Emmy Award-winning costume designer Ray Aghayan dies at 83October 14, 2011 - 15:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Ray Aghayan, an Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated costume designer whose credits included more than a dozen Oscar shows and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, has died. He was 83. Aghayan, the lifetime partner of costume designer Bob Mackie, died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, said a spokeswoman for the Costume Designers Guild, Los Angeles Times reported. In a career that spanned television, film and Broadway, the Iranian-born Aghayan designed costumes for such stars as Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dinah Shore, Julie Andrews, Carol Channing and Doris Day. A onetime stage actor, director and producer, Aghayan launched his career as a television costume designer for "Matinee Theatre" in 1957. Aghayan received six more Emmy nominations and shared an Emmy in 1987 with Ret Turner for "Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues." He won his third Emmy in 1992 for the 64th Annual Academy Awards. After establishing himself in television, Aghayan moved into films in the mid-1960s, with credits including "Do Not Disturb," "The Glass Bottom Boat," "In Like Flint," "Caprice" and "Doctor Dolittle." For his work in films, he received three Oscar nominations: for "Gaily, Gaily" in 1970, for "Lady Sings the Blues" in 1973 (shared with Mackie and Norma Koch) and for "Funny Lady" in 1976 (shared with Mackie). Aghayan also worked as a costume designer for Broadway productions and received a Tony Award nomination in 1970 for "Applause." Of Armenian descent, Aghayan was born July 28, 1928, in Tehran, where his mother was a designer of haute couture. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |