Martin Pakledinaz, Costume Designer, is Dead at 58

The noted costumes designer, Martin Pakledinaz, died, July 8. He was 58 and had been suffering from cancer.

Pakledinaz was born in Sterling Heights, Michigan. He studied theatre at Wayne State University, where he switched from actor to costume designer. He began working in New York as a sketcher for the designer Theoni A. Aldredge, eventually becoming her associate designer on La Cage aux Folles. His first major Broadway design credit was a revival of Hamlet, starring Stephen Lang in the title role, at Roundabout Theatre Company in 1992. By then, he has designed productions for York Theatre Company and the Public Theatre.

His first big musical projects as a designer were The Life (1997) and Kiss Me, Kate (1999). In recent years, he seemed to practically live the 1920s and 30s, so assured were his designs for Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002), Wonderful Town (2003), Lend Me a Tenor (2010), Anything Goes (2011), Man and Boy (2011), and Nice Work If You Can Get It (2012). But he also did notable work on Summer and Smoke (1996), The Diary of Anne Frank (1997), The Pajama Game (2006), The Pirate Queen (2007), Blithe Spirit (2009) and The Normal Heart (2011).

He was nominated for Tony Awards ten times, winning for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Kiss Me, Kate. He was nominated for seven Drama Desk Awards, winning for Kiss Me, Kate. He was nominated for three Lucille Lortel Awards, winning for the musical The Wild Party, at Manhattan Theatre Club, and,Waste, produced by Theatre for a New Audience. He won an Obie Award in 1999 for The Misanthrope, at Classic Stage Company. Other honors include a Joseph Jefferson award for production of Pal Joey at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. Pakledinaz also designed Rodelinda for The Metropolitan Opera, Tristan and Isolde and Adriana Mater for Paris Opera, and many dance works for Mark Morris Dance Group, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. A supporter of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Actors Fund, he taught at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

He is survived by six brothers and one sister, nine nieces and nephews, and his godson, Robert Gabriel Hill-Guarino. A private funeral will be held in Michigan. A memorial service in New York will be announced in the late fall.

Donations may be made to The Martin Pakledinaz Scholarship, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10003.