Patricia Neal
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Patricia Neal | |
---|---|
Born | Patsy Louise Neal January 20, 1926 Packard, Kentucky, U.S. |
Died | August 8, 2010 Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 84)
Resting place | Abbey of Regina Laudis |
Alma mater | Northwestern University |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1945–2010 |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | |
Children | |
Relatives |
|
Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal; January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. She is well known for, among other roles, playing World War II widow Helen Benson in
Early life and education
Neal was born in Packard, Whitley County, Kentucky, to William Burdette Neal and Eura Mildred (née Petrey) Neal. She had two siblings.[1][2]
Neal grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she attended Knoxville High School,[3] and studied drama at Northwestern, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. At Northwestern, she was crowned Syllabus Queen in a campus-wide beauty pageant.[4]
Career
Neal gained her first job in New York as an understudy in the Broadway production of the John Van Druten play The Voice of the Turtle. Next, she appeared in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest (1946), winning the 1947 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, in the first presentation of the Tony awards.[1]
Neal made her film debut with Ronald Reagan in John Loves Mary, followed by another role with Reagan in The Hasty Heart, and then The Fountainhead (all 1949). The shooting of the last film coincided with her affair with her married co-star, Gary Cooper, with whom she worked again in Bright Leaf (1950).
Neal starred with
While in New York, Neal became a member of the Actors Studio. Based on connections with other members, she subsequently co-starred in the film A Face in the Crowd (1957, directed by Elia Kazan), the play The Miracle Worker (1959, directed by Arthur Penn), the film Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and the film Hud (1963), directed by Martin Ritt and starring Paul Newman. During the same period, she appeared on television in an episode of The Play of the Week (1960), featuring an Actors Studio-dominated cast in a double bill of plays by August Strindberg,[5] and in a British production of Clifford Odets' Clash by Night (1959), which co-starred one of the first generation of Actors Studio members, Nehemiah Persoff.[6]
Neal won the
Neal was re-united with John Wayne in
Neal appeared in a series of television commercials in the 1970s and 1980s, notably for pain relief medicine Anacin and Maxim instant coffee.
Neal played the
Having won a
Neal was inducted into the
Personal life
During the filming of The Fountainhead (1949), Neal began an affair with her married co-star Gary Cooper, whom she had met in 1947 when she was 21 and he was 46.[10] At one point in their relationship, Cooper hit her in the face after he caught Kirk Douglas trying to seduce her.[11] During this time, she was a Democrat who supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.[12]
Neal met British writer
- Olivia Twenty(1955–1962);
- Chantal Sophia "Tessa" (born 1957), who became an author, and mother of author, cookbook writer and former model Sophie Dahl
- Theo Matthew(born 1960);
- Ophelia Magdalena (born 1964);
- Lucy Neal (born 1965).[14]
On December 5, 1960, their son Theo, four months old, suffered brain damage when his baby carriage was struck by a taxicab in New York City. In May 1961, the family returned to
Neal was a heavy smoker.
