Colleen Dewhurst | |
---|---|
Born | Colleen Rose Dewhurst June 3, 1924 Montreal, Quebec |
Died | August 22, 1991 67) South Salem, New York, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1952–1991 |
Spouses |
|
Partner | Ken Marsolais (1975–1991; her death) |
Children | 2, including Campbell Scott |
Awards | |
11th President of the Actors' Equity Association | |
In office 1985 –1991 (died in the office) | |
Preceded by | Ellen Burstyn |
Succeeded by | Ron Silver |
Colleen Rose Dewhurst (June 3,1924 –August 22,1991) was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles. She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage,and her career also encompassed film,early dramas on live television,and performances in Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. One of her last roles was playing Marilla Cuthbert in the Kevin Sullivan television adaptations of the Anne of Green Gables series and her reprisal of the role in the subsequent TV series Road to Avonlea . In the United States,Dewhurst won two Tony Awards and four Emmy Awards for her stage and television work. In addition to other Canadian honors over the years,Dewhurst won two Gemini Awards (the former Canadian equivalent of an Emmy Award) for her portrayal of Marilla Cuthbert;once in 1986 and again in 1988. It is arguably her best known role because of the Kevin Sullivan produced series’ continuing popularity and also the initial co-production by the CBC;allowing for rebroadcasts over the years on it,and also on PBS in the United States. The initial broadcast alone was seen by millions of viewers. [1]
Dewhurst was born June 3,1924,in Montreal,Quebec,the only child of Frances Marie (nee Woods) and Ferdinand Augustus "Fred" Dewhurst. Fred Dewhurst was the owner of a chain of confectionery stores and had been a celebrated athlete in Canada,where he had played football with the Ottawa Rough Riders. [2] The family became naturalized as U.S. citizens before 1940. Colleen Dewhurst's mother was a Christian Scientist,a faith Colleen also embraced. [3]
The Dewhursts moved to Massachusetts in 1928 or 1929,staying in the Boston area neighborhoods of Dorchester,Auburndale,and West Newton. Later they moved to New York City and then to Whitefish Bay,Wisconsin. Dewhurst attended Whitefish Bay High School for her first two years of high school,moved to Shorewood High School for her junior year,and graduated from Riverside High School in Milwaukee in 1942. About this time her parents separated. Dewhurst attended Milwaukee-Downer College for two years,then moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. [4]
One of her more significant stage roles was in the 1974 Broadway revival of O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten as Josie Hogan,for which she won a Tony Award. She previously won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in 1961 for All the Way Home . She later played Katharina in a 1956 production of Taming of the Shrew for Joseph Papp. She (as recounted in her posthumous obituary in collaboration with Tom Viola) wrote:
With Brooks Atkinson's blessing,our world changed overnight. Suddenly in our audience of neighbors in T-shirts and jeans appeared men in white shirts,jackets and ties and ladies in summer dresses. We were in a hit that would have a positive effect on my career,as well as Joe's,but I missed the shouting. [5]
She played Shakespeare's Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth for Papp and years later,Gertrude in a production of Hamlet at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.
She appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode Night Fever in 1965 and with Ingrid Bergman in More Stately Mansions on Broadway in 1967. JoséQuintero directed her in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Mourning Becomes Electra . She appeared in Edward Albee's adaptation of Carson McCullers' Ballad of the Sad Cafe and as Martha in a Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ,with Ben Gazzara which Albee directed.
She appeared in 1962 as Joanne Novak in the episode "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted House" in the medical drama The Eleventh Hour ,starring Wendell Corey and Jack Ging. Dewhurst appeared opposite her then husband,Scott,in a 1971 television adaptation of Arthur Miller's The Price ,on Hallmark Hall of Fame ,and an anthology series. There is another television recording of them together when she played Elizabeth Proctor to the unfaithful John in Miller's The Crucible (with Tuesday Weld). In 1977,Woody Allen cast her in his film Annie Hall as Annie's mother.
