An ongoing series where MonsterGirl Jo Gabriel asks various celebrity actor, director, musicians and fellow horror fans one question that’s configured just for them!
Adrienne Barbeau: A Bold New Chapter in 70s Television:
In the 1970s, television actors like Adrienne Barbeau faced significant barriers when transitioning to feature films; no one would consider hiring you, as the prevailing mindset was – why would audiences pay the price of a movie ticket to see an actor when they could just turn on their television and see them at home, for free.
Adrienne had a steady job from July through February every year and worked in New York for eight years prior without having had an agent, but once nominated for a Tony, she signed with Marvin Josephson at the Agency for the Performing Arts who negotiated the deal for Maude.
When she moved to L.A., her journey through various agencies was tumultuous and marked by a series of coincidences. She was told that she should be doing other things than Lear’s television series, like the popular viewing experience at that time, for instance, the movie of the week.
Adrienne meets Johnny Carson for the first time in a 1973 guest appearance.
Adrienne, during her 1976 hiatus from Maude, was now working with the Creative Artists Agency (one of the industry’s most powerful firms at the time). She demanded a commission for a gig opening for Roy Clark at Harrah’s, which she secured directly from Clark’s manager despite the fact that singing engagements were not part of her contract. She changed agencies once again.
Mike Ovitz, the cofounder of Creative Artists Agency (Ovitz transformed the negotiation of major deals in film, TV, music, and corporate media from the 1970s to the 1990s), was a major male chauvinist who considered women – “˜chattel.’ This was another reason she didn’t feel comfortable being represented by CAA.“Every time we spoke on the phone, I hung up, enraged or in tears. He didn’t have a clue, of course.”
Adrienne Barbeau on the gameshow in 1974 hosted Dick Clark with Tony Roberts appear on The $10,000 Pyramid New York NY ABC Studio Elysee Theater – Photo by ABC getty images-1231784707.
The Tonight Show – Adrienne Barbeau, John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope with host Don Rickles: photo by Fred Sabine 1974 NBC UNIVERSAL via Getty Images.
Adrienne started singing again and appearing on live talk shows. Working on The Tonight Show was a big career boost, and she did many interviews with Johnny Carson. Adrienne recounts in her book how the co-originator working on the pre-interview for Carson’s show would scream and put pressure on Adrienne to show up early. It made her break out in hives. However, all the other cohosts, including Roy Clarke and George Carlin, were wonderful. Singing was the hardest part of her various guest appearances. She hadn’t sung since Maude’s telethon episodes or Grease.
Adrienne Barbeau as Daisy in the television biopic The Great Houdini in 1976.
In 1976, Adrienne Barbeau appeared as Daisy White in her first TV movie, The Great Houdini, which is a slight supernatural dramatization of the life and the rise to fame of the iconic magician and escape artist. The movie starred Paul Michael Glaser (80s television’s sensitive action hero cop Dave Starsky) as Harry Houdini and featured Adrienne as his beautiful assistant. This TV movie included Ruth Gordon and Peter Cushing. Adrienne had no scenes with these two great actors, so she didn’t get to spend any time with them. However, she did know Sally Struthers because of her work as Gloria on Norman Lear’s All in the Family. It also features Vivian Vance, who played Ethel Mertz, Lucy’s loyal and comedic sidekick in the iconic comedy series of the 1950s, I Love Lucy.
“The first job they (Creative Artists Agency) got me was Houdini, a TV movie with Paul Michael Glazer and Sally Struthers; I was to play Houdini’s mistress. After I accepted the offer, the agent called back to say they wanted to do a semi-nude scene for the European release. I was so concerned about being shot only from the waist up and no one seeing my big butt that it never dawned on me to ask for more money. The agent didn’t either. Mike Ovitz was one of the partners in the film. This was the 1970s. I was a strong believer in the Equal Rights Amendment.”
from an interview with The Terror Trap in 2010-“It was the first film I had ever done and I knew nothing about film. I had only done stage and tape up until that time. We did Maude the same way you do a stage play. We just rehearsed for 4 1/2 days and then did it for an audience straight through, no stops or anything. So we did the master…the first establishing shot… on Houdini… and I didn’t know that people did close-ups. I went off and started to change clothes to do the next scene! It was my first film experience and a real learning process.”
Adrienne has appeared in many TV movies, particularly Crash in 1978. One of the little details out of so many I found interesting in reading her memoirs was one of the only things that sticks out about working with director Barry Shear on that film. He was a screamer; he constantly yelled at everyone on the set and cursed up a storm. As Veronica Daniels, the shattered stewardess in a minor disaster flick, Adrienne once again shows that she is a very serious actor
“I think I was hired for a Quincy. If anyone is old enough to remember, Quincy, and I played a dramatic role there. Then suddenly, oh ok, she can do drama. She can do comedy. She’s a TV actress, but in 1978, feature producers did not think that anyone would pay to see a television actor on the big screen. So, no movies were coming my way. You know, because she’s on TV.”(from There Are Worse Things I Can Do)
Adrienne met John Carpenter in 1978 when he was casting his first network television film after Warner Bros hired him to write the screenplay and direct Someone’s Watching Me!
Her agent called and told her that this young, up-and-coming director wanted to meet her. She read the script and thought it was one of the best scripts for television that she had read. Adrienne wound up auditioning for the part of Lauren Hutton’s best friend and was offered the role. Carpenter was funny and relaxed, and she instantly felt at ease. There was an instant attraction. Her memoirs include a colorful description of her first meeting and the intense relationship that ensued with John Carpenter. Again, There Are Worse Things I Could Do is a must-read.
“He watched me in Maude, liked the character I played, and was hoping I had her same sensibilities; It was that kind of character he wrote, the Howard Hawks-type woman. Strong, smart, quick, witty. He was nervous it was his first studio film, and he was having to answer to “˜the suits.'” (Pg 14)
In one of director John Carpenter’s earlier works after his first feature film, Dark Star, in 1974, Someone’s Watching Me! 1978 was his television debut. This TV movie is a well-crafted woman-in-peril TV thriller centered on obsession, voyeurism, and the fragility of safety in urban life. It stars Lauren Hutton as Leigh Michaels, the lead heroine, a TV director who is under surveillance by a voyeur who is stalking her in her L.A. high-rise apartment. Originally titled High Rise and filmed in eighteen days, it was also scripted by John Carpenter; it is a bit of a tribute to Hitchcock’s Rear Window 1954 and would showcase a number of the director’s techniques that would emerge in his subsequent films. In particular, his gliding camerawork, point-of-view shots, and unexpected shock cuts.
