John Bloomfield, costume designer.

***John and Ann Bloomfield*** (Image: PA Real Life)

Introduction:

The story starts with my friend Joff and his wife Esme watching an episode of The Saint, an old television series staring Roger Moore. Joff looked up the actors in the story and found that one of the actors, John Bloomfield, was born in Cwmgwrach, so he sent me a message to let me know as he though it may be of interest for inclusion in the Gwrachtimeline website.

I put a post up in the village Facebook page to see if I could glean any more information on John. Richard Brown kindly asked around in the village to see if he could find out any more information about John, and what he found can be seen below.

What do we know, so far, about John’s time spent in the village:

John was born in 1942 in Cwmgwrach, we know this as he was proud enough of his roots to mention it in his imdb Biography. His father was part of the Benjamin family and his mother was part of the Hayward family, (Lettie’s sister in fact). I do not know in which street he lived.

It seems John moved away at a very young age to Birmingham when he was in the infants school, but again we do not know exactly when he moved.

[ If any of the Benjamin or Hayward family are reading this and can provide further information, then it would be gratefully received.]

Biography:

After leaving Cwmgwrach for Birmingham, John went on to attend Birmingham University, where he achieved a law degree. He married his wife Ann Beverley In 1964 and they have two children, Sarah (57) and Daniel (51) in (2022). They both went on to have a spectacular 40 year career, ending when Ann became unwell.

John met his future wife Ann in 1961 at Birmingham Repertory Theatre where Ann was an assistant stage designer and John was a stagehand carpenter, working part time and also studying law at Birmingham University. John remembers the first time they met, he said:

“I was working downstairs building scenery and she was upstairs painting the scenery and helping the designers. I was obviously not blind and was very aware this beautiful lady from London was there.” He added; “We actually met on a classic iron spiral staircase going from the workshop up to the paint shop. She was wearing a green leather jacket, a fur hat and pointed shoes. We got talking. The rest is history.” [1]
John Bloomfield

John and Ann went on to get married in 1964, they moved to South London and their daughter Sarah arrived that October. As was usual then Ann gave up work to become a stay-at-home mum, while John continued his work. [1]

John was a costume designer and an actor who along with his wife Ann have been credited with many famous films and Television series. They toured the world taking them to America, China, Australia and Africa, and John say’s they owe their success to working in perfect harmony together.

“She’s left-handed and I’m right-handed, so we would lob drawings back and forth the between us.”
John Bloomfield

Acting:

John acting career started in 1957 and ended in 1987, a career of three decades. Along the way he appears in many well known television shows, such as:

The Saint (3 episodes),
The Troubleshooters,
Casualty,
Inspector Morse,
Crossroads. (see link below for full acting credits)

Costume Design:

Robin Hood and Maid Marion costumes. (Images: PA Real Life)

“I remember once, I was sitting with Kevin Costner in the Rocky Mountains. We were both exhausted after a long work day and Kevin said, “You know John, I really envy the way you will be able to do this job and nobody will ever come up to you, your life is much easier than mine.”
John Bloomfield / Kevin Costner

John along with his wife Ann are most famous for their costume designs. They came to prominence for the television mini series, The Six Wives of Henry VIII:

TV credits:

The Six Wife’s of Henry VIII in 1970.
They are credited for 15 episodes of the television series Poldark from 1975 – 1976, along with,
10 episodes of Doctor Who in 1977, plus many many more.

They then went on to create costumes for many famous films such as:

Conan the Barbarian;
Superman IV, where the superman costume of Christopher Reeves was designed by John and Ann.
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves;
Waterworld;
The Mummy:
The Mummy Returns;
The Scorpion King; to name but a few. (see link below or full Costume design credits))

Awards:

John has won a Bafta TV Award for The Six Wife’s of Henry the VIII, and has been nominated 8 times for various awards for his Costume Designs.

1 nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

3 Bafta nominations.

4 USA nominations for a Saturn Award. (see link below for full Award credits)

See link below for full Acting, Costume Design and Credits listings:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0089278/

IMBd Credits are shown in the link below:

https://www.imdb.com /name/nm0089278/awards/?ref_=nm_ql_2

Last Year (2022) Exibition:

John and Ann run a very successful showcase at the British Film Institute, which ran until January 2023. They were able to show sketches from The Mummy which had never been seen before. John (80) and Ann (83) who is not in the best of health, now live in Dorking, East Surry. They were able to showcase their work which included designed outfits for stars such as Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Arnold Schwaartzenegger and Dwayn “The Rock” Johnson.

Walesonline reported on the event last year on the 18th October 2022. There is a link in the References and Resources below if you would like to read it. [1]

References and Reasources:

[1] Walesonline article of 18th October 2022. See link attached.

Encyclopedia.com, Credits and Awards.
https://www.imdb.com /name/nm0089278/awards/?ref_=nm_ql_2