In 1983, following Dahl's 11-year affair with Felicity D'Abreu,[21] a set designer he met when she worked with Neal on a Maxim Coffee advertisement, Neal's marriage ended in divorce.[22] She returned to live in the US. In her autobiography, As I Am (1988), Neal wrote: "A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug."[23]
Legacy
In 1978, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville dedicated the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center in her honor. The center provides intense treatment for stroke, spinal cord, and brain injury patients. It serves as part of Neal's advocacy for paralysis victims. She regularly visited the center in Knoxville, providing encouragement to its patients and staff. Neal appeared as the center's spokeswoman in advertisements until her death.[24]
Death
Neal died at her home in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on August 8, 2010, from lung cancer. She was 84 years old.[25]
She had become a Catholic four months before she died[26] and was buried in the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, where the actress Dolores Hart, her friend since the early 1960s, had become a nun and ultimately prioress. Neal had been a longtime supporter of the abbey's open-air theatre and arts program.[27]
Filmography
Film
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1949 | John Loves Mary | Mary McKinley | |
The Fountainhead | Dominique Francon | ||
It's a Great Feeling | Herself | cameo | |
The Hasty Heart | Sister Parker | ||
1950 | Bright Leaf | Margaret Jane Singleton | |
The Breaking Point | Leona Charles | ||
Three Secrets | Phyllis Horn | ||
1951 | Operation Pacific | Lt. (j. g.) Mary Stuart | |
Raton Pass | Ann Challon | ||
The Day the Earth Stood Still | Helen Benson | ||
Week-End with Father | Jean Bowen | ||
1952 | Diplomatic Courier | Joan Ross | |
Washington Story | Alice Kingsley | ||
Something for the Birds | Anne Richards | ||
1954 | Stranger from Venus | Susan North | |
La tua donna | Countess Germana De Torri | ||
1957 | A Face in the Crowd | Marcia Jeffries | |
1961 | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Mrs. Emily Eustace "2E" Failenson | |
1963 | Hud | Alma Brown | Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
1964 | Psyche 59 | Alison Crawford | |
1965 | In Harm's Way | Lt. Maggie Haynes | BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role |
1968 | The Subject Was Roses | Nettie Cleary | Nominated— Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance
|
1971 | The Night Digger | Maura Prince | |
1973 | Baxter! | Dr. Roberta Clemm | |
Happy Mother's Day, Love George | Cara | also starring Tessa Dahl | |
1975 | Hay que matar a B. | Julia | |
1977 | Nido de Viudas | Lupe | US title: Widow's Nest |
1979 | The Passage | Mrs. Bergson | |
1981 | Ghost Story | Stella Hawthorne | |
1989 | An Unremarkable Life | Frances McEllany | |
1999 | Cookie's Fortune | Jewel Mae "Cookie" Orcutt | Nominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress |
2009 | Flying By | Margie | Final film role |
Television
Year | Project | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1954 | Goodyear Playhouse
|
episode: Spring Reunion | |
1958 | Suspicion | Paula Elgin | episode: Someone Is After Me |
1957–1958 | Playhouse 90 | Rena Menken Margaret |
episode: The Gentleman from Seventh Avenue episode: The Playroom |
1954–1958 | Studio One in Hollywood
|
Caroline Mann Miriam Leslie |
episode: Tide of Corruption episode: A Handful of Diamonds |
1958 | Pursuit | Mrs. Conrad | episode: The Silent Night |
1959 | Rendezvous | Kate Merlin | episode: London-New York |
Clash by Night | Mia Wilenski | ||
1960 | The Play of the Week | Mistress Grace Wilson |
episode: Strindberg on Love episode: The Magic and the Loss |
1961 | Special for Women: Mother and Daughter | Ruth Evans | |
1962 | Drama 61-67 | Beebee Fenstermaker | episode: Drama '62: The Days and Nights of Beebee |
Checkmate | Fran Davis | episode: The Yacht-Club Gang | |
The Untouchables | Maggie Storm | episode: The Maggie Storm Story | |
Westinghouse Presents: That's Where the Town Is Going | Ruby Sills | ||
Winter Journey | Georgie Elgin | ||
Zero One | Margo | episode: Return Trip | |
1963 | Ben Casey | Dr. Louise Chapelle | episode: My Enemy Is a Bright Green Sparrow |
Espionage | Jeanne | episode: The Weakling | |
1971 | The Homecoming: A Christmas Story | Olivia Walton | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role |
1972 | Circle of Fear
|
Ellen Alexander | episode: Time of Terror |
1974 | Kung Fu
|
Sara Kingsley | episode: Blood of Dragon |
Things in Their Season | Peg Gerlach | ||
1975 | Eric | Lois Swensen | TV movie |
Little House on the Prairie | Julia Sanderson | episode: Remember Me | |
Movin' On | Maddie | episode: Prosperity #1 | |
1976 | The American Woman: Portraits of Courage | Narrator | |
1977 | Tail Gunner Joe | Sen. Margaret Chase Smith | Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Special |
1978 | A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story | Mrs. Gehrig | |
The Bastard
|
Marie Charboneau | ||
1979 | All Quiet on the Western Front | Paul's Mother | Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special |
1984 | Glitter | Madame Lil | episode: Pilot |
Love Leads the Way: A True Story | Mrs. Frank | TV movie | |
Shattered Vows | Sister Carmelita | TV movie | |
1990 | Caroline? | Miss Trollope | TV movie |
Murder, She Wrote | Milena Maryska | episode: Murder in F Sharp | |
1992 | A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story | Antonia Morgan | |
1993 | Heidi | Grandmother |
Stage
Run | Play | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
November 20, 1946 – April 26, 1947 | Another Part of the Forest | Regina Hubbard | Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play Theatre World Award |
December 18, 1952 – May 30, 1953 | The Children's Hour | Martha Dobie | |
October 17, 1955 – December 31, 1955 | A Roomful of Roses | Nancy Fallon | |
October 19, 1959 – July 1, 1961 | The Miracle Worker | Kate Keller |
Bibliography
- Encyclopedia of Kentucky. ISBN 0-403-09981-1.
