Michael O'Connor (born 27 October 1965) is a British

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

. He has been nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Costume Design The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for achievement in film costume design. The award was first given in 1949, for films made in 1948 ...

three times, winning for '' The Duchess'' (2008).

Life and career

O'Connor was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. He began his training as a dresser at

the Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

and then spent six years in a costume house before deciding to go freelance. In the 1990s, O'Connor went into the film industry. His early works as a

wardrobe supervisor The wardrobe supervisor is responsible for overseeing all wardrobe related activities during the course of a theatrical run or film shoot. The modern title "wardrobe supervisor" has evolved from the more traditional titles of "wardrobe mistress/m ...

was on such films as '' The House of the Spirits'' (1993) and '' Emma'' (1996). Then he was elevated to an assistant costume designer and worked in this role on several notable films, these include ''

Oscar and Lucinda ''Oscar and Lucinda'' is a novel by Australian author Peter Carey. It won the 1988 Booker Prize the year it was released, and the 1989 Miles Franklin Award. It was shortlisted in 2008 for The Best of the Booker, in celebration of the prize's ...

'' (1997), ''

Topsy-Turvy ''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. T ...

'' (1999), and '' Quills'' (2000). In addition, he was an associate costume designer on ''

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the second novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ...

'' (2002). After working as costume designer on several minor British films, he came to prominence with his work on ''

Tom Brown's Schooldays ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is a novel by Thomas Hughes, published in 18 ...

'', a

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

for ITV. He then worked on his most high-profile film up until then, the film version of

Giles Foden Giles Foden (born 11 January 1967)George Stade and Karen Karbiener (eds), ''Encyclopaedia of British Writers, 1800 to the Present'', 2nd edn, Infobase Publishing, 2010, p. 176. is an English author, best known for his novel '' The Last King of ...

's bestselling novel, ''

The Last King of Scotland ''The Last King of Scotland'' is a novel by journalist Giles Foden, published by Faber and Faber in 1998. Focusing on the rise of Ugandan President Idi Amin and his reign as dictator from 1971 to 1979, the novel, which interweaves fiction and ...

''. He then worked on ''

Brick Lane Brick Lane () is a street in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest, mo ...

'' as well as '' Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day''. He came to the attention of the film industry in 2009, when he received the

, the

BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design The BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design is a film award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the annual British Academy Film Awards to recognize a designer who has delivered outstanding costume design in a film. ...

as well as the

Satellite Award for Best Costume Design The Satellite Award for Best Costume Design is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy. Winners and nominees 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s References External links Official website {{Satellite Awards Ch ...

for '' The Duchess''. In 2014, he started working on costumes for ''

Tulip Fever ''Tulip Fever'' is a 2017 historical romantic drama film directed by Justin Chadwick and written by Deborah Moggach and Tom Stoppard, adapted from Moggach's 1999 novel of the same name. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Alicia Vikander, Da ...

''. In 2021, he was nominated for another

for his work on ''

Ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

''.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Major associations

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

Miscellaneous awards

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Michael 1965 births Living people Best Costume Design Academy Award winners Best Costume Design BAFTA Award winners British costume designers Designers from London English costume designers European Film Awards winners (people)