Gorgen Ray Aghayan (July 28, 1928 – October 10, 2011) was an American fashion designer and

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...

for the United States film industry. He won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

for his costume design. From the early 1960s until his death in 2011, Aghayan's partner was fashion designer

Bob Mackie Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie (born March 24, 1939) is an American fashion designer and costumier, best known for his dressing of entertainment icons such as Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Diahann Carroll, Carol Channing, Cher, Doris Day, Marl ...

Early life and education

Aghayan was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

, Iran, to a wealthy

Iranian-Armenian Iranian-Armenians ( hy, իրանահայեր ''iranahayer''), also known as Persian-Armenians ( hy, պարսկահայեր ''parskahayer''), are Iranians of Armenian ethnicity who may speak Armenian as their first language. Estimates of thei ...

family. Aghayan's mother, widowed when he was young, was a dressmaker for the Pahlavi family. At age 13, Aghayan assisted in designing for the court of Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...

. His first dress design was for

Fawzia Fuad of Egypt Fawzia of Egypt (; 5 November 1921 – 2 July 2013), also known as Fawzia Pahlavi or Fawzia Chirine, was an Egyptian princess who became Queen of Iran as the first wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran . Fawzia was the daughter of Fuad ...

, the first wife of the last Shah of Iran. During the 1940s, Aghayan came to California as a young man.

Biography

In the 1950s, Aghayan started working in television costuming in Los Angeles. In 1963–64, Aghayan designed dresses and costumes for

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in ''The ...

for her musical variety show on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. He won an

in 1967 with his partner

for his work in ''

Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966 film) ''Alice Through the Looking Glass'' (1966), was a live action musical film made for television, directed by Alan Handley, and based on Lewis Carroll's 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. The show aired November 6, 1966 on NBC television in t ...

''. Aghayan was also nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Costume Design The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for achievement in film costume design. The award was first given in 1949, for films made in 194 ...

three times for his work in ''

Gaily, Gaily ''Gaily, Gaily'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''Chicago, Chicago'') is a 1969 American comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. It is a fictionalized adaptation of a 1963 memoir of the same name by Ben Hecht and stars Beau Bridges, Brian Ke ...

'' in 1970, '' Lady Sings the Blues'' in 1973 and ''

Funny Lady ''Funny Lady'' is a 1975 American biographical musical comedy-drama film and the sequel to the 1968 film '' Funny Girl''. The film stars Barbra Streisand, James Caan, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall and Ben Vereen. Herbert Ross, who helmed the ...

'' in 1976. He was also responsible for designing the costumes for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. Aghayan died on October 10, 2011, at his home in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

of a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ...

Personal life

His mother joined Aghayan in California 30 years after his immigration, and just before the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

. Aghayan later became the lifetime partner of costume designer Bob Mackie for nearly 50 years. Early in Bob Mackie's career in the 1960s, he was Aghayan's assistant.

References

External links

* * Video: from August 26, 1998 American fashion designers Emmy Award winners 1928 births 2011 deaths American fashion businesspeople LGBT fashion designers Iranian fashion designers Iranian LGBT artists American LGBT people of Asian descent Iranian emigrants to the United States American people of Armenian descent Businesspeople from Tehran Iranian people of Armenian descent American costume designers Iranian costume designers LGBT people from California Armenian LGBT people {{fashion-bio-stub