Rita Riggs

Rita Riggs is an American costume designer for film and television. She is probably best known for being the costume designer for Norman Lear sitcoms.

Early life and education

Riggs was born in Lead Hill, Arkansas to J. Elmus Riggs and Aida V. Keeling. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1943. After two years at Santa Ana College, Riggs went to the University of Arizona to work under costumer Fairfax Proudfit Walkup.

Career

After an interview at NBC in 1954, CBS hired Riggs the next day and her first assignment was in the costume department for Shower of Stars. She also worked on show such as Climax! and Playhouse 90. Riggs later worked on Alfred Hitchcock Presents usually on the wrap-arounds, which led to her work on the films Psycho, The Birds and Marnie, the latter of two she worked with Edith Head. She also worked on features such as Seconds, Petulia and Yes, Giorgio, and especially Divorce American Style, where she got to meet Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin. This led to her work on All in the Family, for which she and production designer Don Roberts created a sepia "family album" look to the show. Along with All in the Family, she also was the costume designer for Maude, Sanford and Son, Good Times, One Day at a Time, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and The Jeffersons. Riggs later worked on more films and films for television such as Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years and also television series 10,000 Days.^[1]

Awards

In 2003, Riggs received the Career Achievement Award in Television from the Costume Designers Guild Awards^[2]

References

External links

• Rita Riggs at the Internet Movie Database
• Rita Riggs interview video at the Archive of American Television