Rosanna Norton, Oscar-Nominated Costume Designer on ‘Tron,’ Dies at 80

As a gamer, I’d put it like this: “I’m sad to share that Rosanna Norton, a legendary costume designer known for her work on iconic sci-fi movies like Tron and many others such as Badlands, Carrie, The Stunt Man, and Frankie and Johnny, has passed away at the age of 80. Her four-decade career in Hollywood has left an indelible mark on the film industry.

On a Wednesday, Norton passed away at her Los Angeles residence due to bladder cancer, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, according to her granddaughter Mira Gonzalez.

OR

On Wednesday, Norton lost her life at home in Los Angeles from bladder cancer, as stated by Mira Gonzalez to The Hollywood Reporter.

OR

The Hollywood Reporter was informed by Mira Gonzalez that Norton, who lived in Los Angeles, died on Wednesday due to bladder cancer.

Each of these sentences conveys the same information, but with a slightly different emphasis and choice of words.

Additionally, Norton worked alongside Joe Dante in the production of films like ‘Explorers’ (1985), ‘Innerspace’ (1987), ‘The ‘Burbs’ (1989) and ‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch’ (1990). He also teamed up with Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker for the movies ‘Airplane!’ (1980) and ‘Ruthless People’ (1986).

She collaborated with Terrence Malick on the 1973 film “Badlands”, with Brian De Palma on both “Phantom of the Paradise” (1974) and “Carrie” (1976), with Richard Rush on “The Stunt Man” in 1980, and with Garry Marshall on “Frankie and Johnny” in 1991.

She shared her Oscar nom for Steven Lisberger’s Tron (1982) with Elois Jenssen.

As the eldest among four siblings, Rosanna White made her entrance into the world on October 1, 1944, in Los Angeles. Her mother, Ann Stanford, a renowned poet and one of the founding members of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, and her father, Roland, an architect, welcomed her into their family.

During her time studying painting at UCLA, she encountered her future spouse, Bill Norton. Subsequently, she made her cinematic debut by designing costumes for the 1971 movie he co-wrote and directed, titled “Cisco Pike” starring Kris Kristofferson.

She expressed that if circumstances had been different, she might have become a painter. However, her luck took an interesting turn when she built strong relationships with film directors Brian De Palma and Terrence Malick, which led to her involvement in some excellent film projects. In the year 1975, she became a member of the Costume Directors Guild.

Her resume featured a variety of roles, such as the ones in “Messiah of Evil” (1974), “Outlaw Blues” (1977), Robert Zemeckis’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” (1978), Joan Micklin Silver’s “Chilly Scenes of Winter” (1979), “Airplane II” (1982), “RoboCop 2” (1990), “The Flintstones” (1994), “The Brady Bunch Movie” (1995), and “Detroit Rock City” (1999).

Following her work as a costume designer, most notably on the film “Pool Boys” (2009), Norton subsequently went back to her primary passion: painting.

Among the ones who carry on her legacy are her daughter Lora, along with grandkids Mira, Milo, Lola, Isaac, and Kayla. Additionally, she had a short-lived marriage with filmmaker James Bryan, and her sister Pat is also part of this group.

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2025-05-10 04:24