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Edith Head

Edith Claire Head ( ; October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American film costume designer. She received a record 35 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and won a record eight times, making her both the most honored and most nominated woman in the Academy's history. She also holds the Guinness World Record for most-credited costume designer in film history, with a total of 432 credits. Raised between California and Nevada, Head earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University before beginning a career as a French and Spanish languages teacher. After taking courses at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, she was hired in 1923 as a costume sketch artist at Famous Players–Lasky, which later became Paramount Pictures. She won acclaim for her design of Dorothy Lamour’s trademark sarong in the 1936 film The Jungle Princess, and became a household name after the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was created in 1948. Head was considered exceptional for her close working relationships with her subjects, with whom she consulted extensively; these included virtually every top female star in Hollywood. Head worked at Paramount for 44 years, and was frequently loaned out by the studio for work on projects for other studios.…

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Article summary

Edith Claire Head ( ; October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American film costume designer. She received a record 35 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and won a record eight times, making her both the most honored and most nominated woman in the Academy's history. She also holds the Guinness World Record for most-credited costume designer in film history, with a total of 432 credits. Raised between California and Nevada, Head earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University before beginning a career as a French and Spanish languages teacher. After taking courses at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, she was hired in 1923 as a costume sketch artist at Famous Players–Lasky, which later became Paramount Pictures. She won acclaim for her design of Dorothy Lamour’s trademark sarong in the 1936 film The Jungle Princess, and became a household name after the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was created in 1948. Head was considered exceptional for her close working relationships with her subjects, with whom she consulted extensively; these included virtually every top female star in Hollywood. Head worked at Paramount for 44 years, and was frequently loaned out by the studio for work on projects for other studios.…

Key claims

  1. date of birth: 1897-10-28 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of death: 1981-10-24 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of birth is "1897-10-28". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of death is "1981-10-24". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.