Born in 1942 Hollowood was educated at Wimbledon College of Art in Theatre Design before entering television as a costume designer. During her career she would win two Emmy awards and a BAFTA for her outstanding costume design work.
Amongst her earliest television credits is the 1968 BBC adaptation of the classic story The Railway Children (12th May – 23rd June 1968) directed by Julia Smith. Hollowood is credited on all eight episodes. This was followed by work on a couple of episodes of the Alistair Sim starring BBC comedy series Misleading Cases – 'Right of Way' (9th October 1968) and 'Who Giveth This Woman' (30th October 1968). She began work for independent television with the ATV series This Is Tom Jones, a light entertainment series which ran for over fifty episodes between 1969 and 1971. Hollowood was the main costume designer for the series during this period.
She continued being employed by ATV during the 1970s and moved into providing costumes for serials and plays during this period. After her work on the Tom Jones series Hollowood worked on episodes of Thriller – 'Possession', 'Where the Action Is' AKA 'The Killing Game' and 'The Eyes Have It'. She then worked as the costume designer on the prestigious period drama Edward the Seventh (1st April – 1st July 1975) and after the series was transmitted in America in 1979 she was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design for a Limited Series for her work on the programme. Her costume budget for each episode was reputed to be £5,000, more than double the BBC budget for a costume drama from this period.
Her first association with the Muppets was during work on the entertainment special Julie: My Favourite Things (18 April 1975) with Hollowood supplying costumes for both Julie Andrews and several Muppets that featured in sketches. As well as working on the Beasts episode 'What Big Eyes' during 1976 Hollowood also consolidated her association with The Muppet Show providing costumes for guest stars including John Denver, Dudley Moore, Marty Feldman and Gene Kelly amongst many others. She would work on the series throughout its run from 1976 up until 1981.
Following her sterling work on Edward the Seventh Hollowood was assigned to another prestigious period drama, Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic (1978), a four episode dramatization of the life of the famous prime minister with Ian McShane in the eponymous role. Along with Sue Le Cash and Christine Wilson her work on the series earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Costume Design for a Limited Series of a Special in 1979 following transmission in the US.
After the main series of The Muppet Show had finished Hollowood still continued to be regularly recruited to work on special editions or one-off programmes featuring them such as The Muppets Go to the Movies (20th May 1981) and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show (17th September 1982). After ATV had ceased to exist following a shake-up in the television franchises Hollowood decided to go freelance, emboldened by her Emmy awards. Amongst her first freelance roles was costume designs for an American television version of Pygmalion (1983), which cast Peter O’Toole as Professor Higgins and Margot Kidder as Eliza Doolittle. Her career also took in a couple of low budget British films – the Southport lensed Mr Love (1985), Birmingham set musical drama Hearts and Emeralds (1986) and romantic drama Vroom (1988) which starred Clive Owen and David Thewlis.
She was reunited with Jim Henson to work on the anthology series The Storyteller during 1987 and 1988 and received a BAFTA award in 1989 for her work on the series beating the BBC’s adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. Work for Jim Henson continued with the fourth wall breaking anthology series The Jim Henson Hour (1989) and the single drama Living with Dinosaurs (1989). During 1990 Hollowood provided costume designs for the Clive Barker horror film Nightbreed and the TV movie The Old Man and the Sea (1990) which featured Anthony Quinn. She was also the costume designer on the first season of children’s science fiction comedy series Kappatoo produced by Tyne Tees Television. In 1991 she shared another BAFTA nomination alongside Polly Smith for their work on The Storyteller: Greek Myths (1991) which was a four-part spin off from the main anthology series. This was followed with design work on the film The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992).
She worked on the second series of the Dawn French comedy vehicle Murder Most Horrid 1994 followed with credits for the film The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (1997) and the American TV movie Mother Teresa: In The Name of God’s Poor (1997) which featured Geraldine Chaplin as Teresa.
In 1998 she was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design in a Miniseries or Movie for her creations for the mini-series Merlin which starred Sam Neil as the titular wizard. The production was co-produced by Hallmark Entertainment who also bank rolled her next project, The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (1999). She continued her association with Hallmark for her next two projects – the mini-series Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001), directed by Brian Henson, and Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairy Tale (2003). Her final TV credit was on the American mini-series The Ten Commandments (2006). In 2009 the opera Alban was staged at St Alban’s Cathedral, Holborn. Hollowood was the costume designer for the production.