In her autobiography,Dewhurst wrote:"I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known,at one point,as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'. This title was not due to my brilliance,but,rather,because most of the plays I was in closed after a run of anywhere from one night to two weeks. I would then move immediately into another." [5]
In 1972 she played a madam,Mrs. Kate Collingwood,in The Cowboys (1972),which starred John Wayne. Dewhurst also appeared with Wayne in the 1974 film McQ . She was the first actress to share a love scene with Wayne in bed. In 1985,she played the role of Marilla Cuthbert in Kevin Sullivan's adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables and reprised the role in 1987's Anne of Avonlea (also known as Anne of Green Gables:The Sequel) and in several episodes of Kevin Sullivan's Road to Avonlea .
Dewhurst was on hiatus from Road to Avonlea when she died in 1991. Sullivan Productions was unaware she was terminally ill,so her portrayal of Marilla ended posthumously. This was accomplished by shooting new scenes with actress Patricia Hamilton acting as a body double for Dewhurst and by recycling parts of scenes from Anne of Green Gables,Road to Avonlea,and using Dewhurst's death scene as Hepzibah in Sullivan's production of Lantern Hill . The latter was a 1990 television film based on L.M. Montgomery's Jane of Lantern Hill .
During 1989 and 1990,she appeared in a supporting role on the television series Murphy Brown playing Avery Brown,the feisty mother of Candice Bergen's title character;this role earned her two Emmy Awards,the second being awarded posthumously. Dewhurst won a total of two Tony Awards and four Emmy Awards for her stage and television work. Season 4,Episode 6 entitled "Full Circle" was the Murphy Brown episode filmed shortly after her death and dedicated to her memory.
In a review of Dewhurst's final film role as Ruth in Bed and Breakfast (1991),Emanuel Levy wrote “Bed and Breakfast is the kind of small,intimate picture that actors revere. The stunningly sensual Dewhurst,in one of her last screen roles,dominates every scene she is in,making the lusty and down-to-earth Ruth at once credible and enchanting.“
Dewhurst was president of the Actors' Equity Association from 1985 until her death. She was the first national president to die in the office.
Colleen Dewhurst was married to James Vickery from 1947 to 1960. She married and divorced George C. Scott twice. They had two sons,Alexander Scott and actor Campbell Scott;she co-starred with Campbell in Dying Young (1991),one of her last film roles as she died in August 1991.[ citation needed ]
During the last years of her life she lived on a farm in South Salem,New York,with her partner Ken Marsolais. They also had a summer home on Prince Edward Island,Canada.[ citation needed ]
Maureen Stapleton wrote about Dewhurst:
Colleen looked like a warrior,so people assumed she was the earth mother. But in real life Colleen was not to be let out without a keeper. She couldn't stop herself from taking care of people,which she then did with more care than she took care of herself. Her generosity of spirit was overwhelming and her smile so dazzling that you couldn't pull the ... reins in on her even if you desperately wanted to and knew damn well that somebody should. [5]
Dewhurst's Christian Science beliefs [6] led to her refusal to accept any kind of surgical treatment. She died of cervical cancer at the age 67 at her South Salem home in 1991. She was cremated and her ashes were given to family and friends;no public service was planned.[ citation needed ]
Over the course of her 45-year career,Dewhurst won the 1974 Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre,two Tony Awards,two Obie Awards,and two Gemini Awards. In 1989,she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Hitting Home. Of her 13 Emmy Award nominations,she won four. She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. [7]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1959 | The Nun's Story | Archangel Gabriel (Sanatorium) | |
1960 | Man on a String | Helen Benson | |
1961 | The Foxes | television film | |
1962 | Focus | ||
1966 | A Fine Madness | Dr. Vera Kropotkin | |
1967 | The Crucible | Elizabeth Proctor | television film (adaptation of the play The Crucible ) |
