Celebrity6 min(s) read
Top Hollywood costume designer names his worst clients including one who was a 'major a**hole'
Veteran Hollywood costume designer Jean-Pierre Dorléac has candidly opened up about some of the most difficult stars he encountered during decades working in film and television.
In a new interview with the Daily Mail, the 82-year-old designer, who recently released a memoir titled The Naked Truth, did not hold back as he described his experiences with several well-known actors.
Among those he criticized were Kirstie Alley, Shannen Doherty, and Patrick Macnee, each of whom he claimed caused problems behind the scenes.
Patrick Macnee Accused of Inappropriate Behavior
One of the stars Dorléac spoke about is actor Patrick Macnee, who appeared in a guest role on the TV series Battlestar Galactica in 1978.
Dorléac said he was fitting the late British-American for a white-gold costume when the situation allegedly took an uncomfortable turn.
"He started taking off his clothes, and he said, 'I just don’t know how to thank you for making this for me…'" he claimed.
According to the designer, the actor allegedly continued removing clothing while the two were alone in the dressing room. "He got down to his shorts, his underwear, and I'm in alone with this guy, and he sort of comes close to me, and he pulls them down, and he pulls out his old swan and started shaking it around.”
The designer said The Avengers star then asked for his opinion. "He says, 'So, well, what do you think of this?'", he claimed.
Dorléac recalled responding bluntly: "Oh. I was flummoxed, and I studied, and I said, 'To be honest with you, it looks like you dropped your little dill pickle from your salad and it landed in your lap.'"
Dorléac alleged that Macnee then continued the behavior and asked him to join in, but he refused. Thankfully, the situation ended when a tailor entered the room to help adjust the costume.
"He struggled to pull up his pants, and he put on the suit, and he was pissed as hell," Dorléac claimed. "He just pouted all the way through the fitting."
Dorléac later said Macnee’s costume was mysteriously destroyed: "He was just a major a**hole, and he never spoke to me thereafter, and they never hired him to work at Universal ever again."
Kirstie Alley And Her Ruined Costume
Dorléac also recalled several challenging experiences with actress Kirstie Alley while working on the TV series Masquerade.
"Kirstie was very crude and very brassy and coarse, irresponsible, never on time, a mess, a constant mess," he said. "We had to clean her uniform. She was supposed to be a travel agent in the series called Masquerade with Rod Taylor, and she sweated so badly because she drank."
The designer described one incident where an expensive costume was ruined shortly before filming.
"I had a pearl pink angora sweater made for her the tune of $350,” he said. "It was a stunning thing for a scene where she had a major line delivery to do, and about three minutes before she did the scene, she went to the craft table service and picked up this great big chocolate donut and accidentally, supposedly, dropped it down the front of her dress.
"There was nothing but this big streak of chocolate through her breast all the way down to her belly button," he added.
The stain could not be removed. "The chocolate had completely stained the dress. We eventually had to throw the dress away. All that money, and it wasn't even ever filmed," he said.
Dorléac claimed the situation happened repeatedly. "She did that over and over again, plus she was constantly gaining weight, and she was always rude," he alleged.
Shannen Doherty’s On-Set Behavior
Another star who drew criticism from the designer was Shannen Doherty, who worked with him on the 1994 TV movie A Burning Passion, where she portrayed Gone With The Wind author Margaret Mitchell.
Dorléac recalled complimenting the late actress while fitting her for a costume. "I did her this blue suit,” he said. “I always go to the set to establish the costume before it’s shot and make certain everything was right, I said, 'Oh, Shannen it just turned out to be so wonderful. It makes your eyes so blue.' And she goes, ‘yeah, they are, aren’t they?'"
However, he noticed something unusual during the following days of filming. "Then the next day, she’s doing something else, and it’s more of a vivid green, and her eyes are almost cat green, not hazel-y green, like mine or hers were originally," he said.
When he asked how she kept changing her eye color, he said Doherty snapped back. "She answered: 'Just keep your f***ing mouth shut. I’m doing this.' I said, 'What are you talking about?'"
Dorléac revealed that the actress then explained her reasoning. "She says, 'I hate this goddamn movie, and I don’t want to play this Margaret Mitchell. Jesus! Who wants to play an old cripple like Margaret Mitchell?'
"Well, I’m hoping it's gonna throw the film off, because one scene I have green eyes, another, blue eyes,” he recalled her saying.
Reflecting on the experience, he added: "She was a very unhappy girl... She smoked constantly, she ate hardly anything. She was so tiny and thin.
“She swore like a workman. I mean, I’ve never seen anybody who had a filthier mouth than she did," he added.
Not All Stars Were Difficult
Despite the harsh criticism of some Hollywood stars, Dorléac also shared positive memories of several actors he worked with over the years.
He praised Diane Keaton, calling her "the most lovely, charming lady in the world" and saying she was generous and kind off set.
The designer also shared that Henry Fonda left a strong impression. "He was the most wonderful, kind, gentle, appreciative, and very, very professional man," he added.
Dorléac also spoke warmly about Patricia Neal, revealing that the two became lifelong friends.
"She was so sweet and so wonderful... so gracious," he concluded.