 |
| Yvonne Blake with some of her creations Photo: Pensar Audiovisual/Courtesy Gijon Film Festival |
Oscar-winning British costume designer Yvonne Blake, has died in Madrid. She suffered a stroke in January. Manchester-born Blake, who lived in Spain, designed costumes including Christopher Reeve's original Superman outfit and worked on films including Jesus Christ Superstar, The Three Musketeers and, more recently, Goya's Ghosts.
She won an Academy Award for the costume design, alongside Antonio Castillo, for Franklin Schaffner's Nicholas and Alexandra.
In 2014, Blake won the Woman in Cinema award at Gijon Film Festival. Accepting the honour, she lamented the chauvinism that was still rife in the industry, saying: "In the 21st century there are still men who treat women as they did 50 years ago - as if they were vases." She added that "something was changing" because now we talk about the day that a woman is president.
In addition to her Oscar, she won four Spanish Goya awards and was elected as president of the Spanish Academy in 2016. She is survived by her husband Gil Carretero.
Among the Twitter tributes, A Monster Calls Spanish director JA Bayona wrote: "Extraordinary Costume Designer Yvonne Blake has passed away. Nobody dressed Gods and Godesses better than her. She worked with Richard Donner, Lester, Verhoeven, Truffaut, Gonzalo Suárez, Aranda, Al Pacino or Norman Jewison and was the President of the Spanish Film Academy. RIP. "
Extraordinary Costume Designer Yvonne Blake has passed away. Nobody dressed Gods and Godesses better than her. She worked with Richard Donner, Lester, Verhoeven, Truffaut, Gonzalo Suárez, Aranda, Al Pacino or Norman Jewison and was the President of the Spanish Film Academy. RIP. pic.twitter.com/AXIlCZkdwy
— JA Bayona (@FilmBayona) July 17, 2018
