The Buchtel High School graduate is just the second person in history to win both an Oscar and a Tony for costume design in the same year.
CLEVELAND — It’s been quite the year for Akron native Paul Tazewell.
After becoming the first Black man to win an Academy Award for costume design, he achieved another remarkable feat on Sunday night by becoming only the second person ever to win both an Oscar and a Tony Award for costume design in the same year.
He received the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Musical for his outstanding work on “Death Becomes Her,” the highly acclaimed Broadway adaptation of Robert Zemeckis’ 1992 film. This marked Tazewell’s second win in the category, with his previous victory coming in 2016 for his work on “Hamilton.”
“The Black, queer, little boy, in Akron, Ohio, had no idea that in 2025, he would have the year that he had,” Tazewell said in his acceptance speech.
Tazewell was widely considered the favorite to win leading up to the ceremony, receiving praise from critics for his contributions to the popular comedy “Death Becomes Her.” His intricate and lavish costume designs for stars Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard, which cleverly mirror their characters’ near-fatal injuries, have garnered particular acclaim.
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Tazewell, 60, was honored at the 97th Academy Awards for another musical: Universal’s blockbuster stage-to-screen “Wicked” film starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. He has a chance at winning his second Oscar as soon as next year, when the sequel “Wicked: For Good” is expected to draw nominations again.
In addition to a raft of honors including Critics’ Choice, BAFTA and multiple Drama Desk wins, Tazewell won an Emmy Award in 2016 for NBC’s “The Wiz Live!” That means with an Emmy, Oscar and Tony already in hand, he’s a Grammy away from the elusive EGOT. (Of course, it would be somewhat implausible for a costume designer to win an award for recording artists, but stranger things have happened.)
For those who’d like to see Tazewell’s Tony-winning designs in person and can’t make it to New York’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, “Death Becomes Her” is launching its North American tour in Cleveland next year. The highest-grossing new musical on Broadway this year will set up shop for a few weeks of rehearsals in Northeast Ohio for before beginning its run at Playhouse Square in Fall 2026.
