Fashion Designer Bob Mackie, Known for Iconic Hollywood Glamour, Dies at 87
Quick Look
- Bob Mackie, the influential fashion and costume designer known for dressing stars like Cher, Carol Burnett, and Barbra Streisand, died at 87 in Palm Springs from pneumonia.
- A nine-time Emmy winner and Tony recipient, Mackie designed iconic looks for decades, including Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Happy Birthday’ gown.
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Why It Matters
Bob Mackie was a renowned fashion and costume designer whose work defined Hollywood glamour from the 1970s onward, dressing major celebrities and earning numerous industry awards.
Bob Mackie, the fashion designer whose visually provocative Hollywood style defined glamour for the 1970s – including putting Carol Burnett in some of her kookiest get-ups and Cher in her raciest ones – died on Monday. He was 87.
“He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do,” read a statement on his social media accounts. Mackie died in Palm Springs, California, from pneumonia, his publicist said.
Dubbed the “Designer to the Stars”, Mackie won nine Emmys, a Tony and was nominated for three Oscars, including one for Barbra Streisand’s 1975 film Funny Lady, in which she wore a sheer batwing gown. He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2002.
Mackie designed gowns for Madonna, Streisand, Sharon Stone, Diana Ross, Whoopi Goldberg and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and concert costumes for Pink. When Marilyn Monroe delivered a breathy, seductive take on “Happy Birthday” at a fundraiser for President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic National Committee, she did it in a sheer, beaded gown that Mackie dreamed up in a sketch.
Open Questions
- Will there be a public memorial or tribute event for Bob Mackie?
- Are any of his unpublished designs or sketches planned for exhibition?
