Ray Aghayan | Costume designer, 83

Ray Aghayan, 83, an Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated costume designer whose credits included more than a dozen Academy Awards shows and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, died Monday at his home in Los Angeles.

In a career that spanned television, film, and Broadway, the Iranian-born Mr. Aghayan designed costumes for such stars as Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dinah Shore, Julie Andrews, Carol Channing, and Doris Day.

"He was a darling man, and I loved working with him on my films," Day said in a statement. "He designed some beautiful gowns for me in classic, timeless styles."

A onetime stage actor, director, and producer, Mr. Aghayan launched his career as a television costume designer for Matinee Theatre in 1957 and went on to design the costumes for two Fred Astaire TV specials and other shows.

Mr. Aghayan, who was also costume designer for Garland's 1963-64 musical-variety show, was instrumental in persuading the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to recognize the contributions of costume designers - and he and Bob Mackie shared the first Emmy ever awarded for costume design, in 1967 for Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Mr. Aghayan received six more Emmy nominations and shared an Emmy in 1987 with Ret Turner for Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues. He won his third Emmy in 1992 for the 64th Annual Academy Awards.

For his work in films, he received three Oscar nominations: for Gaily, Gaily in 1970, for Lady Sings the Blues in 1973 (shared with Mackie and Norma Koch), and for Funny Lady in 1976 (shared with Mackie).

Mr. Aghayan also worked as a costume designer for Broadway productions and received a Tony Award nomination in 1970 for Applause.

As costume designer for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics, Mr. Aghayan created 50 designs multiplied, as the Los Angeles Times reported at the time, "into some 11,000 costumes, most of which will be unveiled at Saturday's three-hour [opening] extravaganza in the Coliseum."

In 2008, Mr. Aghayan was honored by the Costume Designers Guild Local 892 with a Career Achievement in Television Award.

Of Armenian descent, Mr. Aghayan was born in Tehran, where his mother was a designer of haute couture. - Los Angeles Times