Partner Ruth Mitchell
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Florence Klotz (October 28, 1920 – November 1, 2006) was an American costume designer on Broadway and on film.
The work of Broadway's gay and lesbian artistic community went on display in
2007 when the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation Gallery presents "StageStruck:
The Magic of Theatre Design." The exhibit was conceived to highlight the
achievements of gay and lesbian designers who work in conjunction with fellow
gay and lesbian playwrights, directors, choreographers and composers. Original
sketches, props, set pieces and models — some from private collections —
represent the work of over 60 designers, including Florence Klotz.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, she graduated from Parsons School of Design, and went to work painting fabrics for Brooks Costumes. Originally named as Kathrina Klotz, she later changed her name to "Florence" and was often nicknamed "Flossie".[1][2]
Klotz began her career in 1951 as an assistant to Irene Sharaff, who designed the costumes for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's The King and I It was there she met her companion for the next half century
Ruth Mitchell who later would co-produce Broadway shows with Hal Prince.
She worked with Jerome Robbins, designing costumes for Madama Butterfly for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the film version of A Little Night Music. She became friendly with actress
Elizabeth Taylor on the set of this last venture, for which Klotz was nominated for an Academy Award — Taylor asked Klotz to design the lavender dress she wore for her wedding to Senator John Warner in 1976.
Other musicals she designed for included City of Angels, On the Twentieth Century, It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman, Grind, and The Little Foxes.
Klotz died at her Manhattan home of cardiac arrest, four days after her 86th birthday. Klotz's partner, producer and stage manager Ruth Mitchell, died in 2000.[3][4]
All of the Tony Awards Klotz won were for musicals directed by
Harold Prince, with whom she had a long association.
1995: Show Boat
1993: Kiss of the Spider Woman: The Musical
1985: Grind
1976: Pacific Overtures
1973: A Little Night Music
1972: Follies.
She won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design five times, three L.A. Critic Circle Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards. In 2002, she received the Patricia Zipprodt Award from the Fashion Institute of Technology; and in 2005, she won the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award.
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