The Oscar award-winning film and television costume designer Ruth E. Carter officially has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Give Carter her flowers. She is now making history again as the second costume designer to receive her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2019, she became the first Black woman to receive an Academy Award for costume design for her work on “Black Panther.” Her ceremony was held on Thursday, Yahoo! News reports.
Carter, 60, says one of the first things she had her sights set on when she moved to Los Angeles was the Walk of Fame. “The first thing I wanted to see when I moved to Los Angeles in 1986 was Hollywood Boulevard and the Walk of Fame,” Carter said. “I think those stars are synonymous with Hollywood past and present.”
“It’s like a Monopoly game, you walk from star to star to star, and you read the names, and you’re curious about them. Some of them you recognize, and some of them you don’t,” she says. She is hopeful her star will inspire other girls, little girls who walk and think about characters, that they too will know that an open door waits for her. “Tourists and hopefuls in the industry all walk the boulevard and feel the same way about it, ‘Maybe someday this will be me,’” said Carter.
Aside from “Black Panther,” Carter has worked on several iconic films, including “School Daze,” “Sparkle,” “Do The Right Thing,” “Coming Up Rose,” and more. “I was protected. I came up with Spike, Robert Townsend, and Keenan Ivory Wayans. They were trying to do things their way, and it was independent film.”
Carter’s career has also inspired the next generation of costume designers. Costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones, who worked on “Judas and the Black Messiah,” said Carter opened doors for her and others alike. “She opened a lot of doors for us. I’ve seen more people requesting Black designers this year — due to her win, but also partially due to the social climate. Even me being considered [for awards] right now is due to her winning and laying this groundwork.”
If you’re looking for her star you can find it alongside Cicely Tyson, Quincy Jones, Judy Garland and Olivia de Havilland.
