Costume Designer. Born on Catalina Island, California. William studied at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles. He showed a talent for fashion design from an early age. By the time he was sixteen, he earned an income by selling sketches of costume designs for showgirls he had studied in burlesque houses. He graduated from Woodbury University but when it came time for the Army draft, he was found unfit for wartime duties due to flat feet. He made his way to Hollywood and signed his first contract as costume designer for Columbia Pictures in 1941. In 1944 he married the beautiful Dona Drake and together they had a daughter named “Nia.” By 1952, he became a close friend of Marilyn Monroe and would create costumes for her in “Don't Bother to Knock,” “River of No Return,” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” He also created one of the most famous costumes in all of film history, the pleated ivory cocktail dress Monroe wore in the 1955 film “The Seven Year Itch.” Monroe is wearing it while standing over a New York subway ventilation grate. The photo of her with the dress rising up around her as a train passes below ground became an iconic image. During his illustrious career, he was nominated for an Emmy numerous times during a sixty year run and won twice for for "Outstanding Costume Design for a Limited Series or a Special" for 1980s ”The Scarlett O'Hara War", and in 1985 for "Outstanding Costume Design for a Series" for his work on the television show “Dallas.” Nominated for the Oscar four times he won once for “The Adventures of Don Juan” in 1949. Although he is most closely associated for his work with Marilyn, he also created costumes for Judy Garland, Greta Garbo, Betty Grable, Jane Russell, Joanne Woodward, Ann Sheridan, Lauren Bacall and Barbara Stanwyck. He remained married to Dona Drake her entire life, though they separated after only 12 years of marriage. Their daughter Nia became a veterinarian but sadly died at only 51 years of age in 2002. William himself would pass at the age of 70 from lung cancer.