Piero Tosi

For the castrato singer, see Pier Francesco Tosi.

Piero Tosi (10 April 1927 – 10 August 2019) was an Italian costume designer. He has received numerous accolades, including two BAFTA Awards and two David di Donatellos, in addition to nominations for five Academy Awards. In 2013, he became the first costume designer to receive an Academy Honorary Award as "a visionary whose incomparable costume designs shaped timeless, living art in motion pictures."

Piero Tosi
Tosi in 2001
Born	(1927-04-10)10 April 1927 Sesto Fiorentino, Kingdom of Italy
Died	10 August 2019(2019-08-10) (aged 92) Rome, Italy
Occupation	Costume designer

Biography

Tosi's film credits include Senso, Bellissima, The Leopard, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Death in Venice, The Night Porter, and La Traviata.

He was particularly known for his exhaustively researched and intricately detailed historical costumes.

He won the David di Donatello for Best Costumes twice, as well as the 50th Anniversary David in 2006. He also won the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design twice, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design five times.

He died in Rome on 10 August 2019, at the age of 92.^[1]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1951	Bellissima	Luchino Visconti
1953	Musoduro	Giuseppe Bennati
1954	Senso	Luchino Visconti
1955	Il padrone sono me	Franco Brusati
1956	The Awakening	Mario Camerini
1957	White Nights	Luchino Visconti
	Vacanze a Ischia	Mario Camerini
1958	Young Husbands	Mauro Bolognini
1959	Policarpo	Mario Soldati
	You're on Your Own	Mauro Bolognini
1960	Il bell'Antonio
	Rocco and His Brothers	Luchino Visconti
	Love in Rome	Dino Risi
1961	The Lovemakers	Mauro Bolognini	Also production designer
	On the Tiger's Back	Luigi Comencini
1962	Careless	Mauro Bolognini
1963	The Leopard	Luchino Visconti
	The Organizer	Mario Monicelli
	Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow	Vittorio De Sica
	La visita	Antonio Pietrangeli
1964	The Ape Woman	Marco Ferreri
	Marriage Italian Style	Vittorio De Sica	Tosi only designed costumes for Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni
1966	After the Fox
1967	The Witches	Mauro Bolognini Vittorio De Sica Pier Paolo Pasolini Franco Rossi Luchino Visconti
	Matchless	Renato Castellani
	The Stranger	Luchino Visconti
	Arabella	Mauro Bolognini
	Ghosts – Italian Style	Renato Castellani
1968	Spirits of the Dead	Federico Fellini	Segment: "Toby Dammit" Also supervising production designer
1969	The Damned	Luchino Visconti
	Medea	Pier Paolo Pasolini
1970	Metello	Mauro Bolognini	Costume supervisor
	So Long Gulliver	Carlo Tuzii
1971	Bubù	Mauro Bolognini
	Death in Venice	Luchino Visconti
1973	Ludwig
	We Want the Colonels	Mario Monicelli
1974	The Night Porter	Liliana Cavani
	Conversation Piece	Luchino Visconti	Tosi only designed costumes for Silvana Mangano
1975	Libera, My Love	Mauro Bolognini
	The Peaceful Age	Fabio Carpi
	Down the Ancient Staircase	Mauro Bolognini	Also production designer
1976	The Innocent	Luchino Visconti
1977	Beyond Good and Evil	Liliana Cavani
1978	La Cage aux Folles	Édouard Molinaro	Tosi only designed costumes for Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault
1979	Il malato immaginario	Tonino Cervi
1981	The Lady of the Camellias	Mauro Bolognini
	The Skin	Liliana Cavani
1982	Beyond the Door
1983	La Traviata	Franco Zeffirelli
1985	La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding	Georges Lautner	with Ambra Danon
1993	Sparrow	Franco Zeffirelli
2004	The Keys to the House	Gianni Amelio

Awards and nominations

Major associations

Academy Awards

Year[a]	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1964	Best Costume Design – Color	The Leopard	Nominated	[2]
1972	Best Costume Design	Death in Venice	Nominated	[3]
1974		Ludwig	Nominated	[4]
1980		La Cage aux Folles	Nominated	[5]
1983		La Traviata	Nominated	[6]
2014	Academy Honorary Award	—	Honored	[7]

BAFTA Awards

Year[a]	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
British Academy Film Awards
1972	Best Costume Design	Death in Venice	Won	[8]
1984		La Traviata	Won	[9]

Miscellaneous awards

List of Piero Tosi other awards and nominations

Award	Year[a]	Category	Title	Result
Costume Designers Guild Awards	2003	President's Award	—	Honored
David di Donatello Awards	1981	Best Costumes	The Lady of the Camellias	Won
	1994		Sparrow	Won
	2006	50th Anniversary David	—	Honored
Italian Golden Globe	2000	Career Golden Globe	—	Honored
Nastro d'Argento Awards	1960	Best Costume Design	Policarpo	Won
	1961		Rocco and His Brothers	Nominated
	1962		The Lovemakers	Won
	1963		Careless	Won
	1964		The Leopard	Won
			The Organizer	Nominated
	1969		Spirits of the Dead	Nominated
	1970		The Damned	Nominated
	1971		Metello	Nominated
	1972		Death in Venice	Won
	1974		Ludwig	Won
	1976		Down the Ancient Staircase	Nominated
	1981		The Lady of the Camellias	Won
	1983		La Traviata	Won
	1995		Sparrow	Won
	2014	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Honored

Notes

1. Indicates the year of ceremony. Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.