Legend Who Worked on ‘Flintstones’ and ‘Brady Bunch’ Movies Dies of Bladder Cancer: Rosanna Norton Was 80

Rosanna Norton, the Oscar-nominated costume designer who worked on The Flintstones, The Brady Bunch Movie, Tron, and more, has died.

Norton passed away at her home in Los Angeles on Wednesday following a battle with bladder cancer, her granddaughter Mira Gonzalez told The Hollywood Reporter. She was 80.

Born Rosanna White in Los Angeles on Oct. 1, 1944, Norton studied painting at UCLA, where she met her first husband, Bill Norton, who gave her her first costume designing job on his 1971 film Cisco Pike, starring the late Kris Kristofferson. What followed was a decades-long career in film behind the camera, with Norton joining the Costume Directors Guild in 1975, earning an Oscar nomination for her work on 1982’s Tron alongside Elois Jenssen, and in 2017 being honored by the CDG for her work on more than 50 films.

Some of her earliest credits include Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973), Brian De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Robert Zemeckis’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Joan Micklin Silver’s Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), Messiah of Evil (1974), Outlaw Blues (1977), and Airplane II (1982). She also dressed Sissy Spacek as Carrie White in the iconic 1976 film adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel Carrie, notably making the decision to change Carrie’s prom dress from red, as it was in the novel, to pink, offering greater contrast to the blood dumped on her at prom, per The Wrap.

Norton also had a notable presence in ‘90s film, serving as the costume designer on 1994’s The Flintstones, Brian Levant’s comedy film starring John Goodman as Fred Flintstone, Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble, Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma Flintstone, and Rosie O’Donnell as Betty Rubble. She also worked as the costume designer on 1995’s The Brady Bunch Movie, a parody film adaptation of 1969–1974 television series. The movie starred Shelley Long, Gary Cole, and Michael McKean, and also featured cameos from Monkees members , Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork, as well as RuPaul.

Norton’s other credits include The Stunt Man (1980), Innerspace (1987), Frankie and Johnny (1991), RoboCop 2 (1990), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Casper (1995), and Detroit Rock City (1999), among numerous others. After retiring from the film industry following her costume design work in 2009’s Pool Boys, per her IMDb profile, Norton returned to painting.

She is survived by her daughter, Lora; her grandchildren, Mira, Milo, Lola, Isaac and Kayla; and her sister, Pat. Her close friend and fellow costume designer Salvador Perez remembered her as “a legend” who enjoyed an “iconic” film career.