Bob Mackie’s death certificate lists a subarachnoid hemorrhage and blunt head trauma as his immediate cause of death, according to Us Weekly, which obtained the document on October 9.
The costume designer died September 14 at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California. He was 87.
At the time, his representative told PEOPLE that Mackie had died from pneumonia.
Mackie spent more than five decades designing for performers including Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Elton John and Barbra Streisand. His costumes appeared on television, concert stages, movie screens and Broadway.
Mackie Was Staying in His Design Director’s Guest House
The certificate records a fall on September 11 at the home of Joseph McFate, Mackie’s longtime design director. A representative told Us that Mackie was staying in the property’s guest house and that a healthcare professional was with him when he fell.
“He was also suffering from pneumonia both before and after his hospitalization,” the representative told Entertainment Weekly. The document also records that Mackie was cremated September 17. His remains were later scattered at sea off the coast of San Diego County.
Cher and Carol Burnett Shared Personal Tributes
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The announcement on Mackie’s official Instagram account described fashion and costume design as the work he had always wanted to do. His team said his creations would continue bringing beauty into the world.
Cher remembered her longtime friend on X by imagining him arriving in heaven with his “Sequins, Beads, & his sketch pad.” She signed off by calling him her “sweet Prince.”
“Sadness doesn’t come close to how I feel. I loved him very much,” Burnett wrote on Instagram, according to TV Insider. She praised Mackie’s ability to excel at both fashion and costume design, fields she noted were often treated as separate specialties.
Mackie Put the Curtain Rod in Burnett’s Famous Dress
Mackie designed costumes for all 11 seasons of The Carol Burnett Show and worked on its spinoff, Mama’s Family, according to the Television Academy.
In Vogue’s 2019 oral history, Burnett recalled that the Gone With the Wind parody originally called for her to walk downstairs with draperies hanging from her body. Mackie added the curtain rod to the costume.
For Mrs. Wiggins, a character originally conceived as an older woman, Mackie supplied a blond wig, high heels and a tight skirt. Burnett said his instructions on how to fill out the skirt helped create the secretary’s posture and walk.
“Anytime you get a good laugh, you’re happy,” Mackie said during an October 2024 Newport Beach Film Festival discussion with Burnett, as reported by PEOPLE. He donated the curtain dress to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Mackie Won a Tony for The Cher Show
Mackie accompanied Cher to the 1974 Met Gala, where she wore his sheer beaded gown with white feathers. He also created the black beaded outfit and towering feathered headdress she wore to the 1986 Oscars, along with the gown she wore when she won best actress for Moonstruck two years later.
“You don’t try to change anybody, you just try to make them look better than ever,” Mackie told The Associated Press in 2018. He returned to Cher’s wardrobe for The Cher Show, winning the 2019 Tony Award for best costume design of a musical. His other honors included nine Emmys and three Academy Award nominations.
Mackie later became the subject of Matthew Miele’s documentary Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion. The Paley Center presented its world premiere in Los Angeles on May 13, 2024, with Cher, Burnett, RuPaul and Pink among those attending.