Someone’s Watching Me! was based on a Sun-Times story called “Terror in a High-Rise” by Paul Galloway and Basil Talbott Jr. The story was about a woman living in a high-rise apartment who believed she was being spied on in her home and threatened by an anonymous stalker, which led to her suicide.
Adrienne Barbeau’s character is somewhat of a transformational role for a made-for-TV movie in 1978 because she is a lesbian who was treated very matter-of-factly. Adrienne ends up getting thrown off her apartment balcony while Lauren Hutton watches helplessly through her telescope.
Leigh (Lauren Hutton) becomes terrorized by threatening phone calls and letters from a mysterious man who seems to know her every move as she tries to convince the police that she’s in danger.
Adrienne Barbeau plays Sophie, Leigh’s co-worker and friend, who is casually revealed to be a lesbian during a conversation about ex-lovers. Being Leigh’s supportive friend – Sophie steps in to help her deal with the growing threat, and it gets her killed for her trouble.
Adrienne’s performance has been praised for its lack of sensationalism and is considered pretty progressive for a 1978 television. Sophie has been recognized as an early example of positive queer representation in media. “The first scene I did for John Carpenter in Someone’s Watching Me! was a scene where I revealed to Lauren Hutton that I’m gay. John wrote it beautifully.”
Adrienne herself has spoken positively about her role in interviews, acknowledging the significance of playing a casual, positive lesbian character in a 1978 TV movie, especially given the era in which it was produced. This was one of Adrienne Barbeau’s first collaborations with John Carpenter before the couple married, and she would go on to star in her first feature film.
To Adrienne, after years of doing musical theater and a major TV sitcom, the idea that she can “˜do less,’ those two words made all the difference in terms of the work she was now doing
“It wasn’t until I did my first film. It was with John Carpenter, and it was a television film called Someone’s Watching Me! Up until that point, I had done a massive amount of stage work, and I had been on the sitcom Maude. I had been in television movies, which were usually with a director who’s not taking the time to adjust your performance. So, we did the first scene, and John came over and said, “˜That was great. That was great. Let’s do it again and do less.’ I said Do less?” And all of a sudden, it was like, okay, that’s the last piece of the puzzle. That’s the light bulb going off.
I had been working on stage for most of my life, It’s a film, not stage, not a four-camer sitcom. Even situational comedy on Maude, we did it like a play. We did it for an audience. And now, John was telling me how to let the camera do the work and keep it small. So, I added that to my education.”
“All I knew about John was that he made horror movies; I’d heard about his ‘Assault on Precinct 13,’ I think. I walked in expecting some kind of hard-boiled guy, and here was this sweet, salt-and-pepper, gentle man… I think I began to fall in love with him right then and there. But I heard that he was seeing somebody else, and so all during the filming of ‘Someone’s Watching Me!,’ I kept my distance, and I tried to discourage my emotional feelings.”
“And then, on the last day of shooting, John said he wanted to have dinner with me and discuss something. I thought maybe it was his next screenplay. He sat down and said, ‘I’ve fallen in love with you.’ Well…we were married Jan. 1, 1979.” (Interview with Roger Ebert)
The couple wed and moved into the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles, purposefully remaining “totally outside Hollywood’s social circles.” (Roger Ebert) They remained together for five years but separated shortly after the birth of their son, John “Cody” Carpenter, on May 7, 1984. The couple divorced later that year.
1979 marked a pivotal year in John Carpenter’s career, propelling him to new heights of success. His film Halloween, released on October 25, 1978, became a box office phenomenon in 1979, establishing itself as the most profitable independent production in Hollywood’s history at that time. At the time the couple was starting out, and before his breakthrough, Adrienne had been the more prominent figure because of her Broadway success with Rizzo in Grease and her long-standing role in Maude. Halloween opened new doors for John Carpenter, which led to a lot of industry interest, getting calls and offers, and this newfound recognition translated into tangible opportunities and elevated his status in Hollywood. Now, he was able to secure financial backing for his next project, The Fog, in 1980.
The Fog is based on Carpenter’s idea “”nothing more than that a horror movie could be made with Fog as a leading character””and it provided Adrienne Barbeau with her first major movie role. But first, a year after Someone’s Watching Me! Adrienne appeared in another spooky made-for-TV movie.
Adrienne Barbeau and Robert Foster in the television horror/sci-fi flick The Darker Side of Terror 1979.
In an early foray into horror, before Adrienne Barbeau introduced us to Stevie Wayne in Carpenter’s The Fog, she appeared in the television movie – The Darker Side of Terror, a chilling chronicle of scientific hubris and a potentially intriguing doppelganger scenario, which crept onto television screens on April 3, 1979. At its heart lurks the aging Professor Meredith, played by Hollywood great Ray Milland, who by this time became his own brand of the cantankerous curmudgeon trope in these types of b-horror/sci-fi narratives. In this movie, his unorthodox ambitions lead him down a twisted path; with a daring act of genetic manipulation, he creates a carbon copy of his star pupil, a brilliant young academic Paul Corwin (Robert Forster). The only way you can tell the difference between the two Pauls is when the clone’s eye suddenly turns a ghostly white as sudden, murderous impulses strike him.
After Paul’s clone escapes from the lab, he falls in love with Adrienne, playing Paul’s unsuspecting and neglected wife, Margaret, who becomes seduced by Paul’s doppelganger, unaware that all this newfound passion and attention is coming from the wrong man.
Adrienne Barbeau stars with Greg Mullavey, Jessica Walter, and Ronny Cox in the TV movie Having Babies 1976: photo by ABC via Getty images-1228129255
Adrienne Barbeau in THE LOVE BOAT Hollywood Royalty/The Eyes of Love/ Masquerade 1978 seen here with Juliet Mills ABC Photo Disney via Getty Images.
Adrienne’s other credits: Her appearances in 1970s television movies and series, including the TV movie Having Babies in 1976, the TV movie Red Alert in 1977, and the TV movie Crashin 1978. She also appeared in an episode of Eight is Enough in 1977 and a very intense episode called Let Me Light the Way for Jack Klugman’s popular television series Quincy, ME1977. On the light side, she appeared in episodes of The Love Boat in 1978 and Battle of the Network Starsin 1978.
In Adrienne’s autobiography, she said: “I actually thought CBS asked me to be on Battle of the Network Stars because they thought I was athletic. My husband clued me in: Who cared if I won the race, as long as I bounced when I ran?”
Adrienne Barbeau: The 1980s and The Rise of a Horror Icon:
Adrienne at Avoriaz le 20 Janvier 1980: photo by Jean-Louis URLI/Gamma-Rapho Getty images-1753991732.
This is the second of two features about Beverly Washburn. You can read Part One here.
