Rosemary Joyce Vercoe: A Legacy of Costume and Collaboration Rosemary Joyce Vercoe (29 April 1917 – 28 July 2013) was a British actress and costume designer, whose enduring contribution to opera and theatre stemmed from her profound understanding of historical detail and her ability to breathe life into period costumes. Born in Ealing, London, the second child of Richard Herbert Vercoe and Elizabeth Skinner, she possessed an early fascination with art fostered by teachers like Graham Sutherland and Henry Moore at Chelsea School of Art—institutions that instilled a meticulous approach to obse…