Costume designer Wayne Finkelman goes Overboard with Goldie Hawn
In June, the Hollywood Heritage Museum honored the late CDG member, Wayne Finkelman with an exhibit, “Comedy meets Costume: Costume Designer Wayne Finkelman goes Overboard with Goldie Hawn.”
Curated by Heath Daniels, the exhibit featured dozens of Wayne’s illustrations, personal photographs, and original costumes from the 1987 Goldie Hawn comedy, Overboard. Daniels first became aware of Wayne Finkleman while doing research in the Western Costume Company library in 2017. Western was Wayne’s working home for many years. After his death in 1994, Wayne’s partner Gilbert Hernández began donating Wayne’s research materials and sketches to the library.
“The library had just received a large shipment of items that included the research and illustrations Wayne had done for the film Partners. It was a wonderful insight into his creative process. One binder included Wayne’s on-the-street snapshots of life in West Hollywood in 1980. His exquisite charcoal drawings highlighted the influence of his research. The publicity stills from the film showed the completed designs. It was all there. I was hooked and wanted to know more about Wayne,” said Daniels.
Wayne Finkelman was born in 1947 in New York. Following his parents’ separation, he and his mother moved to Rome, where he was raised and educated. In 1967, he became the top makeup artist at Elizabeth Arden and was sent to New York, where he was known as “Wayne of Elizabeth Arden.”
Makeup was Wayne’s entrance into the world of glamour, but he wanted to create head-to-toe looks, so he returned to Rome in 1972. He honed his skills as a hair designer and costumer; eventually assisting Costume Designers Piero Tosi and Danilo Donati.
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