Colt, Alvin

Alvin Colt (1915-), award-winning costume and scenic designer for theater, film and television.

Alvin Colt (1916-2008), Tony Award winning costume designer.

Alvin Colt (1915-), award-winning costume and scenic designer for theater, film and television was born in Louisville, Kentucky, studied at Yale, began his design work in ballet, and made his Broadway debut designing costumes for ON THE TOWN in 1944.

This was followed by design work for Orson Welles' AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, MUSIC IN MY HEART (1947) and GUYS AND DOLLS (1950) among others. He won a Tony award for costume design for PIPE DREAM in 1956 and designed costumes for both the Broadway and film version of LI'L ABNER. His first work in television was THE ENCHANTED NUTCRACKER (1961), but it was in the 1970s and 1980s that he truly focused on that medium. His work included various awards shows such as the Emmys as well as an historical drama, THE ADAMS CHRONICLES. He returned to theater work in the 1990s and designed for the off-Broadway review FORBIDDEN BROADWAY beginning in 1994. In 1996 he received the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award in Costume Design and in 2001 he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Alvin Colt was born in Louisville, Kentucky on July 5, 1915. He received his drama training in Yale's Department of Drama (1934-37), where he was the youngest member of his class. After working in summer theater, he moved to New York and was soon told (by legendary costume designer Irene Sharaff) to forget about the theater and "Go and live a happy and peaceful life." Disregarding this advice, and began designing for what is now the New York City Ballet Company. His early experiences in designing for ballet made him a natural choice for the 1944 Broadway show On the Town . On the Town was based on the Jerome Robbins ballet, Fancy Free, and was Colt's Broadway debut.

Colt worked steadily both on and off-Broadway throughout the 1940s. Two of his notable works include a 1946 Mercury Production of Around the World in 80 Days (produced, written and directed by Orson Welles), and the design of over 200 costumes for Music in My Heart in 1947. In 1950 Colt was asked to design costumes for the smash-hit Guys & Dolls . The librettist, Abe Burrows, had seen Colt's designs for On the Town and thought they "looked like real New York people". In 1953 the 6 foot 6 inch designer from Louisville was aptly chosen to design for The Tall Kentuckian . He also helped to found the Phoenix Theatre. His work with the Phoenix included Madam, Will You Walk with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, 1954's cult musical The Golden Apple, and the legendary revival of The Sea Gull with Montgomery Clift, his longtime friend Kevin McCarthy, and Maureen Stapleton.

1956 brought greater recognition to Colt with a Tony Award for Costume Design for Pipe Dream, and an Antoinette Perry Award for Distinguished Work in the New York Theater. That year he also designed costumes for the Broadway production of Li'l Abner, which he would rework for the film version only three years later. Colt expanded into designing for television in 1961 with The Enchanted Nutcracker . He continued to work in television occasionally throughout the 1960s but it was the 1970s and 1980s that saw his true focus on the medium. His varied productions included Awards shows such as the Emmy s and the Tonys, many specials, and a 13-hour historical drama called The Adams Chronicles .

In the 1990s Colt returned to the theater, and in 1994 began an ongoing relationship with the off-Broadway review Forbidden Broadway that continues to this day. He received the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award in Costume Design from the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) in 1996, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.