THE INTERVIEW:
1. Your first part in a film was for the 1950 film noir classic The Killer that Stalked New York starring Evelyn Keyes. You were supposed to be the first victim, a little girl who gets smallpox from Keyes who is on the run spreading the plague. And it was a speaking part. The script said, "˜'There sits little Walda Kowalski with her great big brown eyes and brown hair'' but you had blonde hair and blue eyes. You immediately thought that you wouldn't get the part. But Western star Jock Mahoney lied to the producers of the film at Columbia Studios after he saw you in the lobby while auditioning for the part of Walda. Mahoney met you 3 months earlier at one of your sister Audrey's shows. He was very taken with you, so he raved to the producer that you had done all this work even though you had no credits. And you got the part!
Essentially it was Mahoney's misdirection that helped your career! "¨"¨Does it ever make you laugh that it took a harmless lie, a few speaking lines, and tragically dying from smallpox in a Columbia Studios production to give you the leverage you needed to move forward in your acting career? Can you tell us about that experience?
Getting my first big break was perhaps a little unusual particularly since it was based on a little lie! I had met Jock Mahoney a few months prior to the audition for the role in “The Killer That Stalked New York” which was to be filmed at Columbia Studios. At 6 years old, I had an agent who had sent me on countless auditions, none of which I ever got due to the fact that I had no experience other than having worked as a model of children’s clothes.
The role of little Walda Kowalski was listed in the script as a little girl with big brown eyes and brown hair. Now that description wasn’t pertinent to the actual role, however when a writer writes in a character, he or she typically envisions what they might look like. Well, right off the bat, it seemed apparent that I wasn’t what they were looking for because I had blue eyes and blonde hair. As I was sitting in the lobby among many little brown-eyed and brown-haired other hopefuls and my not having any experience, it seemed that this would just be another letdown and another rejection for me. As I waited to go in, something marvelous happened. Jock Mahoney happened to walk through the lobby! He remembered me as we had met at the Veteran’s Hospital in Long Beach California where he had been the guest of honor and where my sister was performing her act for the Veterans. He asked my mother what I was doing there and when she told him I was reading for the part of Walda, he said “I’ll be right back.” What we found out later was that he went into the office of the Casting director and told them that I was perfect for the role, that I had done this and I had done that, when the reality was, I hadn’t done a thing other than model! He was under contract at the time and had some clout, so they took his word for it. So as the story goes, he lied, they believed him and I got the part!
I do laugh sometimes thinking about how that all came about. I think about him from time to time and realize how blessed I was to have it unfold the way it did because after I had that one speaking role, it was then that I was able to continue on."¨ It’s such a “catch-22 ” situation because they don’t want to hire you if you don’t have experience, but how do you get the experience if they don’t hire you? I of course will forever be grateful to him for allowing me that one break, albeit he had to tell a little white lie in order for them to give me the role!
First off, I'd like to thank Beverly Washburn who graciously lent her valuable time in collaborating with me and guiding me to make this a proper tribute.
These events allow us to meet and engage in conversations with beloved actors who stir up a sense of nostalgia for their classic films and television roles, all having now achieved cult status. We celebrate these fond memories and possess a vast appreciation for the legacy of their work. We go to Chiller fanatical about these guests. Some may be a bit austere, but so many are incredibly gracious, funny, down to earth, and grateful for our devotion.
In October of 2023, I went to spend time with my friend Sara Karloff. but also to get the chance to meet someone I've had a long-time fan affection for: Beverly Washburn.
Beverly turned out to be a charming, kind, and genuine person who still possesses that unique intonation to her voice. She has the same sweetness and organically winsome smile she had as a young actor. And I would be careless if I didn't state up front that she is also a champion of animals and has become a true friend.
She might be legendary for her adeptness at weeping, but she can also laugh on a dime. Her laughter comes off without a hitch. It’s a very natural practice for her, showing her marvelous sense of humor with a lightness that flickers from her blue eyes.
Her biography Reel Tears: The Beverly Washburn Story ‘Take Two'( click the link to purchase) is filled with truly poignant, humorous, and engaging anecdotes about the golden age of Hollywood and beyond. Her writing is refreshing, delightful, and unpretentious. But she is also a courageous writer who shares with bare honesty her very personal journey sometimes tinged with tragedy and her productive career in television growing up as a beloved child actor. Her memoirs include an affectionate forward by her friend Tony Dow of Leave It To Beaver fame.
During the golden years of Hollywood, Beverly Washburn graced the silver screen as a luminary child actor in the 1950s and 1960s. She found the careful balance between comedy and "˜real tears' with the uncanny gift of crying on cue.
A consummate performer, she effortlessly cut across the terrain of both humor and drama, leaving an everlasting mark on the hearts of her audience.
Beverly as Lisbeth Searcy in Old Yeller (1957).
Not only is she the timeless muse who appeared in some of the most cherished movies of the time, but during the Golden Age when television was redefining American culture, Beverly appeared in countless shows as a natural whenever she was featured in the storyline. She always summoned the ability to adopt a serious mood or show with an aptitude for humor that began the moment she stepped on the stage with comedian Jack Benny in 1952. As a favorite child actor during the rise of live television in the 1950s, the little blonde pixie eventually grew into a very pretty ingenue taking the teen fan magazines by storm in the 1960s.
Beverly Washburn appeared in nearly 100 television shows. During her Hollywood years, many of her feature films were nominated for Academy Awards. She worked with some of the most notable directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, George Stevens, and Frank Capra. She also worked alongside some of the greatest Hollywood actresses including Jane Wyman, Anne Baxter, Piper Laurie, Dorothy McGuire, and Barbara Stanwyck.
She was the girl who could not only cry on cue but could reduce the audience to tears. Often asked how she was able to cry so easily on screen, she has said in interviews that she's overly sensitive and just tried to put herself in the character's place in that situation.
Talking to her now, she feels extremely blessed when looking back over her long career, and she never forgets to express the love she has for her fans whenever she's been interviewed. She is also very grateful that her parents were very supportive yet they never pushed her into acting.
She writes in her wonderfully colorful biography filled with joyful photographs and hilarious anecdotes that even though there may have been times when her family might have had only a half of a bean, her mom would share it with anyone. Beverly’s mom and dad were by her side every step of the way and were very well-liked by both cast members and crew. Her mom kept her grounded, humble, and realistic and helped her stay on a good path while navigating the business.
Beverly Washburn grew up in a humble middle-class home in Hollywood California. Acting was something that she realized she wanted to do and truly enjoyed. Beverly is not only incredibly grateful to her many fans, she readily embraces them as the reason she has remained so popular and valued as an actor. And it makes her truly happy when she puts a smile on someone's face.
