Here some more of the 1927 article listing some women in the field of scenic art:
“Look at the diminutive parcel of wonderful feminine personality peeking up at you from beneath the bonnet rim. Gretl Urban – even the name is diminutive – and then remember her setting for Louis XIV. If you did not see them, you missed something.”
Gretel/Gretl Urban Thurlow (1898-1997) was the daughter and Josef Urban (1872-1933), the well-known architect, illustrator and designer. Her mother was Meizzi (b. 1873) and the step-daughter of Mary Porter Beegle (married to Urban from 1919-1933). Gretl’s birth name was Margarete Urban and she was born in Vienna, Austria on January 7, 1898. Studying art in Boston, she joined her father’s New York studio to paint and design costumes for several of his productions. Gretl worked with her father for both the Ziegfeld Follies and the Metropolitan Opera New York, later becoming a well-known designer in her own right.
Very little is known about her private life and marriage.
By the 1920 census, she has married John Thurlow (b. 1892) and lived with her birth mother Meizzi (sp?) and her sister, Elly Helliwell (b. 1901 in Austria). Her husband is listed as Meizzi’s lodger in Boston, Mass. with Gretl listed as the lodger’s wife. Gretl, Meizzie and Elly, are listed as all immigrating from Austria in 1912, the year after Josef. At this time, Gretl is listed without any occupation, while her husband is noted as salesman for a Broker. John Thurlow was born in Colorado with parents originating in Massachusetts. What is interesting about this census is that her husband is listed as a lodger and Gretl is listed as the wife of the household’s lodger with her mother as the head of household.
She is repeatedly mentioned for her work in various papers from 1921-1922 and follows her father to California, working in Hollywood from 1923 to 1925. Whether her husband travelled with her at this time is unknown. Her film credits include “When Knighthood was in Flower” (1922, costumes), “Little Old New York” (1923, costumes), “Enemies of Women” (1923, costume design), “Princess Yolanda” (1923, costumes), “The Value of Beauty” (1923, costumes), “Janice Meredith” (1924, costume design), “Zander the Great” (1925, costume design). In most instances she was working on films crews for her father or with her father who was either the art director or scenic designer. By 1925, she again returned to New York and was scenic designer for the musical comedy “Louis XIV” at the Cosmopolitan Theatre. This is the work that is mentioned in the 1927 “Women in Scenic Art” text. That same year, she also designs costumes for the Metropolitan Opera. Although I have included some to depict her rendering style, , they are available at http://archives.metoperafamily.org/Imgs/TurandotUrbanDesign.htm
An interesting side note for 1924 historical context: Gretl was one of the guests on Hearst’s boat, the Oneida, during the incident involving William Randolph Hearst. They had been travelling for a private screening of “Enchantment.” More on THAT can be found at “William Randall Hearst: The Later Years” by Ben Procter.
Her father passed away in 1933 and she continues with her career. By 1935, she designed the original Broadway play, “The Season Changes” at the Booth Theatre and in 1939 she designed the stage settings for “East River Romance” by Edwin Gilbert for the Studio Players of Yonkers, performing in the Waverly Terrace Auditorium. Gretl later served as a consultant for Billy Rose while he restored the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1943.
Between 1950 and her retirement in 1981 she worked for the music publisher Carl Fisher, working as the Vice President for the company. She lived last at the Holiday Care Center in Toms River, New Jersey.
Her costumes for the movie “Janice Meredith”
Her designs for “Turandot”
It was surprising difficult to find information any information on a woman that was a well known designer and daughter to an infamous father! Other than a few credits – little is left of her painting.
I was a friend of Gretl Urban’s during her last years. Some of her many stories about her work for William Randolph Hearst’s film company primarily as a costume designer but also assisting her father, are included in my book Hearst Over Hollywood: Passion, Power and Propaganda in the Movies (Columbia University Press).
Thank you for this blog post on Ms Urban. A friend gave me two of her costume drawings for productions of “L’Africaine” and for “Pelleas et Mellisande.” I suspect they were both at the Metropolitan Opera. It is nice to have some information about her.
I’m really glad that it was of help to you! Do you mind sharing an image of the costume drawings to this post for others who may research Urban in the future?