Tony-Winning Costume Designer Martin Pakledinaz Dies at 58

Tony-winning costume designer Martin Pakledinaz died on July 8 at the age of 58. During his 30-year plus career Pakledinaz worked on over 30 Broadway plays and musicals, as well as many off-Broadway productions.

Pakledinaz was born on September 1, 1953 and grew up in Sterling Heights, Michigan. A graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, Pakledinaz studied directing and design. He pursued his masters at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He moved to New York in 1977, working under costume designers Barbara Matera and Theoni V. Aldredge.

Pakledinaz won Tony Awards for his designs for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Kiss Me Kate. He also received nominations for Anything Goes, Lend Me a Tenor, Blithe Spirit, Gypsy, The Pajama Game, Golden Child and The Life. His many other credits include Man and Boy, Master Class, The Normal Heart, Grease, The Pirate Queen, Holiday, Hamlet, Hedda Gabler and La Cage aux Folles.He also taught on the graduate level at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Pakledinaz is survived by six brothers and one sister, nine nieces and nephews, and his godson, Robert Gabriel Hill-Guarino. His work is currently represented on Broadway in Nice Work If You Can Get It, for which he received a Tony nomination. Private funeral services will be held in Michigan, with a community memorial to be held later in the fall.