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Ruth E. Carter

Costume & Make-Up

Born April 10, 1960 · Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

Also known as Ruth Carter · Ruthe Carter

Biography

Ruth E. Carter (born April 10, 1960) is an American costume designer for film and television. She is best known for her collaborations with Spike Lee, John Singleton, and Ryan Coogler. During her film career, Carter has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, for her work on Lee's biographical film Malcolm X (1992), Steven Spielberg's historical drama film Amistad (1997), and won twice for Coogler's Marvel superhero films Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022); becoming the first African-American to win and be nominated for Best Costume Design. She was nominated for a fifth time for her work in Coogler's Sinners (2025), breaking the record for most-nominated Black woman in Oscar history. Her other film credits include Do the Right Thing(1989), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Love & Basketball (2000), Serenity (2005), The Butler (2013), Selma (2014), Marshall (2017), Dolemite Is My Name (2019), and Coming 2 America (2021). She also received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Period Costumes for a Limited Series for her work on the 2016 miniseries Roots. Carter is the recipient of the Career Achievement Award from the Costume Designers Guild Awards, in addition to receiving two competitive awards from the organisation. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ruth E. Carter, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Academy AwardBest Costume Design · 2023
  • Academy AwardBest Costume Design · 2019
  • star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Academy AwardBest Costume Design · 2023 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Costume Design · 1998 · nominated
Show all 7 awards →
  • Academy AwardBest Costume Design · 1993 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Costume Design · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

2014Costume Designer

Seinfeld

1989Costume Design

Abstract: The Art of Design

2017as Self

Do the Right Thing

1989Costume Design

Malcolm X

1992Costume Design

Sinners

2025Costume Design

The Best of Me

2014Costume Design

Black Panther

2018Costume Design

Selma

2014Costume Design

Serenity

2005Costume Design

Marshall

2017Costume Design

The Butler

2013Costume Design

Love & Basketball

2000Costume Design

The Five Heartbeats

1991Costume Design

Black Dynamite

2009Costume Design

Baby Boy

2001Costume Design

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

2022Costume Design

Dolemite Is My Name

2019Costume Designer

Amistad

1997Costume Design

What's Love Got to Do with It

1993Costume Design

Roots

2016Costume Design

Teen Beach Movie

2013Costume Design

Four Brothers

2005Costume Design

Crooklyn

1994Costume Design

Bring It On: Fight to the Finish

2009Costume Designer

Clockers

1995Costume Design

Summer of Sam

1999Costume Design

Rosewood

1997Costume Design

Mo' Better Blues

1990Costume Design

The Pickup

2025Costume Design

Jungle Fever

1991Costume Design

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

1988Costume Design

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

2023as Self

Coming 2 America

2021Costume Design

Bamboozled

2000Costume Design

Kidnap

2017Costume Designer

Sparkle

2012Costume Design

Keeping Up with the Joneses

2016Costume Design

Surviving the Game

1994Costume Design

Imagine That

2009Costume Design

Shaft

2000Costume Design

Above Suspicion

2019Costume Design

Oldboy

2013Costume Design

Frankie & Alice

2010Costume Design

Daddy Day Care

2003Costume Design

Money Train

1995Costume Design

Abduction

2011Costume Designer

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

1998Costume Design

To Tell the Truth

2016as Self - Costume Designer for Black Panther

Chi-Raq

2015Costume Design