1971 | The Price | Esther Franz | television film |
The Last Run | Monique | ||
1972 | The Cowboys | Kate | |
The Hands of Cormac Joyce | Molly Joyce | television film | |
1973 | Legend in Granite | Marie Lombardi | |
1974 | Parker Addison, Philosopher | Hostess | |
The Music School | |||
McQ | Myra | ||
The Story of Jacob and Joseph | Rebekah | television film | |
1975 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Josie Hogan | television film (adaptation of the play A Moon for the Misbegotten ) |
1977 | Annie Hall | Mrs. Hall | |
1978 | The Third Walker | Kate Maclean | |
Ice Castles | Beulah Smith | ||
1979 | Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story | Mrs. O'Neil | television film |
When a Stranger Calls | Tracy Fuller | ||
And Baby Makes Six | Anna Kramer | television film | |
Mary and Joseph: A Story of Faith | Elizabeth | ||
1980 | Death Penalty | Elaine Lipton | |
Escape | Lily Levinson | ||
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | Mrs. Myrtle Kennedy | miniseries | |
The Women's Room | Val | television film (based on the book The Women's Room ) | |
A Perfect Match | Meg Larson | television film | |
Baby Comes Home | Anna Kramer | ||
Final Assignment | Dr. Valentine Ulanova | ||
Tribute | Gladys Petrelli | ||
1981 | A Few Days in Weasel Creek | Aunt Cora | television film |
1982 | Split Cherry Tree | Mother | |
Between Two Brothers | television film | ||
1983 | Sometimes I Wonder | Grandma | |
The Dead Zone | Henrietta Dodd | ||
1984 | You Can't Take It with You | Grand Duchess Olga Katrina | television film (adaptation of the play You Can't Take It with You ) |
The Glitter Dome | Lorna Dillman | television film | |
1985 | Anne of Green Gables | Marilla Cuthbert | |
1986 | Between Two Women | Barbara Petherton | |
Johnny Bull | Marie Kovacs | ||
As Is | Hospice Worker | ||
The Boy Who Could Fly | Mrs. Sherman | ||
Sword of Gideon | Golda Meir | television film | |
1987 | Hitting Home | Judge | |
Bigfoot | Gladys Samco | ||
Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel | Marilla Cuthbert | ||
1988 | Woman in the Wind | ||
1989 | Those She Left Behind | Margaret Page | television film |
Termini Station | Molly Dushane | ||
1990 | The Exorcist III | Pazuzu | Voice, Uncredited |
Kaleidoscope | Margaret | television film | |
Lantern Hill | Elizabeth | ||
1991 | Dying Young | Estelle Whittier | |
Bed & Breakfast | Ruth Wellesly | final film role | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1957 | Studio One | teleplay: First Prize for Murder | |
1958 | Kraft Television Theatre | teleplay: Presumption of Innocence | |
Decoy | Taffy | episode: "Deadly Corridor" | |
DuPont Show of the Month | teleplay: The Count of Monte Cristo | ||
1959 | Aldonza/Dulcinea | teleplay: I, Don Quixote | |
Play of the Week | Mordeen Saul / Woman | teleplays: Burning Bright ; Medea | |
The United States Steel Hour | Vera Brandon | teleplay: The Hours Before Dawn | |
1961 | Play of the Week | teleplays: No Exit ; The Indifferent Lover | |
Ben Casey | Phyllis Anders | episode: "I Remember a Lemon Tree" | |
1962 | The Eleventh Hour | Joanne Novak | episode: "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted House" |
The Virginian | Celia Ames | episode: "The Executioners" | |
The Nurses | Grace Milo | episode: "Fly, Shadow" | |
1963 | The United States Steel Hour | Francie Broderick | teleplay: Night Run to the West |
DuPont Show of the Month | Karen Holt | teleplay: Something to Hide | |
1964 | East Side/West Side | Shirley | episode: "Nothing but the Half Truth" |
1965 | Dr. Kildare | Eleanor Markham | episode: "All Brides Should Be Beautiful" |
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Nurse Ellen Hatch | episode: "Night Fever" | |
1966 | The F.B.I. | Amy Doucette | episode: "The Baby Sitter" |
The Big Valley | Annie Morton | episode: "A Day of Terror" | |
1971 | ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Mrs. Franz | teleplay: The Price |
Hallmark Hall of Fame | |||
1972 | Molly Joyce | teleplay: The Hands of Cormac Joyce | |
1973 | Wide World Mystery | Margery Landing | episode: "A Prowler in the Heart" |
1979 | Studs Lonigan | Mary Lonigan | miniseries |
1982 | Quincy, M.E. | Dr. Barbara Ludow | episode: "For Love of Joshua" |
The Blue and the Gray | Maggie Geyser | miniseries | |
