OMAN, Julia Trevelyan 1930-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born July 11, 1930, in Kensington, England; died of cancer October 10, 2003, in Much Birch, Herefordshire, England. Stage and film designer and author. Oman was a renowned set and costume designer whose work was prominent from the 1950s through the 1980s in English television, film, plays, ballets, and opera performances. She studied at the Royal College of Art, earning a Silver Medal when she graduated in 1955 and winning a job immediately to work for the British Broadcasting Corporation. She was employed by the BBC through 1967, gaining notice for innovative designs such as those that appeared in Jonathan Miller's 1966 version of Alice in Wonderland and for her work on Tony Richardson's film The Charge of the Light Brigade (1967). Having paid her dues and winning a Designer of the Year award in 1967 for Alice, she became a freelance designer, working on productions of such plays as Othello (1971) and A Man for All Seasons (1981); more recently, she gained acclaim for her set designs in the 1996 production of Beatrix. But Oman was also in great demand to design sets and costumes for ballets and operas. These included the ballet productions of Enigma Variations (1968 and 1994), Swan Lake (1981), and A Month in the Country (1995), as well as the operas La Bohème (1974), Die Fledermaus (1977), and The Consul (1985). Oman was also an author, especially in her later years when she did less design work. She collaborated with her husband, Roy Strong, on such books as Mary Queen of Scots (1972), The English Year: A Personal Selection from Chambers' Book of Days (1982), A Country Life (1994), On Happiness (1997), and Garden Party (2000). An avid gardener, Oman was also the solo author of A Celebration of Gardens (1991). For her significant contributions to the theater, Oman was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1986.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), October 13, 2003, p. 16.

Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2003, p. B10.

New York Times, October 20, 2003, p. A15.

Times (London, England), October 13, 2003, p. 28.