Frank Delmar, 93; TV Costumer Known for Work on Period Shows

Frank Delmar, 93, the longtime costumes chief at CBS Studio Center known for his work on such shows as “The Untouchables” and “The Wild Wild West,” died Thursday at his home in West Los Angeles.

He had been in declining health after suffering two heart attacks over the last year, said his daughter, Carie.

Delmar trained as an opera singer in his native Vienna before immigrating to Cuba and later the United States, but he had to abandon singing because of climate changes and allergies that damaged his voice.

He entered the film business in the early 1940s as a wardrober at Western Costume Co. in Hollywood. He later worked at Universal, MGM and Paramount, contributing to such movies as “Streets of Laredo” and “The Ten Commandments.”

In the late 1950s he began working in television, where he became known for his skill and artistry at dressing actors for period shows such as the 1930s-era “Untouchables,” which starred Robert Stack as real-life gangbuster Eliot Ness. For his work on “The Untouchables,” he won the Motion Picture Costumers Award in 1960 for best costuming on a filmed television series.

Delmar became head of the costume department at CBS Studio Center in the mid-1960s, overseeing the wardrobe work on such series as “Gunsmoke,” “My Three Sons,” “Gilligan’s Island” and “Hawaii Five-O.” He retired in 1985.