1983 | Great Performances | Red Queen | teleplay: Alice in Wonderland |
1984 | Finder of Lost Loves | Rachel Green | episode: "Echoes" |
The Love Boat | Maud | episode: "Welcome Aboard: Part 1 and 2" | |
1985 | A.D. | Antonia | miniseries |
1988 | The Twilight Zone | Hallie Parker | episode: "There Was an Old Woman" |
1989 | Moonlighting | Betty Russell | episode: "Take My Wife, for Example" |
1989–1990 | Murphy Brown | Avery Brown Sr. | 3 episodes: -"Brown Like Me: Part 1 and Part II" (1989) -"Mama Said" (1989) -"Bob & Murphy & Ted & Avery (1990) |
1990–1992 | Road to Avonlea | Marilla Cuthbert | 4 episodes: "Of Corsets and Secrets and True, True Love", "The Materializing of Duncan McTavish", "The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's" and "Old Friends New Wounds (Marilla's Death)" |
Year | Play | Role |
---|---|---|
1952 | Desire Under the Elms | Neighbor |
1956 | Tamburlaine the Great | Virgin of Memphis / Turkish Concubine |
1957–1958 | The Country Wife | Mrs. Squeamish |
1960 | Caligula | Caesonia |
1960–1961 | All the Way Home | Mary Follet |
1962 | Great Day in the Morning | Phoebe Flaherty |
1963–1964 | The Ballad of the Sad Café | Miss Amelia Evans |
1967–1968 | More Stately Mansions | Sara |
1970 | The Good Woman of Setzuan | Shen Te |
1971 | All Over | The Mistress |
1972 | Mourning Becomes Electra | Christine Mannon |
1973–1974 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Josie Hogan |
1976 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Martha |
1977–1978 | An Almost Perfect Person | Irene Porter |
1982 | The Queen and the Rebels | Argia |
1983–1984 | You Can't Take It with You | Olga |
1982 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Mary Cavan Tyrone |
Ah, Wilderness! | Essie Miller | |
1989–1990 | Love Letters | Melissa Gardner |
Kim Stanley was an American actress who was primarily active in television and theatre but also had occasional film performances.
Annette Carol Bening is an American actress. With a career spanning over four decades, she is known for her versatile work across screen and stage. Bening has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and nominations for five Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Tony Awards, making her one of few artists nominated for the Triple Crown of Acting without winning.
Road to Avonlea is a Canadian television series first broadcast in Canada between January 7, 1990, and March 31, 1996, as part of the CBC Family Hour anthology series, and in the United States starting on March 5, 1990. It was created by Kevin Sullivan and produced by Sullivan Films in association with the CBC and the Disney Channel, with additional funding from Telefilm Canada. It follows the adventures of Sara Stanley, a young girl sent to live with her relatives in early 20th-century eastern Canada. It was loosely adapted from novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery, with many characters and episodes inspired by her stories.
Dianne Evelyn Wiest is an American actress. She has won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress for 1986's Hannah and Her Sisters and 1994's Bullets Over Broadway, one Golden Globe Award for Bullets Over Broadway, the 1997 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Road to Avonlea, and the 2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for In Treatment. In addition, she was nominated for an Academy Award for 1989's Parenthood.
Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss in 1990, Parker came to prominence for film roles in Grand Canyon (1991), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), The Client (1994), Bullets over Broadway (1994), A Place for Annie (1994), Boys on the Side (1995), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), and The Maker (1997). Among stage and independent film appearances thereafter, Parker received the 2001 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Catherine Llewellyn in David Auburn's Proof, among other accolades. Between 2001 and 2006, she recurred as Amy Gardner in the NBC television series The West Wing, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2002. She received both a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Harper Pitt in the acclaimed HBO television miniseries Angels in America in 2003.
