Du Bois was born on
Staten Island in New York City, the son of René Pène Du Bois, a banker. He started his career as a costume designer when he was 14, by designing four showgirl costumes for the
Ziegfeld Follies. He went on to design the costumes for the
Broadway revues
Ziegfeld Follies of 1934, his first show and
Ziegfeld Follies of 1936. During the Great Depression, Du Bois worked as an artist for the
Index of American Design, contributing sixteen watercolors in the collections of the National Gallery of Art. Du Bois designed the costumes and/or the scenery for some 48 Broadway shows. Starting in 1934 with the
Ziegfeld Follies of 1934, he was the scenic designer for ''
John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953), costume designer for The Music Man (1957) and his last show as a designer, Reggae
in 1980; his designs were used in Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989. Among his work was Gypsy'' (1959) and many other musicals starring
Ethel Merman. He worked on
Billy Rose's Aquacade for the New York World's Fair (1939–40). He won the 1971
Tony Award and
Drama Desk Award, Best Costume Design for
No, No, Nanette and the 1953 Tony Award, Best Scenic Design, for
Wonderful Town and was nominated for the Tony Award, Costume Design, for
Sugar Babies (1980),
Doctor Jazz (1975) and
Gypsy (1960), and for scenic design for
The Student Gypsy (1964). ==Personal life==