53 Facts About Robert Kalloch

Robert Kalloch worked on 105 films during his career, and was widely considered one of America's top fashion designers in the late 1930s.

Robert Kalloch's father was a dentist of Scottish American descent.

Robert Kalloch attended New York City public schools, then spent four years at the Dwight School on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Robert Kalloch later taught at the School of Fine and Applied Arts in his mid-20s, helping to educate Travis Banton and Adrian, and was a member of the jury in the school's 1918 costume design show.

At the age of 18, Robert Kalloch sought out one of his idols, the prima ballerina Anna Pavlova.

Robert Kalloch was so impressed that she hired him to design costumes for one of her ballets.

Robert Kalloch later designed costumes for the opera singer Mary Garden.

Robert Kalloch worked in the London and Paris branches of the company, studying fashion and designing costumes for the Grande Revue of the Casino de Paris.

Dancer Irene Castle was one of Lucile's clients, and Robert Kalloch designed a number of her dance dresses.

Castle swiftly became "the epitome of chic" to the public, and Robert Kalloch was known as the "man who made the clothes that made Irene Castle famous".

Robert Kalloch designed costumes for Grace Moore's 1923 Broadway debut in Music Box Revue.

Robert Kalloch came to the attention of Hollywood in the late 1920s when Peggy Hamilton, by then a Los Angeles Times fashion columnist began promoting his work in her articles.

In 1933, Columbia Pictures hired Robert Kalloch to be their chief fashion and women's costume designer.

Robert Kalloch was the first contract costume designer ever hired by the studio, and he established the studio's wardrobe department.

Robert Kalloch designed the costumes for Elissa Landi for Excursion to Paradise and for Barbara Stanwyck in The Bitter Tea of General Yen.

Robert Kalloch went to Paris in June 1934 to see the latest fashion trends, and by September of that year had designed costumes for Claudette Colbert, Carole Lombard, Grace Moore, and Genevieve Tobin.

Robert Kalloch was Columbia Pictures' first good costume and fashion designer, Between 1930 and 1934, Columbia Pictures transforme itself from a Poverty Row studio to one of the eight major film studios during Hollywood's Golden Age.

Robert Kalloch retained his position as the studio's fashion and costume designer.

When Madame Frances retired in 1936, Robert Kalloch returned to Columbia.

Robert Kalloch became fascinated by the new colors the fabric, leather, and textile companies were creating and began using them in his designs.

Robert Kalloch preferred slim waists accented with a wide belt, and long skirts with long sleeves and a high collar.

Robert Kalloch began experimenting for the first time with odd jackets, using them to create new looks for classic outfits.

Robert Kalloch designed a yellow chenille robe for her which was widely acclaimed.

The media paid particular attention to his work for Joan Blondell in 1938's There's Always a Woman, where Robert Kalloch had to design a chic-looking wardrobe out of cheap garments and cloth.

Robert Kalloch traveled to Europe to view fashions again in late 1939, returning to the United States in March 1940.

Robert Kalloch left Columbia Pictures in early 1941, and by May was working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The reason for his employment seems to be that his designs strongly resembled those of Adrian, MGM's chief fashion designer, with whom Robert Kalloch had maintained a close friendship since Adrian's student days at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts.

Robert Kalloch designed a unique sarong of spun glass for her to wear in the film.

For Norma Shearer in Her Cardboard Lover, Robert Kalloch designed costumes which were the first indications of a new flowing, moving style in his work.

Robert Kalloch began altering his design look and feel in early 1942 to reflect these needs.

Robert Kalloch largely abandoned elaborate, studied designs in favor of the chemise dress.

Robert Kalloch often was forced to improvise due to restrictions on materials.

Robert Kalloch had been named Adrian's successor at MGM, but by late 1941 it was clear his design work and productivity were not acceptable to the studio.

Columbia Pictures' Harry Cohn disliked this genre of film, and Robert Kalloch had done no work in the genre prior to joining MGM.

Robert Kalloch left MGM in 1943, although he continued to do freelance work for the studios until his death.

Robert Kalloch created wardrobes and women's fashions for 105 motion pictures.

Robert Kalloch was never nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, as the category was only introduced in 1948.

Peggy Hamilton often featured his work in her Los Angeles fashion shows in the 1930s, and Robert Kalloch exhibited his film and private fashions at various shows.

Robert Kalloch criticized "fussy" fashion, favored the swing skirt, supported the use of sheer fabrics for summer wear, offered advice to brides on a budget, and advocated slim lines and the use of suede.

Robert Kalloch even designed a "strip tease dress" for Eleanor Powell for her 1942 USO tour.

Robert Kalloch designed a 1937 line of hats for mass production, costumes for Nancy Carroll when she appeared in the play Jealousy in 1935, and costumes for the San Francisco Light Opera Company's 1946 production of Jerome Kern's Roberta.

Robert Kalloch lived with her son in his New York City apartment after Kalloch's father died in 1915, and accompanied him to Europe in 1919 and 1920.

Robert Kalloch had found a black stray cat in Central Park in New York and named it Mimosa.

In Los Angeles, Robert Kalloch devoted an entire room of his apartment to the cat, covering the walls with chicken wire and growing ivy over it.

Robert Kalloch was homosexual, and since at least 1931 was partnered with Joseph Demarais.

Robert Kalloch's stay was brief, but he returned to the facility numerous times over the next five years.

Robert Kalloch wore round wire-frame glasses and was never without his silver cigarette case.

Robert Kalloch was a good cook, often experimenting in the kitchen.

Robert Kalloch reportedly suffered from a number of phobias and neuroses, the most famous of which was his fear of automobiles.

Robert Kalloch refused to own a car of his own, and when forced to ride in a car would cower on the floor of the back seat.

Robert Kalloch suffered from arteriosclerosis, and died of cardiac arrest at about 6:00 AM at his home on October 19,1947.

Robert Kalloch was interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Robert Kalloch's relations settled the lawsuit for $750, while Demarais' siblings received the remaining $10,000.