Dolly Tree
Known For: Costume & Make-Up
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: March 17, 1899
Day of Death: May 17, 1962 (63 years old)
Place of Birth: Bristol, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dolly Tree (17 March 1899–17 May 1962) was an English illustrator, actress and costume designer who during the 1930s and 1940s designed dresses for Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell, Maureen O'Sullivan and Judy Garland among others in addition to costuming historical dramas such as David Copperfield (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Born in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol in 1899 as Dorothy Marian Isbell, the daughter of Charles Edwin Isbell (1863-1942) , a solicitor, and Bertha Marian (née Keith-Williams) at an early age she discovered an aptitude for drawing before being drawn towards a career on the stage. In 1912 her family relocated to London and she began her career as an artist after seeing the play Vanity Fair at the Palace Theatre in 1916. Of the play she later wrote, ‘I was fascinated by the wonderful dancing and art of Regine Flory and admired her so much that I started to design a special poster of her, really to amuse myself, based on my recollections of this vivid artist seen across the footlights.’ A friend took her drawing to Sir Alfred Butt who bought it and gave her a two-year contract (c1917-1918) to design posters and programme covers for of all his shows including The Boy (1917), The Beauty Spot (1918), Going Up (1918), Telling the Tale (1918), The Latest Craze (1919), The Kiss Call (1919), Very Good Eddie (1919) and Hello America (1919). Her comic illustrations also appeared in various British newspapers and magazines. Between 1915 and 1918 Dolly Tree appeared in five British silent films as an actress. In the United Kingdom her career as a costume designer began in the 1920s on various cabaret shows in London in particular; in 1923 she collaborated on her first film, Woman to Woman, directed by Graham Cutts and with Alfred Hitchcock as the co-screenwriter, artistic director and assistant director. Her work became popular in Paris where she became the first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergère. In 1926 she moved to the United States, first working in New York where she created the costumes for the 1928 Broadway play Diamond Lil starring Mae West. She then went to Hollywood where she was involved in designing for 175 American films, firstly for Fox Studios (1929-1931) and then for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1931-1942), mainly as a designer of dresses, among others alongside Adrian. In 1931 while working at Fox Studios she met and married the American Naval officer Thomas Kimes. Although the marriage was a happy one but his career in the Navy kept them apart and they divorced in 1940. After her divorce Tree began to drink heavily which lead to her leaving MGM in 1942 and returning to Fox Studios where she married her second husband Don E. Whiteford. However, this marriage also did not work and they quickly divorced, which drove Tree further into alcoholism. Her second divorce, her heavy drinking and the death of her father in 1942 lead to her becoming increasing unreliable and losing her job.
1942
1941
1940
Wardrobe Designer
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
Wardrobe Designer
The Golden Fleecing
Costume Design
I Love You Again
Costume Design
20 Mule Team
Costume Design
Sporting Blood
Wardrobe Designer
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Wardrobe Supervisor
Congo Maisie
Costume Design
Little Nellie Kelly
Costume Design
Go West
Wardrobe Designer
We Who Are Young
Costume Design
Gold Rush Maisie
1939
Costume Design
Thunder Afloat
Wardrobe Designer
Tell No Tales
Costume Design
The Kid From Texas
Wardrobe Designer
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
Costume Design
At the Circus
Costume Design
Stand Up and Fight
Wardrobe Supervisor
6,000 Enemies
Wardrobe Designer
Stronger Than Desire
Wardrobe Designer
They All Come Out
Costumer
On Borrowed Time
Costume Design
The Ice Follies of 1939
Costume Design
Another Thin Man
Costume Design
Maisie
1938
Wardrobe Designer
Fast Company
Wardrobe Supervisor
Too Hot to Handle
Wardrobe Designer
Paradise for Three
Wardrobe Designer
The Girl Downstairs
Wardrobe Designer
Arsène Lupin Returns
Wardrobe Designer
The First Hundred Years
Wardrobe Designer
Of Human Hearts
Wardrobe Designer
Yellow Jack
Wardrobe Supervisor
Lord Jeff
Wardrobe Master
The Chaser
Costume Design
The Shining Hour
Costume Designer
Test Pilot
Costume Designer
Spring Madness
1937
Wardrobe Master
Live, Love and Learn
Costume Design
Espionage
Wardrobe Designer
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry
Wardrobe Designer
My Dear Miss Aldrich
Costume Design
Rosalie
Costume Design
The Good Old Soak
Wardrobe Designer
Navy Blue and Gold
Costumer
Night Must Fall
Wardrobe Designer
Big City
Costume Design
Madame X
Wardrobe Supervisor
The Good Earth
Wardrobe Designer
A Day at the Races
1936
Wardrobe Designer
Riffraff
Wardrobe Designer
The Devil-Doll
Wardrobe Designer
Sinner Take All
Costume Designer
Sworn Enemy
Wardrobe Designer
Three Live Ghosts
Wardrobe Designer
Mad Holiday
Costume Designer
Suzy
Wardrobe Designer
Three Godfathers
Costume Design
Fury
Costume Design
Exclusive Story
Wardrobe Supervisor
Libeled Lady
Wardrobe Supervisor
Trouble for Two
Wardrobe Designer
The Unguarded Hour
Costumer
After the Thin Man
Costume Design
Absolute Quiet
Costume Design
The Garden Murder Case
1935
Costume Design
A Tale of Two Cities
Wardrobe Designer
The Bishop Misbehaves
Wardrobe Designer
Woman Wanted
Costume Design
A Night at the Opera
Costume Design
Escapade
Wardrobe Master
Whipsaw
Costume Design
Mad Love
Wardrobe Master
The Night Is Young
Costume Design
David Copperfield
Costume Design
It's in the Air
Wardrobe Designer
The Casino Murder Case
Wardrobe Designer
Times Square Lady
Costumer
Kind Lady
Wardrobe Master
Public Hero Number 1
Wardrobe Designer
Age of Indiscretion
Wardrobe Designer
Rendezvous