She followed in the footsteps of a talented family of entertainers, her father's brothers and sisters were in Vaudeville, traveling the circuit with a song and dance act called The Four Pearls. In the 1950s her sister Audrey went to Hollywood High and was a classmate of Carol Burnett. The two became friends and both worked as ushers at the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Audrey became Penny Marshall's stand-in for Laverne & Shirley and wound up singing backup for Marlene Dietrich in Las Vegas. It was Audrey's show biz career that eventually led Beverly down that path.
Beverly was merely 3 years old when she started modeling children's clothes. When Beverly was 5 years old, she tagged along with her mom and sister Audrey, an acrobat, to entertain veterans at Long Beach Hospital. On one particular occasion, she had a dancing gig at the Capitol Theatre in Yakima Washington. The emcee asked Beverly to come up on stage and sing ‘I'm a Big Girl Now.’ Beverly felt very comfortable in front of an audience. She was a natural.
There she met Western movie star Jock Mahoney – the Range Rider. She was mesmerized by this tall handsome cowboy. He would play a role in setting Beverly's career in motion. Her lack of experience was a hurdle but she and her mom persevered. Beverly's mom saw her potential and hired an agent, Lola Moore, who represented some of the best-known child actors in Hollywood at the time. It wasn't easy at first to get this notable agent's attention. She was turned away by Moore's overwhelmed secretary. But her tenacious mother was not willing to take no for an answer even when Moore's office in Hollywood was overflowing with anxious little girls looking to be the next child star.
In the busy agent's office, her mom managed to catch sight of Lola Moore's photo, so she and Beverly waited in the parking lot. When Moore got back from her meeting at 20th Century Fox, she was met by a little blonde cutie who wasn't afraid to speak her mind. " I sure like your hat, Miss Moore." Beverly flashed that bright smile of hers. Moore who had been an imposing figure had no time for anything but serious business. Studying Beverly with delight, she answered with a hearty " Well you're the only one who does! Know why I wear such large hats?” "No Ma'am I don't." "It's my signature. I want people to know I'm around. I want them to see me coming.''
Beverly was an honest and polite child who looked straight at Moore she said, "I don't know how they could have missed you anyway.''
Lola Moore found this refreshing and laughed and invited the two up to her office to talk. Understanding that Beverly had no acting experience, or whether the camera was going to take to her, Moore set her up with a drama coach Mildred Gardner and she began taking voice lessons, diction, and other important acting techniques. Though Beverly had no formal training, she was a natural. She never got involved as a Method actor. She was briefly taught by Gardner but after a few weeks she informed Beverly’s mother, ” Your daughter has a natural ability to act, and taking lessons would only ruin it.”While the utmost compliment, Beverly has imagined how far she might have gone if she had formerly studied.
This is where she perfected her famous ability to "˜cry' so well. Beverly has described this gift stating that she would think of what she was supposed to be crying about, imagining herself in that situation, and the waterworks would follow. Beverly says of herself that she's a very sensitive and emotional person. TV guide wrote a two-page article entitled BEVERLY WASHBURN EARNS HER SALT BY CRYING ON CUE. In the book Ladies of the Western written by Boyd Majors and Michael Fitzgerald, they included a chapter called ‘Queen of the Criers.’
Beverly loved to be in front of the camera, but when she was ready she was faced with a dilemma. Every time they sent her out on an interview she didn't get it because she had no experience or credits to her name. It was a real Catch-22.
Beverly with Evelyn Keyes in The Killer That Stalked New York (1950).
Then, essentially fate stepped in a couple of months later while auditioning at Columbia Studios for a speaking part in the classic film noir thriller The Killer That Stalked New York which would be released in 1950. Beverly was 6 at the time of filming. Jock Mahoney who was under contract with Columbia, happened to be walking through the lobby and remembered meeting her at sister Audrey's show.
Beverly didn't fit the description of Walda Kowalski, the little girl the script describes as having "˜brown hair and brown eyes' in the film. She thought she wasn't going to possibly get the part because she had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her mother told her in a very soft-spoken voice,” Honey you're not gonna get this part, but just go in and do your best.''
Mahoney asked Beverly's mother why she was at the studio, and she told him that she was going to be reading for a part in the film, and had been getting turned down numerous times because she had no experience. He told her " I'll be right back.'' Later she would come to find out that he went to the producer and raved about all the work she had done even though she hadn't done a darn thing. They believed him and she got the part. On the first day of shooting, Beverly was excited to be sitting in the big makeup chair getting her makeup and hair done which they put in little curls, possibly trying to make her look like Shirley Temple which was fine with Beverly since she was a big fan of Shirley Temple.
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) is a classic film noir about a woman, Evelyn Keyes, who smuggles jewelry into New York from Cuba. After she contracts smallpox she goes around infecting everyone she meets in the city. The authorities try to track her down before an epidemic breaks out.
Beverly plays the first victim who gets smallpox from Keyes, and that's how they learn about the outbreak. She had two scenes in the motion picture. One is where Keyes gives her a pretty brooch and the second is when she buys the farm. The makeup department afforded her a deathly look by making her as pale as possible, which in B&W made her look grayish. Shown in an oxygen tent, it was a very melodramatic death! After The Killer that Stalked New York, she continued to go on auditions but now she had a big credit to go with her name.
Here Comes the Groom (1951) starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman. Beverly with Jacques Gencel.
Because of that one speaking role for Columbia Pictures, other opportunities opened up. After the noir thriller, she was called to a screen test for her next film Here Comes the Groom in 1951. It would be a role in a motion picture directed by Frank Capra and starring Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, Alexis Smith, and Franchot Tone. The film also featured fashions by costume designer Edith Head and cameos by Louis Armstrong, Dorothy Lamour, Phil Harris, Cass Daley, and Frank Fontaine. Here Comes the Groom was a huge B&W musical, and an important part throughout the film. She plays a refugee who speaks very little French, makes the funniest faces, and shows off a natural sense of comedy at such an early age, as she plays off Jacques Gencel.
Beverly worked on the film for 3 months, afterwards Bing Crosby gave her a beautiful doll that she named Dixie, after Crosby's wife at the time. After filming wrapped up, Crosby signed a photograph for Beverly saying, " I hope to play in your next picture.”
This would not be the only wonderful treasure Beverly would receive from actors. Even Jane Wyman gave her a beautiful dress. While the motion picture was not a huge success at the box office, it did win an Oscar for Best Song "˜'In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening'' written by Hogie Carmichael and Johnny Mercer.
