Ralph Jester

{{Short description|American costume designer (1901–1991)}} {{Infobox person | image = | image_size = | name = Ralph Jester | birth_name = | other_names = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|7|10}} | birth_place = Tyler, Texas, USA | death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|9|25|1901|7|10}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, USA | occupation = Costume Designer | years_active = 1934-1959 | spouse = {{marriage |Elizabeth Hawes|1930|1935|end=div}} | children = }}

'''Ralph Jester''' (July 10, 1901 – September 25, 1991) was an American costume designer, sculptor, and artist.

Born in Tyler, Texas, he graduated in 1919 from the Terrill School, the forerunner to St. Mark's School of Texas.<ref>https://www.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/214668?page=38 {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}}</ref> He was educated at Yale, where he was an editor of the campus humor magazine ''The Yale Record''.<ref>''Yale Banner and Pot Pourri''. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1926. p. 238.</ref>

After graduating from Yale and studying at the American Academy in Fontainebleau, France, Jester moved to Hollywood. By 1931, he was working as an art director and costume designer for Cecil B. DeMille and Paramount Pictures. For much of his career, his closest collaborator was Edith Head.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.askart.com/artist/Ralph_Jester/10027800/Ralph_Jester.aspx|title=Ralph Jester - Biography}}</ref>

For DeMille's epic ''Cleopatra'' (1934), Jester designed Claudette Colbert’s marble throne, as well as the busts of Colbert and her co star, Warren William.

He is perhaps best known professionally as one of the costume designers of ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956). He also worked on such films as ''Omar Khayyam'' (1957) and ''The Buccaneer'' (1958).

Earlier, in 1938, Frank Lloyd Wright had designed a circular home for Jester in Santa Clara, California. Never built but considered a masterpiece of design, the house was Wright's first foray into using the circle in his buildings. Wright's Guggenheim Museum would not be built for another 20 years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apointindesign.com/2016/03/29/unbuilt-masterpieces-wrights-ralph-jester-house/ |title=Unbuilt Masterpieces – Wright's Ralph Jester House – A Point in Design |access-date=2021-06-06 |archive-date=2021-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606230848/https://apointindesign.com/2016/03/29/unbuilt-masterpieces-wrights-ralph-jester-house/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Jester later employed Lloyd Wright, Jr. to design a modernist house for him in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

==Oscar Nominations== Both were for Best Costumes.

*29th Academy Awards (color costumes category): Nominated for ''The Ten Commandments''. Nomination shared with Arnold Friberg, Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins and John Jensen. Lost to ''The King and I''.<ref name="Oscars1957">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957 |title=The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=March 21, 2014|work=oscars.org}}</ref> *31st Academy Awards: Nominated for ''The Buccaneer''. Nomination shared with Edith Head and John Jensen. Lost to ''Gigi''.<ref name="Oscars1959">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1959 |title=The 31st Academy Awards (1959) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=March 21, 2014|work=oscars.org}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0422286|name=Ralph Jester}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jester, Ralph}} Category:1901 births Category:1991 deaths Category:American costume designers Category:People from Tyler, Texas Category:20th-century American designers