with Davis for well over a decade. She referred to him as her "right hand" and counted on his designs to help her create the characterizations that made her a top-ranking star. In 1944, when Orry-Kelly was no longer employed at Warner Brothers on a contract basis, Davis insisted that he be hired as her designer for Mr. Skeffington. His work on this assignment was called his "finest achievement in characterization. " For Davis, as for Kay Francis, Ruth Chatterton, Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe, Marion Davies, and other stars, Orry-Kelly created costumes that defined their roles, camouflaged figure problems, and accurately reflected the fashions of historical periods.
When designing for modern-dress pictures, he leaned toward simplicity and untheatrical fashion. "Screen clothes must not interfere with the action, " he said. "It's better to underdress your people than let their clothes get in the way. " This underdressing approach was not only suitable to Orry-Kelly's job as movie costume designer; it also resulted in the widespread popularity of his designs. Copies of his screen designs were sold to department stores with the approval of the studio. Russeks 5th Avenue advertised them as "Screenlight Fashions. " One design - a jumper for Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (1942) - was such a success it prompted him to "wish I had a dime for every time that's been copied. " The dropped-waistline silhouette was another popular style of the 1940's attributed to Orry-Kelly. Kelly’s views were frequently reported by fashion writers, and during the 1930's his byline appeared on a syndicated newspaper fashion column, "Hollywood Parade. "
Orry-Kelly, who became a naturalized United States citizen in 1934, was inducted into the army in 1942. He returned to Warner Brothers after his army service but a series of disagreements led to his being fired. He worked there again only on special assignments - Mr. Skeffington, as noted, and, in 1958, the wardrobe for Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame. In a New York Herald Tribune review of the latter movie, critic Paul V. Beckley wrote, "Miss Russell's swirling, satirical characterization is helped immensely by the dazzling costumes of Orry-Kelly. " From Warner Brothers, Orry-Kelly went to 20th Century-Fox. Later, he worked for Universal Pictures and for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he was one of three designers for the musical An American in Paris. He and the others, Walter Plunkett and Irene Sharaff, won Academy Awards for the picture's costumes. He also received Academy Awards for his costumes in the 1957 film Les Girls and the 1959 film Some Like It Hot.
Orry-Kelly's interest in fine art continued throughout his life. He often painted during his off-work hours, and in 1952 a showing of his work, sponsored by Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein II, was presented in New York City. He was at work on the picture Kiss Me, Stupid at the time of his death in Hollywood, California.
Orry-Kelly worked on many films at Warner Brothers, 20th Century-Fox, Universal Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He designed costumes for all the great actresses of the day, including Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Dolores del Río, Ava Gardner, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck, and Merle Oberon.
Orry-Kelly never married.