In 1951, her next little part took the form of a theatrical film featuring the iconic superhero, Superman. Titled Superman and the Mole-Men, this film served as the pilot for the subsequent TV series starring George Reeves as the eponymous hero and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane, the fearless reporter. The TV series ran from 1952 to 1958.
Beverly had so much fun cast as a little girl who plays with a radioactive ball in her bedroom. Two of the mole men (who are not space aliens but come from inner earth) climb through the window and she plays with them until her mother discovers the strange little men with her daughter and screams!
This special The Last Drive in Halloween Feature will conclude with Part 4 and it’s primary focus exclusively on the great Barbara Steele!
‘through the complex changes in society surrounding traditional female roles using the ambivalence of the horror genre’ – Claudia Bunce
The 1960s were plagued by controversy and convulsed with violence. Horror cinema with the exception of Hammer Studio and European filmmakers’ colorful pageantry of Gothic tales, and the colorful dreamlike poetry of Mario Bava, mainly transitioned from classical themes. In the 1950s, B-horror movie narratives were concerned with outside hostile forces, alien invasions, and fear of nuclear war, but the new decade began to explore more interior horror that originated in the home and within ourselves. And many of these movies stand out as women-centric protagonists…
“Widely interpreted as a pivotal moment in the horror genre. Suggestive that monstrosity must be defined as inherent to the bourgeois family structure rather than an arcane social aberration: the crimes of Norman Bates can be read as the consequence of the sexually active mother, not unlike Marian Crane. The film is profoundly subversive.” – source unknown
Mario Bava unleashed on us his very dark-hearted black & white Black Sunday in 1960 with jolting scenes of death and a new horror goddess, the provocative, wide-eyed- Barbara Steele. During the decade of the 60s, Steele's ascendance within the genre was part of a broader trend in horror cinema that echoed the real world. Her strong presence and instinct to captivate our gaze, stood head to head with male horror stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing during that period of horror cinema. Barbara Steele inhabited the haunted screen with such a formidable primacy, there's no disputing she is the ultimate scream queen.
The Italian movie industry of the 1960s saw a wave of Italian gothic chillers. Bava's Blood and Black Lace 1964 is best remembered as the first "˜Giallo' a particularly savage trademark of murder mysteries.
Riccardo Freda directed The Horrible Dr. Hichcock 1962 and The Ghost 1963, Margheriti's beautifully orchestrated, eerily atmospheric ghost story Castle of Blood and Ciano's Nightmare Castle 1965. All starring Barbara Steele.
Roger Corman established himself as a successful director. Of course, maverick filmmaker Corman showered us with some of the best campy low budget sci-fi/horror films of the 1950s, and in the 60s we were reintroduced to the splendid Poe adaptations in a series of vivid films of glorious terror and dread, with Daniel Haller's gorgeous hallucinogenic art direction. These films are a series of Gothic masterpieces, – House of Usher 1960, Pit and the Pendulum 1961 and Masque of the Red Death 1964, featuring Hazel Court, another icon of 60s horror, who would command the screen with her fiery sensuality, flexing her bloodlust to offer herself up as Satan's bride in Red Death.
Corman established himself as a successful director with his landscapes as Rodrick Usher says are a "˜feverish and deranged mind' with his colorful more substantial yet still low-budget homages to Poe's series of horror tales. With screenplays by Richard Matheson and cinematography by Floyd Crosby. Reaching its artistic peak with the Masque of the Red Death. Many of the women in his Poe series feature a more incendiary female character. The horror genre especially from the 60s forward would prove to have more provocative roles for women since the femme fatale reigned during the time of film noir.
Instead of the restrained earlier decades, the 60s held up a mirror to the decade’s social turbulence and reflected back to us, with subversive storytelling, its edgy gore, and taboo-breaking narratives that fed a whole new audience who were hungry for more realistic and challenging scenarios. A new vanguard of filmmakers shattered traditional boundaries that restrained on-screen violence and sexuality.
Women's roles in classical horror films of the 1930s & 40s (to my memory for now), with the exception of Elsa Lanchester as the Bride, and Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska in Dracula's Daughter, initiated most of the leading ladies and supporting actresses, as easily fainting from fright, who screamed with hollow innocence, projecting reductive nuances of helplessness.
Still, there were established directors such as Alfred Hitchcock who caught wind of the changes, inspired by Clouzot's le Diabolique 1955 and impressed by William Castle's popular run of low-budget horror formula (albeit with its use of gimmickry).
Psycho 1960 would be set in safe and secure American suburbia instead of the imposing castles of Europe. The clean-cut serial killer would eclipse the caped swarthy vampire as the screen's new boogeyman. Yet Marion's ascendancy is as much a major element of the narrative as Norman Bates' psychopathy!
Hitchcock offered us the bold cautionary, The Birds, a film Fellini referred to as "an apocalyptic poem" featuring a beautiful woman perceived as a she-devil that ushered in the natural world's revolt.
FROM BARBARA CREED THE MONSTROUS FEMININE:
"Melanie Daniels in The Birds is a single woman in her thirties drifting – who must go through a trial by fire which she suffers, is humiliated and lectured to lower her defenses. She is an outsider who is being shown how social behavior becomes physically agonizing."
The stark black & white Psycho 1960 based on a real-life serial killer, Ed Gein, pushed the boundaries of the Production Code with its shocking scenes of murder and inflected frames of Janet Leigh's bra and slip. Leigh's 30-minute on-screen persona of the immoral Marion Crane was a diverging representation of the traditional leading lady.
The decade also signaled a multitude of black & white psychological thrillers. Hammer split off some of its focus on the gory period pieces- translations of Frankenstein, Dracula, and Mummy, and jumped on the Psycho bandwagon with films like Scream of Fear 1961, Maniac 1963, Nightmare 1964, Hysteria 1965, Die! Die! My Darling! 1965 starring Tallulah Bankhead as the menacing Mrs. Trafoil, not a Medieval crone but a modern-day unleashed psychopath. And, The Nanny 1965 with Bette Davis, coming off of her pair of shockers by director Robert Aldrich, plays a sinister governess terrorizing young William Dix.
After Baby Jane, the industry was rife with menacing Hollywood starlets. I'll be writing about the shattering of the myth of Hag Cinema, down the road. Robert Aldrich set in motion a trend of psychological horror films after he paired Bette Davis and Joan Crawford together in what is considered campy, outrageous at times, sickening – What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962. It was a watershed moment for the genre.
Crawford and Davis in particular in Aldrich's films made the bold and courageous decision to act under harsh white lights, in grotesque makeup, and willing to immerse themselves into a character -eccentric, cringingly childish, and utterly sadistic.
