The Gwen Wakeling costume design drawings span the years 1931-1966 (bulk late 1950s-1960s). The collection encompasses less than 1 linear foot of manuscripts and 993 costume design drawings and other artwork. The material covers Wakeling's freelance film career from as early as 1931, and her theater and television career from the late 1950s through the 1960s. The collection contains 195 drawings for films, 86 for television, and 268 for stage productions. There are more than 400 unidentified drawings. The material includes drawings from the following film titles: COVER GIRL (1944), FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (1966), RINGS ON HER FINGERS (1942), and SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949). Television titles represented include: I DREAM OF JEANNIE (1965-1970) and SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S STORYBOOK (1958-1961). Stage titles include: "Diamond Lil," "Kiss Me Kate," "Show Boat," and "The Student Prince."

Gwen Wakeling (1901-1982) was born in Detroit. Her father's work as a mining engineer caused the family to move every few years. Wakeling attended primary and secondary schools in Seattle; San Francisco; Prescott, Arizona; Los Angeles; Berkeley; and Oakland. After graduating from high school, her first job was as a fashion artist for a department store. Wakeling went on to work for Cecil B. DeMille at both Pathé and Paramount Studios and was head costume designer at Fox Studios from 1933 to 1942. A turning point in her career occurred in about 1941 with a death in her family and her own serious illness due to a ruptured appendix. The next year she left Fox, went freelance, and married writer-director Henry J. Staudigl in Arlington, Virginia. Wakeling was a charter member of the Costume Designers Guild. She also designed clothes for celebrity clientele and commercial use. In the 1960s she worked on numerous Los Angeles Civic Light Opera productions. Wakeling received an Academy Award for color costume design for SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949).