---
name: "Margaret Furse"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/margaret-furse"
roles: ["Costume designer"]
born: "1 January 1911"
died: "8 July 1974"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 75
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T05:13:12.948573+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Margaret Furse

Costume designer. Born 1 January 1911 in England, UK. Died 8 July 1974.

## Details

- **Work:** Costume designer
- **Born:** 1 January 1911, England, UK
- **Died:** 8 July 1974
- **Active:** 1946–1969
- **Also known as:** Alice Margaret Watts
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 5 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 84 (1), 1960s 70 (2)
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, History 2, Romance 2
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $23m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Furse, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q436748, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0299094/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/120929

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*The Lion in Winter*](https://film.one/film/the-lion-in-winter.md) (81)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Margaret Furse (born Alice Margaret Watts) was a British costume designer who worked extensively in film from the 1940s onwards. She trained at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and joined the Motley Theatre Design Group before entering films, initially assisting on Laurence Olivier's *Henry V* (1944).

She is known for her work on period films including *Great Expectations* (1946), *Oliver Twist* (1948), *The Crimson Pirate* (1952), *The Inn of the Sixth Happiness* (1958), *A Shot in the Dark* (1964), *Becket* (1964), *The Lion in Winter* (1968), *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969), *Scrooge* (1970) and *Mary, Queen of Scots* (1971). Furse received an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for *Anne of the Thousand Days* and was nominated for several others, including *The Lion in Winter*. She was posthumously awarded an Emmy for *Love Among the Ruins* (1975).

Furse was married to art director Roger K. Furse from 1936 until their divorce in 1953, and later to author and critic Stephen Watts.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, encyclopedia.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969), Fi1m 60, Costume design, Costume Design — [page](https://film.one/film/anne-of-the-thousand-days.md)
- *The Lion in Winter* (1968), Fi1m 81, Costume design, Costume Design — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-in-winter.md)
- *Great Expectations* (1946), Fi1m 84, Assistant Costume Designer — [page](https://film.one/film/great-expectations.md)

## Complete filmography (32)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Love Among the Ruins* (1976), Costume Design
- *A Delicate Balance* (1973), Costume Design
- *Bequest to the Nation* (1973), Costume Design
- *Mary, Queen of Scots* (1971), Costume Design
- *Scrooge* (1970), Costume Designer
- *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969), Costume Design — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/anne-of-the-thousand-days.md)
- *Sinful Davey* (1969), Costume Design
- *Great Catherine* (1968), Costume Design
- *The Lion in Winter* (1968), Costume Design — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-in-winter.md)
- *The Trap* (1966), Costume Design
- *Cast a Giant Shadow* (1966), Costume Design
- *Young Cassidy* (1965), Costume Design
- *A Shot in the Dark* (1964), Costume Design
- *The Three Lives of Thomasina* (1963), Costume Design
- *In Search of the Castaways* (1962), Costume Design
- *Greyfriars Bobby* (1961), Costume Design
- *The Inn of the Sixth Happiness* (1958), Costume Design
- *Windom's Way* (1957), Costume Design
- *The Secret Place* (1957), Costume Design
- *The Spanish Gardener* (1956), Costume Design
- *The Million Pound Note* (1954), Costume Designer
- *The Master of Ballantrae* (1953), Costume Design
- *The Crimson Pirate* (1952), Costume Design
- *Meet Me Tonight* (1952), Costume Design
- *No Highway in the Sky* (1951), Wardrobe Supervisor
- *Night and the City* (1950), Costume Design
- *Madeleine* (1950), Costume Design
- *The Passionate Friends* (1949), Costume Design
- *Oliver Twist* (1948), Costume Design
- *Blanche Fury* (1948), Assistant Costume Designer
- *Great Expectations* (1946), Assistant Costume Designer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/great-expectations.md)
- *Carnival* (1946), Costume Design

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 5 nominated

- 1972: Best Costume Design (nominated), for *Mary, Queen of Scots*
- 1971: Best Costume Design (nominated), for *Scrooge*
- 1970: Best Costume Design (won), for *Anne of the Thousand Days*
- 1969: Best Costume Design (nominated), for *The Lion in Winter*
- 1965: Best Costume Design, Color (nominated), for *Becket*
- 1952: Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (nominated), for *The Mudlark*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/margaret-furse