Holder of the two highest honours in British drama, the Olivier Award for Best Stage Costume Design and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Costume Design, Deirdre Clancy has played a key role in the development of modern theater.
She has designed costume for theater, television, opera, ballet, and film and has worked on over 140 productions in Europe, the USA, Japan, and Australia.She has designed for 18 productions at The Royal National Theatre, including the inaugural production of the present building in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth, and worked with many major directors including Adrian Noble in his inaugural production as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Among Clancy’s many successes are costumes for Kiri Te Kanawa in Cosí Fan Tutte at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Ian McKellen in Wild Honey at the National Theatre and subsequent major U.S. tour, Glenda Jackson in Strange Interlude in the West End and on Broadway. Clancy’s production design for A Doll’s House assisted Janet McTeer to win Best Actress in both the Olivier & Tony awards.
She won a BAFTA Best Film Costume Award for Mrs Brown (1996) featuring Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly in 1996. In 2000 the University of Central England honoured her with a doctorate.