Bob Mackie, who dressed Cher, Carol Burnett, and Tina Turner, died Monday from pneumonia at age 87.
His representative confirmed the death to Fox News Digital. Mackie is survived by his former wife, Lulu Porter, his granddaughter Alyssa Townsend, and great-granddaughters Kyla and Keira Townsend.
“His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world,” his representative said in a statement.
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Mackie built his reputation on sequins, feathers, beads, and an eye for the spectacular. His client list read like a who’s who of American entertainment, including Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Joan Rivers, Bette Midler, and Lucille Ball.
His career began gaining traction after he designed costumes for Mitzi Gaynor. The assignment that truly defined him, though, came when he signed on to costume “The Carol Burnett Show.” He stayed with the variety program for its full 11-season run, and his work became inseparable from the show’s identity.
As originally reported, the National Comedy Center’s Executive Director, Journey Gunderson, spoke directly to Mackie’s impact on the comedy world.
Throughout his extraordinary body of work, Bob Mackie understood the unique power of costume in comedy, to help create a character and become part of the creative energy that drove the comedy itself,” Gunderson told Fox News Digital.
Mackie’s partnership with Cher began on “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour,” and the two remained linked throughout their careers. A video shared on X captured Cher wearing some of Mackie’s most iconic sequin-covered gowns, a reminder of how completely his vision shaped her image.
Gunderson summarized the designer’s reach concisely, noting that his collaborations with Burnett, Cher, Rivers, Midler, and Ball “helped shape some of comedy’s most memorable moments on television and stage.”
Mackie’s creations were never just costumes. They were characters unto themselves, tools that gave performers the visual language to make an audience believe. For more than five decades, the man behind the bedazzled curtain quietly defined what glamour looked like on American television and stage.
Few designers can claim that their work became comedy history. Bob Mackie was one of them.