After Baby Jane, Aldrich followed up with Davis, de Havilland, and Agnes Moorehead in Hush"¦ Hush, Sweet Charlotte 1964. Crawford worked with William Castle on Strait-Jacket 1964, and Geraldine Page played a greedy murderess in What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? Co-starring Ruth Gordon. Shelley Winters appeared as the maniacal villainess in the fable-like Who Slew Auntie Roo? 1969 and Winters, Debbie Reynolds, and Moorehead in 1971 topped it off with Harrington's What's the Matter with Helen? A personal favorite of mine.
The second wave of the feminist movement and its emergence and impact began with Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, giving 50s suburban housewives a different vision of domestic enslavement and began to disassemble the myth of that decade's family values. The quaint and complacent sentiment of post-WW2 comfortability became subverted by empowered women who broke free and found new independence reigniting the Monstrous Feminine giving permission to women as represented more freely in film, with more prominent parts, especially fostered in"¦ the horror genre.
“The housewife witches of Burn, Witch, Burn and Season of the Witch use witchcraft to escape the confines of the domestic sphere and subvert their husbands' patriarchal power. Then there is the cult leader witch of Eye of the Devil who uses her femininity to intimidate traditional societal gender roles” – Claudia Bunce
Significant films like Robert Wises' The Haunting 1963, which were suggestive of lesbianism and repressed sexuality, star two very significant central female characters, Julie Harris and Claire Bloom who give intensely complex and reflexive performances. Bloom as the stylish and extraordinarily self-composed Theo is a truly independent woman who lives life on her own terms. There isn’t anyone who wouldn’t shiver while at the mercy of the malevolent forces of Hill House. Director Georges Franju's Eyes Without a Face (The French title Les Yeux sans Visage) 1960 has perhaps one of the most graphic scenes of horror, a gruesome fairytale with its medical experimentation with facial transplantation and a lead actress, Edith Scob with her macabre blank mask who floats around the halls like a lost princess swallowed up inside a night terror. The film also stars a stoic Alida Valli, a strong ally to the twisted plastic surgeon in search of a new face for his daughter.
Jack Clayton's adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, became a screenplay by William Archibald, The Innocents 1961' lead actress Deborah Kerr lies wide open with her distillation of a woman tortured by her sexual paranoia. Dressed in classical clothes, unlike Deneuve's role in Repulsion, where her character Carol's neurosis is flayed and hung out naked on display.
And most significantly, the female-centric role of Mia Farrow as the allegorical heroine Rosemary Woodhouse, hunted down by a coven of upper west side devil worshipers in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby 1968. Farrow's performance is a striking denunciation of control over women's bodies, a slow burn of paranoia, and a strong instinct for survival.
"but when he (Guy Woodhouse) took control of her reproductive functions, he asserted his dominance over her in the darkest way possible.
Assertion of dominance reinforced his masculinity and the traditional role that men had in relationships. Guy's taking control assuages the fear of women gaining too much independence." –From Jenna Labbie damsels in Distress Analyzing gender in horror movies of the 1960s and 70s
Polanski's earlier released Repulsion 1965 strayed from Hitchcock's black humor drizzled about in Psycho. Repulsion rather has a sense of nightmarish realism and a protagonist, Catherine Deneuve who goes down a rabbit hole of repressive seizures.
Repulsion is an extremely disturbing contemplation on the destructive forces of loneliness, isolation, and paranoia seen through the lens of a sexually repressed young woman, Carol who suffers a homicidal breakdown while her sister and married lover leave her alone for a long weekend. An exit from the cheeky dark humor of Hitchcock's Psycho, Repulsion brushes the screen with strokes of Carol's existential misery.
Michael Powell's groundbreaking shocker Peeping Tom is a hauntingly twisted mood piece about serial killer Karl Bohm who films his victims in the last moments of their death to capture their fear. It features two very strong female leads, Anna Massey and Maxine Audley.
Mexican fright flicks abound with atmospheric gems like The Curse of the Crying Woman 1963, The Brainiac1961, and The Witch's Mirror 1962, featuring strong female-centric characters played by Rosita Arenas and Rita Macedo. And in Jack Hill's oddball black comedy Spider Baby 1967 benefitted from the quirky presence of both Beverly Washburn and Jill Banner as two bizarre, homicidal sisters.
Luana Anders features significantly in the genre, highlighted in Coppola's Dementia 13 as the independent yet ruthless Louise Halloran and as prostitute Sylvia in Robert Altman's psycho-sexual thriller That Cold Day in the Park 1969. The film stars one of my favorite underrated actors, Sandy Dennis who gives a stunning performance as the disturbed Francis Austen, who holds Michael Burns hostage.
George Romero broke ground with the brutal realism of Night of the Living Dead 1968 which has not so indirect social relevance. 60s horror films were breaking away from Hollywood and being forged by gutsy independent filmmakers with smaller budgets, and an imaginative longing to experiment with diversity, artistic style, and a divergent way to visualize and process gender roles outside traditional cultural norms.
Ryan Gilbey, in her obituary in The Guardian, praises Shelley’s acting in the Hammer films, considering that she had “a grounded, rational quality that instantly conferred gravitas on whatever lunatic occurrences were unfolding around her.”
The world lost Barbara Shelley in January 2021 at the age of 88. With hair like paprika, Barbara Shelley was born Barbara Kowin. A glamorous gothic leading lady was considered the "˜Queen of Hammer' during the studio's golden age of Gothic horror. A classical beauty, with an air of elegance and self-assuredness, she has co-starred with other Hammer royalty Christoper Lee and Peter Cushing. Shelley was an actress with such integrity and beauty that she transcended the horror genre.
The London-based production company was founded in 1934 by William Hinds and James Carrera who made a string of hit Gothic horror films from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Inspired by classic horror characters like Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy and appeared in 104 films and television series until 2000. She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1975 and 1977.
From Wiki-
{Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series. During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success.}
"Hammer was like a family, a very talented family"¦ with a wonderful atmosphere on the set and a wonderful sense of humour"
"When I first started doing Hammer, all the so-called classic actors looked down on the horror film. All the other things I did, nobody remembers those. But for the horror films, I'm very grateful to them because they built me a fan base, and I'm very touched that people will come and ask for my autograph. If you went to see a [Hammer] film in the cinema, the gasps were interspersed with giggles because people were giggling at themselves for being frightened, they were frightening themselves, and this is what made Hammer very special."
With her success as a teenage model, she made her minor film debut in Hammer's motion picture Mantrap in 1952 directed by Terence Fisher and starring Paul Henreid and Lois Maxwell.
