PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Helen Rose, an Oscar-winning costume designer who dressed some of Hollywood's most famous glamour girls and created Princess Grace's wedding dress, has died at her home. She was 81.
A family friend said Monday that Rose died Saturday following a lengthy illness.
Rose was nominated for 10 Oscars and won twice -- in 1952 for 'The Bad and the Beautiful' starring Lana Turner, and in 1955 for 'I'll Cry Tomorrow' starring Susan Hayward.
A top designer for MGM during Hollywood's heyday, Rose worked on some 200 films from the 1940s into the 1960s, designing gowns for such leading ladies such as Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner and Lauren Bacall.
She also designed, as a favor, the wedding gown for Grace Kelly when the actress married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956.
Rose quit show business to open her own design shop in Palm Springs in 1966 and later wrote two books on fashion design as well as a column about fashion for a local newspaper.
She is survived by her husband, Harry Rose. Private services were planned.
