School of Drama Alumna Ann Roth Takes Home Oscar Gold
Costume designer Ann Roth, a 1953 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, won for Best Costume Design last night at the 93rd Annual Oscars for her work on the film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” It is Roth’s second Oscar; she won the Academy Award in 1996 for “The English Patient.”
Roth, who was not in attendance at the Union Station ceremony in Los Angeles, has been a fixture on the costume design circuit for five decades. She won a Tony Award in 2013 for costume design for "The Nance." She regularly visits the CMU campus to talk with students in the School of Drama's costume design program, recently named one of the best in the world by The Hollywood Reporter.
Two other CMU drama alumni were nominated for three awards by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Leslie Odom, Jr., who earned his bachelor's degree from the College of Fine Arts in 2003, was nominated in the category of Best Actor in a Supporting Role as Sam Cooke in "One Night in Miami" and in the category of Original Song for the film's "Speak Now." David Crank, who earned his MFA in theater design in 1984, was nominated in the category of production design for his work on "News of the World."
Roth has designed costumes for more than 200 films and theater productions. She received an honorary doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon in 2000 and has been recognized by the university for alumni achievement. "The Designs of Ann Roth," which includes more than 100 renderings and photos of her work, was released earlier this year by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and is available online.