Shelley took her screen name from Italian actor Walter Chiari who saw something in the actress and suggested that she use the last name as a tribute to his favorite English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. She wound up living in Rome for four years and appeared in nine Italian-speaking films.
Her first starring vehicle was Cat Girl (1957), Alfred Shaughnessy's offbeat variation of Jacques Tourneur's influential Cat People (1942), and A.I.P.'s first co-production with the UK's Anglo-Amalgamated. The following year she made her first major appearance in a film for Hammer The Camp on Blood Island.
In 1958, she co-starred as a woman in peril at the hands of mad scientist Callistratus (Donald Wolfit). In Blood of the Vampire, Shelley is the picture of fainting beauty chained to the wall, a garish period piece in line with the days of Universal's classic horrors though scattered with gory scenes satiated by fake blood and understated cleavage.
In 1880 Transylvania Dr. Calistratus is brought back to life by his one-eyed hunchback assistant Carl after he'd been executed as a vampire. At the same time, Dr. John Pierre (Vincent Ball) is on trial for killing one of his patients whom he tried to save with a blood transfusion. He is found guilty and sentenced to life. Barbara Shelley plays fiancee, Madeleine, set on finding the truth behind the incriminating letter allegedly proving his guilt, forged by Calistratus.
He is brought to prison for the criminally insane by the mad doctor's hunchback Carl. John is put in a cell, a menacing place guarded by vicious dogs, where Calastratus experiments and tortures his human subjects. In order to prove John's innocence Madeleine poses as Calastratus' housekeeper who winds up chained to a wall and strapped to an operating table!
Shelley was against her body being exploited or appearing in any nude scenes while being menaced by Wolfit. She warded off this endeavor by producers Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman by writing the word "STOP" on her chest. She threatened to sue the studio if it even used a body double.
"I had one or two dissertations on horror sent to me by students, and all the discussion ever seems to be concerned with is exploitation and the licking of blood and a scene of people making love, and it's not right. It annoys me intensely because my career was not built on exploitation and sex. It was built on working very hard."
In 1960, she is marvelous in the heartbreaking role of the tragic mother Anthea Zellerby who has given birth to an unfeeling monstrous alien boy who has uncanny dangerous powers along with the rest of the children of Midwich. All the mothers in Midwich have conceived during a strange blackout where they wind up giving birth to a breed of malevolent telepathic sociopaths.
Shelley's character is earnest in the role of a woman torn between motherhood and sheer terror in director Wolf Rilla's incredibly unsettling moody classic blend of science fiction and horror-Village of the Damned (1960) based on John Wyndham's science fiction novel The Midwich Cuckoos. The film co-stars George Sanders as Shelley's altruistic husband Gordon, who seeks to understand the menacing children with their freaky white hair and piercing eyes and his creepy son David played by Martin Stephans. These dangerous little progeny can get inside people's minds and make them do anything they want, as in making Shelley's character stick her hand in a pot of boiling water. The screenplay written by Stirling Sillipant is quite a disturbing potboiler it total.
She went on to star in John Gilling's turn-of-the-century old dark house mystery Shadow of the Cat (1961)
Some of the outstanding pictures that put her upon the thrown as the reigning Queen of those splendid years of Gothic horror are Dracula: Prince of Darkness 1966, Rasputin the Mad Monk 1966 with Christopher Lee, and The Gorgon 1964 with Peter Cushing. The monstrous Gorgon is portrayed by Prudence Hyman.
"She really was Hammer's number one leading lady and the Technicolor queen of Hammer. "On-screen she could be quietly evil. She goes from statuesque beauty to just animalistic wildness"¦ She adored Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and loved working with them, that was very dear to her."-Agent, Thomas Bowington
What truly established Barbara Shelley's esteemed reputation as the First Lady of British Horror in the mid-1960s is her collaboration with Terence Fisher. Leaving behind the more exploitative persona of the luscious heroine with inviting bosoms Shelley portrayed the sympathetic character of Carla Hoffman in Fisher's mood piece The Gorgon. Carla is the assistant to Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing) and a tortured soul possessed by an ancient evil spirit with serpents for hair and the ability to turn whoever gazes upon her to stone, and Shelley conveys the bleakness of a woman who is held captive by her monstrous alter ego.
Before Shelley turns into the blood-sucking bride of Dracula, she plays her first woman transformed into a monster in The Gorgon (1964). She told the studio "I wouldn't need any makeup"¦ just a green face and the headdress of real snakes." Shelley absolutely let down when she saw what the special effects department conjured up, “They came up with these terrible sorts of rubber snakes dancing around and it just looked awful. It wasn’t frightening at all.” She had said that it was “probably the biggest regret I’ve had in any film I ever made.”
She was absolutely dejected when they chose to substitute Prudence Hyman in the part of the Gorgon, "They came up with these terrible sorts of rubber snakes dancing around, and it just looked awful. It wasn't frightening at all." She called it "probably the biggest regret I've had in any film I ever made" though she admired the look of the picture, noting that "every shot "¦ resembles a Rembrandt painting."
In Dracula: Prince of Darkness 1966, Christopher Lee resurrects the count from Horrors of Dracula 1958. Shelley plays Helen the heroine whom we empathize with as she is trapped by her circumstances, when her stubborn husband Alan (who dismisses Helen's panic), and his brother Charles, both refuse to leave the creepy unwelcoming Castle Dracula after stumbling onto the unattended mausoleum.
They want to stay and partake in a meal laid out for them, but Helen is justifiably spooked by its strange undercurrent. "Everything about this place is evil".
Once Christopher Lee's resurrection, Helen goes through a diverging transformation from the archetypal repressed female to an unrestrained raptorial vampiress liberated from her proper English breeding, in high contrast to her tight up swung hair in a provincial hat, was now wide open with unwound flowing hair and unequivocal breastage. Shelley loved how distinct her character's trajectory was in Dracula: Prince of Darkness. From inhibited, startled gentlewoman to the monstrous feminine as one of Dracula's brides. When she appears at Karlsbad Castle, telling Suzan Farmer, “Nothing’s wrong” through hungry red lips and baring fangs. "Come sister, You don't need Charles"¦"she tempts, with inviting arms outstretched to the innocent Suzan Farmer as Diana. Shelley's virtuous woman who reveals to her Diana that she is now a vampire is lauded by Gilbey in The Guardian as having “traumatized and tantalized” viewers.
Shelley's scream in Dracula is actually dubbed by fellow actress Suzan Farmer (Die Monster Die! 1965 with Boris Karloff) who appeared with her in Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Rasputin The Mad Monk.
A terrifying scene perhaps inspiring Stephen King's Salem's Lot, has Helen tapping on the window in the middle of the night. "Please let me in," she pleads. "It's cold out here. So cold. Everything's all right now."