- Neal, Patricia (1988). As I Am: An Autobiography. ISBN 0-671-62501-2.
- Shearer, Stephen Michael (2006). Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2391-7.
References
- ^ a b c Aston-Wash, Barbara; Pickle, Betsy (August 8, 2010). "Knoxville friends mourn loss of iconic actress Patricia Neal". Knoxnews.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
- ^ Pylant, James (2010). "Patricia Neal's Deep Roots in the Bluegrass State". GenealogyMagazine.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
- ^ John Shearer, Famous alumni from Knoxville High School, Knoxville News Sentinel, May 28, 2010.
- ^ Canning Blackwell, Elizabeth (March 10, 2013). "Reel Life". northwestern.edu. University Archives. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- ^ ""Play of the Week" Strindberg on Love (TV Episode 1960)". IMDb. February 25, 1960.
- ^ Tom Goldie: "Tom Goldie's Telenews: Steel on Your Screen," The Times (Tuesday, July 7, 1959), p. 8. "Producer John Jacobs had a hard time filling the role of the husband. He wanted Ernest Borgnine, or Karl Malden, or Anthony Quinn, but none of them was available. Then he saw Persoff playing a featured role in the film, Al Capone, and promptly invited him to come over from America specially for Clash by Night.
- ^ Bernstein, Adam (August 10, 2010). "Patricia Neal dies: Oscar winning star of 'Hud' was 84". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
- ^ "Danamar Productions". Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
- ^ "Theater honors put women in the spotlight". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- ^ Wendy Smith (July 9, 2006). "Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life". Variety.
- ^ Meyer, Jeffrey Gary Cooper: American Hero (1998)
- ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
- ISBN 978-0-00-725476-7.
- ^ "'Dad also needed happy dreams': Roald Dahl, his daughters and the BFG". The Daily Telegraph. August 6, 2010. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Roald Dahl on the death of his daughter". No. February 3, 2015. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022.
- ^ People's Magazine, online reprint on Roald Dahl Fan Site
- ^ "Hugh Bonneville becomes Roald Dahl in first look trailer for 'To Olivia'". December 24, 2020.
- ^ Corliss, Richard (August 11, 2010). "A Life of Tragedy and Triumph: Patricia Neal (1926–2010)". Time – via content.time.com.
- ^ "Big Sometimes Friendly Giant". NYMag.com. September 3, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- ^ David Thomson (August 9, 2010). "Patricia Neal: a beauty that cut like a knife". The Guardian. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ "We thought we could keep our affair secret, says Roald Dahl's second wife". November 12, 2008.
- Knight-Ridder. October 24, 1983. Retrieved April 12, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Ronald Bergan (August 9, 2010). "Patricia Neal: Obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ISBN 9780313345654. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- NPR. August 9, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- ^ Me and Miss Neal, The Globe and Mail, August 13, 2010.
- ^ Drake, Tim (August 25, 2010). "Mother Dolores Hart Talks About Patricia Neal, Gary Cooper". National Catholic Register. EWTN News, Inc. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
Four months ago, when she was hospitalized with her illness, she called me and said she wanted to be a Catholic. She made the step at that time. She had waited a long time and finally threw in her towel on March 30, 2010.
External links
- Patricia Neal at the Internet Broadway Database
- Patricia Neal at IMDb
- Patricia Neal at the TCM Movie Database
- Death Announcement for Patricia Neal on YouTube
- Patricia Neal papers at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio Audio collection
- Patricia Neal profile at Allmovie
- Patricia Neal interview on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs, August 19, 1988