Michelle Thompson Dies: Costume Designer On ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’, ‘Jungleland’ & More Was 40

Erik Pedersen
·3-min read
Michelle Thompson Dies: Costume Designer On ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’, ‘Jungleland’ & More Was 40

Michelle Thompson, a costume designer and stylist with dozens of credits including Cha Cha Real Smooth, Jungleland and TV’s Threads, died Monday of breast cancer at her Seattle home. She was 40.

Her family revealed the news on Thompson’s Instagram page, saying in part: “She was a mother, a friend, an artist, and a fighter. … Safe travels Michelle, come visit us often if you can.” See the full post below.

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Thompson’s costume designer film credits also include The President’s Sun and The Diabolical along with numerous short films featuring the likes of Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani and Kevin Bacon. She also worked on such TV series as Cruel Summer and Tales of Titans and on music videos for the British alt-rock band Placebo.

A Costume Designers Guild member who also went by Michelle Lee Thompson, she was a stylist and/or costumer music videos for Childish Gambino’s “Sober” and Pierce the Veil’s “Bulls in the Bronx,” Christopher Guest’s Loudon Wainwright III: Surviving Twin, the 2013 feature Abducted, and others.

Thompson also worked with brand clients including Apple, Hennessey, The Venetian and Indeed.

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Thompson posted in August about her cancer diagnosis. “In 2022, while 18 weeks pregnant with my son Sasha, I was diagnosed with early stage 2B HR+ breast cancer. Which I caught on my own. [Husband] Cosimo and I made the decision to keep the baby and weather the treatments with him in my tummy,” she wrote. “I finished active treatment on Cosimo’s Birthday and we celebrated as best we could. I kept very private as something that challenging kept me really close to my family and with just enough energy to raise a newborn. … But unfortunately for me, we found out last month my breast cancer came back and it came back more aggressive and TPN. I am entering into an even scarier battle again.”

Max Winkler, who worked with Thompson on his films Jungleland and Flower, paid tribute to her in a statement to Deadline.

“Michelle’s work seemed so effortless and yet I’m unable to think of anyone who worked harder. No one stayed later, went to more thrift stores, garage sales, crossed state lines to go to more swap meets looking for the perfect piece of clothing that would help an actor totally unlock their character. I watched it countless times. A jacket, a pair of sunglasses, a perfect tank top, a worn in pair of Asics. Michelle’s taste was unmatched. She was just inherently cool.

“Although at first quiet and always private, her sense of humor was both sophisticated and goofy. She simply observed everything even without saying it out loud and then would put that into her storytelling.

“Michelle was a pure artist and a deeply good human being with a tremendous heart. None of this is fair. Today, I’m struggling to find meaning in any of it. I do know she was very proud of her work and I’m certain it will stand the test of time, however there was nothing more important to her and her legacy than her husband Cosimo and their beautiful son Sasha who Michelle’s incredible spirit and light will continue to live on through.”

Thompson is survived by her husband, Cosimo Galluzzi, and their young son Sasha.

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A post shared by Michelle Lee Thompson (@michellethompson)

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