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Nolan Miller

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This article is about the fashion designer. For the author, see Nolan Miller (author).

Nolan Miller
Born(1933-01-08)January 8, 1933
Burkburnett, Texas, U.S.
DiedJune 7, 2012(2012-06-07) (aged 79)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Fashion and jewelry designer
Years active1975–2011
Spouse
Sandra Stream Miller
​
​
(m. 1980; div. 1993)​

Nolan Bertrandoff Miller (January 8, 1933 – June 7, 2012)[1] was an American fashion and jewelry designer on QVC and a television costume designer best known for his work on the long-running 1980s series Dynasty, its spin-off series The Colbys and the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion. He collaborated on many projects with television producers Aaron Spelling and Douglas S. Cramer, including Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Hotel, Hart to Hart, and Vega$.

Early life

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Miller was born at Burkburnett, Texas in 1933. He was the fourth of five children born to William and Marie Miller.[2] Nolan later stated, "When I was about in the 5th or the 6th grade I made up my mind I fell in love with movies and I thought I want to design gorgeous costumes for gorgeous stars and it was my lifelong ambition. I never wanted anything else. I never changed".[3] He worked in the oil fields of Texas and Louisiana after high school. His family moved at least twice before settling in San Bernardino, California. He studied design at the Chouinard Art Institute, now the California Institute of the Arts. Unable to find work in the entertainment industry, he worked in a florist shop in Beverly Hills, where he met Aaron Spelling, who hired Miller to design clothes for the various television series.[3][4]

Career

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Miller designed costumes for multiple Spelling-produced television series, including Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat and Green Acres,[4] but is best known as the costume designer for the 1980s prime time soap opera Dynasty, and related series.[4][5] His designs, in particular those made for the characters Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) and Dominique Deveraux (Diahann Carroll), set a fashion trend for thick shoulder pads, power suits and "old-Hollywood-style wardrobe of sequined gowns, luncheon suits, wide-brimmed hats, frivolous veils, fur stoles and the occasional turban."[4] Other iconic costumes by Miller include Morticia Addams's signature dress on The Addams Family, and Ginger Grant's beaded gown on Gilligan's Island.[4]

From 1983 to 1987, Miller was nominated six times for an Emmy Award. Nominated four times for Dynasty, he won a 1984 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Series for the soap opera.[4] He was also nominated in 1985 for the Elizabeth Taylor television movie Malice in Wonderland, and in 1987 for The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, starring Ann-Margret and Claudette Colbert.

Christopher Schemering notes in The Soap Opera Encyclopedia that "[t]he Nolan Miller creations became so popular that Dynasty spawned its own line of women's apparel", and later a men's fashion line.[5] "The Dynasty Collection," was a series of fashion designs based on costumes worn by Joan Collins, Linda Evans, Stephanie Beacham and Diahann Carroll. Miller maintained a career as a private couturier in Beverly Hills, California, with clients including Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Collins. For two decades he designed a line of jewelry for QVC.[6] A 2005 collaboration with Joan Rivers and Kenneth Jay Lane, the Scoundrel Collection, was designed for the Broadway production of the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.[7] The collection was presented on QVC with an April 25, 2005 broadcast and sold at the Imperial Theatre's concessionaire.[8]

Personal life and death

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In 1980, Miller married Sandra Stream, the daughter of one of his private clients, New Orleans socialite Matilda Gray Stream. They divorced in 1993.[4]

Miller was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006.[4] He announced his retirement on July 4, 2011 on QVC.[9] Friend and actress Joan Collins broke the news that Miller had died in his sleep in Woodland Hills, California on June 6, 2012; he was 79 years old.[1][4] He was predeceased by his ex-wife, Sandra, who died in November 2011; they had no children.[4]

Selected credits

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References

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  1. ^ a b Collins, Joan (June 7, 2012). "My dear friend Nolan Miller died peacefully in his sleep last night. He was a huge part of my life and I will miss him terribly. Rest now NM". Twitter. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  2. ^ Wilson, Eric (June 8, 2012). "Nolan Miller, Designer of 'Dynasty' Power Looks, Is Dead at 79". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "In Memory of Nolan Miller". QVC on YouTube. June 7, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wilson, Eric (June 8, 2012). "Nolan Miller, Designer of Dynasty Power Looks, Is Dead at 79". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Schemering, Christopher (September 1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Ballantine Books. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-345-32459-5.
  6. ^ Kron, Joan (October 18, 1992). "Glamour Boy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  7. ^ The Scoundrel Collection, tealsunset, April 2005, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved April 3, 2019
  8. ^ "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Inspired Jewelry a QVC Success". Broadway World. April 29, 2005. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  9. ^ "QVC.com Retirement Dedication for Nolan Miller, and products". 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2012 – via QVC.com.
  10. ^ Finetti, Marisa (2016). "Rhinestones & Feathers". davidlv.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
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