Bernadette O’Brien obit

Bernadette O’Brien, Emmy-Nominated Costumer on ‘MacGyver,’ Dies at 90

The Dublin native also worked on 'Murder, She Wrote,' 'T.J. Hooker,' 'For the Boys' and 'Another Stakeout.' 

She was not on the list.

Bernadette O’Brien, a costume designer, wardrobe supervisor and Emmy-nominated costumer who worked on TV’s Murder, She Wrote and MacGyver and films including the Bette Midler-starring For the Boys, has died. She was 90.

O’Brien died Monday in her sleep at an assisted living facility in Spokane, Washington, her grandson Robinson O’Brien-Bours told The Hollywood Reporter.

O’Brien also handled costumes for the features Vice Squad (1982), House (1985), Mobsters (1991), Another Stakeout (1993) and Cries of Silence (1996); for the TV series T.J. Hooker and Beyond Belief: Fact of Fiction; and for the 2000 telefilm American Tragedy.

She received her Emmy nomination in 1992 (shared with Thomas Welsh) for their work on an King Arthur-themed episode of ABC’s MacGyver.

Born in Dublin on March 29, 1934, Helen Bernadette Brady and her husband, Jack, immigrated to the U.S. in 1955 and settled in Cleveland. Having learned to sew as a youngster, she found costuming work on theatrical productions in the city, taught costume design at a local university and worked with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in town.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to kick off her career as a costume designer and wardrobe stylist and eventually became a member of the Television Academy and the Costume Designers Branch of the Motion Picture Academy.

While visiting her home country with Murder, She Wrote star Angela Lansbury during a shoot for the 1990 film The Love She Sought, O’Brien decided to purchase a home there. She acquired land in the village of Boolavogue, close to where she spent holidays during World War II, planted a lavender farm and ran a business from it, with the locals dubbing her the Lavender Lady.

O’Brien spent every summer in Ireland going forward, splitting her time between her farm and her home in the Bungalow Heaven neighborhood of Pasadena.

Her St. Patrick’s Day parties each year drew hundreds of guests to enjoy her corned beef and scones while listening to traditional Irish music.

Survivors include her daughters, Valerie, Patricia and Kathleen; her grandchildren, Jennifer, Caitlin, Robinson, Elinor, Liam, Hannah, Mairead, Daisy, Declan and Connor); and nine great-grandchildren. Her son, musician and composer John O’Brien, died in 2011.

Costume Designer

Karen Black, Ed Nelson, and Kathleen York in Sister Island (1996)

Sister Island

6.8

Costume Designer

1996

 

Hollywood Heartbreak (1990)

Hollywood Heartbreak

6.5

Costume Designer

1990

 

Deborah Shelton, James Coco, and John Allen Nelson in Hunk (1987)

Hunk

4.6

Costume Designer

1987

 

Doctor Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce (1986)

Doctor Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce

7.7

Video

Costume Designer

1986

 

Josh Brolin and Pamela Gidley in Thrashin' (1986)

Thrashin'

6.5

Costume Designer

1986

 

House (1985)

House

6.1

Costume Designer

1985

 

Television Parts Home Companion (1985)

Television Parts Home Companion

8.2

Video

Costume Designer

1985

 

Prime Risk (1985)

Prime Risk

5.4

Costume Designer

1985

 

Eyes of Fire (1983)

Eyes of Fire

6.2

Costume Designer

1983

 

Vice Squad (1982)

Vice Squad

6.4

Costume Designer

1982

 

Costume Department

Elizabeth Hurley and Denis Leary in Dawg (2002)

Dawg

4.9

set costumer

2002

 

American Tragedy (2000)

American Tragedy

5.4

TV Movie

key set costumer

2000

 

Shannon Tweed in Naked Lies (1998)

Naked Lies

3.4

wardrobe supervisor: United States

1998

 

Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (1997)

Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction

7.9

TV Series

set wardrobe

1998

1 episode

 

Dennis Hopper and Amy Irving in Carried Away (1996)

Carried Away

6.3

costume supervisor

1996

 

Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, and Rosie O'Donnell in Another Stakeout (1993)

Another Stakeout

5.6

costume supervisor: Las Vegas

1993

 

Richard Dean Anderson in MacGyver (1985)

MacGyver

7.6

TV Series

costumer

1991–1992

8 episodes

 

Bette Midler and James Caan in For the Boys (1991)

For the Boys

6.4

costumer

1991

 

Mobsters (1991)

Mobsters

5.9

costumer

1991

 

Jake Spanner, Private Eye (1989)

Jake Spanner, Private Eye

6.4

TV Movie

costumer

1989

 

Winners Take All (1987)

Winners Take All

6.0

wardrobe supervisor

1987

 

Hellhole (1985)

Hellhole

5.0

wardrobe

1985

 

Insight (1960)

Insight

7.4

TV Series

wardrobe

1982

1 episode

 

Robert Ginty in The Exterminator (1980)

The Exterminator

5.7

wardrobe: Vietnam sequence

1980