Elizabeth Harding-Wilkins – known to most as Lizzie –was an Emmy Award-nominated designer and builder of costumes, props, puppets and special effects.
She was born on October 30, 1957 in Norfolk, England. The youngest of three children, Lizzie grew up in the village of Cawston and got her first job in the theater at 15, working at Norwich Theater Royal as a dresser at the annual Christmas pantomime. After graduating secondary school, she studied design and costuming, working with the Glyndebourne Opera Company in Sussex, England and Scottish Opera in Glasgow. She moved to London to enroll at the Central School of Art and Design and then the Wimbledon School of Art, where she received a degree in Theatre Design.
Lizzie was a costumer for the National Theatre of Great Britain, Royal Opera House, National Zurich Opera and Munich Opera and taught at the Old Vic Theatre in London before moving to the United States in 1980 to become an Adjunct Lecturer at Columbia University School of Theatre.
In New York, Lizzie worked with costume designer Barbara Matera and was soon behind the scenes on Broadway. Credits include costumes for Harvey Fierstein’s "La Cage Aux Folles" (1983 Tony Award for Theona Aldridge’s Costume Design), Sondheim’s "Sunday in the Park With George" (1984 Tony and Drama Desk Nominations for designers Patricia Zipprodt and Ann Hould-Ward), the original NY production of "Phantom of the Opera" with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, and New York Shakespeare Festival, New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She was also a costumer for The Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels Tour in 1980 and Elton John’s World Tour in 1986, and built scenery for Barbara Streisand’s "Timeless" Millennium Tour in 1999-2000.
Beginning in the late 80s, she began a long-term working relationship with the Jim Henson Company, building muppet characters, full body costumes and structures for "Sesame Street Live," and designing creatures and props for TV’s The Jim Henson Hour (receiving a 1989 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Costume Design for “Dog City” - Jim Henson won for directing the episode) and later, the series Dinosaurs. She traveled to Japan to work on Sesame Place theme parks in Tokyo and the 1990 World’s Fair in Osaka.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1991, Lizzie continued to build and design costumes, special effects, scenic finishes, and puppets for television shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Voyager, Grace Under Fire, various Jim Henson series (familiar figures include Miss Piggy and Kermit), as well as for numerous commercials.
Film work includes “Spy Hard,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Return of the Jedi,” “Bonfire of the Vanities,” “Batman,” “The Doors,” “The Cotton Club” and “Spawn,” designing and fabricating the film’s signature motorcycle transformation.
Through her company An Eye 4 Detail and with George & Goldberg Design Associates, Lizzie also produced models and miniatures, toy prototypes and worked on live action events and theme parks for the MGM Grand, Landmark Entertainment in Thailand, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Mattel, Walt Disney, Universal, Caesar’s Palace and other organizations.