Hollowood died of a brain tumour in February 2014 at the age of 72. After her death the Ann Hollowood Prize for Costume Design was established and is awarded each year to a promising student at the Wimbledon College of Art.
Amongst her earliest television credits is the 1968 BBC adaptation of the classic story The Railway Children (12th May – 23rd June 1968) directed by Julia Smith. Hollowood is credited on all eight episodes. This was followed by work on a couple of episodes of the Alistair Sim starring BBC comedy series Misleading Cases – 'Right of Way' (9th October 1968) and 'Who Giveth This Woman' (30th October 1968). She began work for independent television with the ATV series This Is Tom Jones, a light entertainment series which ran for over fifty episodes between 1969 and 1971. Hollowood was the main costume designer for the series during this period.
She continued being employed by ATV during the 1970s and moved into providing costumes for serials and plays during this period. After her work on the Tom Jones series Hollowood worked on episodes of Thriller – 'Possession', 'Where the Action Is' AKA 'The Killing Game' and 'The Eyes Have It'. She then worked as the costume designer on the prestigious period drama Edward the Seventh (1st April – 1st July 1975) and after the series was transmitted in America in 1979 she was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design for a Limited Series for her work on the programme. Her costume budget for each episode was reputed to be £5,000, more than double the BBC budget for a costume drama from this period.
Her first association with the Muppets was during work on the entertainment special Julie: My Favourite Things (18 April 1975) with Hollowood supplying costumes for both Julie Andrews and several Muppets that featured in sketches. As well as working on the Beasts episode 'What Big Eyes' during 1976 Hollowood also consolidated her association with The Muppet Show providing costumes for guest stars including John Denver, Dudley Moore, Marty Feldman and Gene Kelly amongst many others. She would work on the series throughout its run from 1976 up until 1981.
Following her sterling work on Edward the Seventh Hollowood was assigned to another prestigious period drama, Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic (1978), a four episode dramatization of the life of the famous prime minister with Ian McShane in the eponymous role. Along with Sue Le Cash and Christine Wilson her work on the series earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Costume Design for a Limited Series of a Special in 1979 following transmission in the US.
After the main series of The Muppet Show had finished Hollowood still continued to be regularly recruited to work on special editions or one-off programmes featuring them such as The Muppets Go to the Movies (20th May 1981) and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show (17th September 1982). After ATV had ceased to exist following a shake-up in the television franchises Hollowood decided to go freelance, emboldened by her Emmy awards. Amongst her first freelance roles was costume designs for an American television version of Pygmalion (1983), which cast Peter O’Toole as Professor Higgins and Margot Kidder as Eliza Doolittle. Her career also took in a couple of low budget British films – the Southport lensed Mr Love (1985), Birmingham set musical drama Hearts and Emeralds (1986) and romantic drama Vroom (1988) which starred Clive Owen and David Thewlis.
She was reunited with Jim Henson to work on the anthology series The Storyteller during 1987 and 1988 and received a BAFTA award in 1989 for her work on the series beating the BBC’s adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. Work for Jim Henson continued with the fourth wall breaking anthology series The Jim Henson Hour (1989) and the single drama Living with Dinosaurs (1989). During 1990 Hollowood provided costume designs for the Clive Barker horror film Nightbreed and the TV movie The Old Man and the Sea (1990) which featured Anthony Quinn. She was also the costume designer on the first season of children’s science fiction comedy series Kappatoo produced by Tyne Tees Television. In 1991 she shared another BAFTA nomination alongside Polly Smith for their work on The Storyteller: Greek Myths (1991) which was a four-part spin off from the main anthology series. This was followed with design work on the film The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992).
She worked on the second series of the Dawn French comedy vehicle Murder Most Horrid 1994 followed with credits for the film The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo (1997) and the American TV movie Mother Teresa: In The Name of God’s Poor (1997) which featured Geraldine Chaplin as Teresa.
In 1998 she was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design in a Miniseries or Movie for her creations for the mini-series Merlin which starred Sam Neil as the titular wizard. The production was co-produced by Hallmark Entertainment who also bank rolled her next project, The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (1999). She continued her association with Hallmark for her next two projects – the mini-series Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001), directed by Brian Henson, and Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairy Tale (2003). Her final TV credit was on the American mini-series The Ten Commandments (2006). In 2009 the opera Alban was staged at St Alban’s Cathedral, Holborn. Hollowood was the costume designer for the production.
Hollowood died of a brain tumour in February 2014 at the age of 72. After her death the Ann Hollowood Prize for Costume Design was established and is awarded each year to a promising student at the Wimbledon College of Art.
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