Jean Elizabeth Smart is an American actress. Her work includes both comedy and drama, and her accolades include five Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for a Tony Award and a Grammy Award.
Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 Canadian made-for-television drama film based on the 1908 novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, and is the first in a series of four films. The film stars Megan Follows in the title role of Anne Shirley and was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Iran, Israel, Europe, and Japan.
Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel is a 1987 Canadian television miniseries film. A sequel to the 1985 miniseries Anne of Green Gables, it is based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's novels Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and Anne of Windy Poplars. The story follows Anne Shirley as she leaves Green Gables in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, to teach at a prestigious ladies' college in New Brunswick. The main cast from the original film reprised their roles, including Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Colleen Dewhurst, Patricia Hamilton, and Schuyler Grant.
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award was awarded for acting in a film, on May 16, 1929 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) at the Academy Awards to Janet Gaynor for her role of Diane in 7th Heaven, Angela in Street Angel and The Wife - Indre in Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. In theatre, it was first awarded on April 6, 1947 by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at the Tony Awards to Ingrid Bergman for her role of Mary Grey / Joan of Arc in Joan of Lorraine and to Helen Hayes for her role of Addie in Happy Birthday. In television, it was first awarded on January 23, 1951 by Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the Primetime Emmy Awards to Gertrude Berg for her role of Molly in The Goldbergs. In a film festival, presented as the Volpi Cup, it was first awarded between August 1–20, 1934 by the Venice Film Festival to Katharine Hepburn for her role of Josephine 'Jo' March in Little Women.
Frances Hardman Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth Fisher on the television series Six Feet Under (2001–2005), for which she won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She is also known for playing the older version of Moira O'Hara in season one of the television anthology series American Horror Story, which garnered Conroy her first Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television nomination, and as well a Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Conroy subsequently portrayed The Angel of Death, Myrtle Snow, Gloria Mott, Mama Polk, Bebe Babbitt, and Belle Noir on seven further seasons of the show: Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, and Double Feature, respectively. Conroy is the fourth actor who has appeared in most seasons of the show. For her performance in Coven, she was nominated again for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.
Cherry Jones is an American actress. She started her career in theater as a founding member of the American Repertory Theater in 1980 before transitioning into film and television. Celebrated for her dynamic roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for an Olivier Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Frances Hussey Sternhagen was an American actress. She was known as a character actress who appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on television for over six decades. Sternhagen received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and a Saturn Award, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Prior to 1989, the category was not gender-specific, and, thus, was called Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series. It is given in honor to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a guest-starring role in a television comedy series. The current recipient is Jamie Lee Curtis for The Bear. Since the category change in 1989, a total of 34 actresses were awarded for their performances. The most awarded actress is Cloris Leachman, with 3 wins, followed by Tina Fey, Colleen Dewhurst, Kathryn Joosten, Jean Smart, Tracey Ullman, Betty White, and Maya Rudolph, with 2 wins. These awards, like the other "Guest" awards, were previously not presented at the Primetime Emmy Award ceremony, but, rather, at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony.
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role on a television limited series or television movie for the primetime network season.
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role on a television limited series or television movie for the primetime network season.
Olivia Carlena Cole was an American actress, best known for her Emmy Award-winning role in the 1977 miniseries Roots.
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. The play is a sequel to O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, with the Jim Tyrone character as an older version of Jamie Tyrone. He began drafting the play late in 1941, set it aside after a few months and returned to it a year later, completing the text in 1943 – his final work, as his failing health made it physically impossible for him to write. The play premiered on Broadway in 1957 and has had four Broadway revivals, plus a West End engagement.
The Triple Crown of Acting is a term used in the American entertainment industry to describe actors who have won a competitive Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award in the acting categories, the highest awards recognized in American film, television, and theater, respectively. The term is related to other competitive areas, such as the Triple Crown of horse racing.
The filmography of actress Mare Winningham consists of her acting appearances in feature film, television series appearances, television films, and Winningham's stage credits.