She was delighted by one of her most potent scenes -when she contends with her adversaries – monks who lie her on a table and hammer a stake through her undead heart.
Shelley told Mark Gatiss in his 2010 documentary series A History of Horror, “The scene that I’m most proud of is when she is staked that’s absolute evil when she’s struggling and then suddenly she’s staked and there is tremendous serenity. And I think that is one of my best moments in the film.”
"… and then suddenly she's staked, and there is tremendous serenity. And I think that is one of my best moments on film."
“Christopher Lee, who was an eloquent Gothic figure of pure evil in 1958’s first adaptation of Stoker’s vampire, had now evolved into a hissing fiend. But Shelley had this to say about the actor -“He brought dignity and veritas. It’s a difficult thing to bring to a fantasy like a vampire. And that is just Chris’ appearance and his personality. He did all that. He used to walk onto the sent and I’d say to him it’s an extraordinary performance, cause we know each other so well and you could hypnotize me. But it was brilliant because he completely dominated the film without a word. Talk about silent movies!”
Shot at the same time was another Hammer horror, Rasputin the Mad Monk with Christopher Lee has dialogue in a more colorful, lurid role, as the mad mesmerist in contrast to his silent, blood-eyed fiend. Shelley falls under the spell of Rasputin. While not willing to do a nude scene in Blood of the Vampire, she was however up to laying bare a seduction scene with Christoper Lee. “That scene was in the script when I read it. The scenes I refused to do was when they would suddenly say to me ‘Oh, you take your clothes off here’ The answer to that was always no”– From an interview with Fangoria Magazine 2010.
One of her beloved roles is her last Hammer feature in Roy Ward Baker's adaption of writer Nigel Kneale's (The Quatermass Experiment 1955, First Men in the Moon 1964, The Witches 1966, The Stone Tape 1972 TV movie) Quatermass and the Pit 1967.
In Quatermass and the Pit, Shelley portrays scientist Barbara Judd who along with paleontologist Doctor Roney (James Donald) and a team of scientists discover an ancient alien race whose spacecraft is found buried in the underground station at Hobbs End during an expansion of London's Underground transport system. Shelley develops a psychic link to the aliens and is taken over by the inhabitants of the alien spacecraft.
She is subjected to images of green gooey decomposing locust-like alien carcasses that in the process of being removed from the tunnels cause her brain to succumb to the electromagnetic influence of the spacecraft, causing her to writhe in pain. She is so totally reasonable as an actress that she brings credibility to her character. Shelly had claimed that director Roy Ward Baker was her favorite of all the filmmakers she worked with.
The way he felt about her goes like this. He told Bizarre Magazine in a 1974 interview that he was "˜mad about her. "Mad in the sense of love," he said. "We used to waltz about the set together, a great love affair. It puzzles me about her. She should be much bigger than she is, but I don't think she really cares whether she is a star or not. She can act, God, she can act!"
In The Avengers 1961 image: Studio Canal
Barbara Shelley would eventually do guest appearances on popular television shows including the British television series Doctor Who playing Sorasta in the episode "Planet Of Fire," starring Peter Davison as the fifth incarnation of Doctor Who. She would also appear on The Saint, The Avengers, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, and Route 66. Later she would play Hester Samuels in "EastEnders."
Shelley's final role in horror films was in the old dark house mystery Ghost Story 1974 directed by Stephen Weeks and co-starring Marianne Faithful.
Her final role on screen was in the Uncle Silas mini-series in 1989. A sinister character brought to life on screen by Derrick De Marney in 1947 with Jean Simmons in the role of Caroline.
Although Shelley ultimately felt framed within the horror genre by the late 1960s, retiring two decades later, she always embraced her devoted fanbase and left behind a substantial legacy. “I realized that my work had been appreciated and that I had – through those horror films – actually reached a far bigger audience than I would ever have done if I’d stuck to the theater.”
The actress was modest about her achievements but happy with her legacy, as she conveyed with typical aplomb to Marcus Hearn: "There's a lovely saying "“ we're given memories so we can have roses in winter. When I look back over my various rose gardens, I'm only sorry I didn't enjoy them more".
"No one told me I was beautiful. They said I was photogenic but no one said I was beautiful. If they had I would have had a lot more fun!"
In an interview with the Express newspaper in 2009, she said she was told at a convention by female fans that they loved her for her strong roles. "Which I thought was a brilliant thing to have said about one. I never thought of it in that way. The fact that I'm still getting mail from my horror fan base really touches me."
TRIVIA
While making the 1961 TV film, A Story of David, she met Hollywood star Jeff Chandler and they began a relationship. Chandler died suddenly the following year. Shelley is later reported to have said that he had been the love of her life
So convincing was Shelley's violently realistic struggle against the stake, she swallowed one of her stuck-on fangs.
With no spares at the ready and a tight shooting schedule, it is reported that she kept drinking salt water until she puked it up.
After the scene in Dracula: Prince of Darkness where she struggles with the monks at the end with her demise, it was so physically demanding on Shelley, that she suffered from chronic back pain.
Barbara Shelley would recall how she and Lee, prided themselves on being "un-corpseable", and would compete to make one another laugh during takes.
Cat Girl 1957, Blood of the Vampire 1958, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED 1960 THE GORGON 1964, DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS 1966, RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK 1966, QUATERMASS AND THE PIT 1967
Last October I had the incredible opportunity to reconnect with Sara Karloff at the Chiller Theater Convention here in New Jersey. It's really hard to put into words the feeling you get when you're actually talking to a gracious, elegant, kind, regal, and lovely woman who happens to be the daughter of the man you've worshiped since a young child.
I met Sara the year before at the same nostalgic celebration of classic, cult film, and retro television royalty (The Chiller Theatre Convention) and she invited me to sit with her and talk for a while. At the time, fans were buzzing around trying to get autographs and buying memorabilia with images of her father's influential work in horror pictures, or should I say "˜terror' pictures, as Boris would refer to those kinds of narratives in film.
Boris Karloff will forever be remembered for bringing Mary Shelley's existential monster to life, embodied with pathos and empathy. Karloff is the infinite soul of the monster. His character was my introduction to horror films and to a whole new world where I experienced a sense of belonging. Meeting Sara was the closest I could ever get to my hero Boris Karloff. I truly never imagined I would have the honor of connecting in this way, with the great man who changed my perceptions by opening up my heart to love the mysteries of life and the thrill of being both scared and delighted.
So there I sat with this striking, dignified woman who shared and shares her life with my idol, Boris Karloff, who appear in over 200 films and television programs during his legendary career. He will always be the never-ending expression of a genre that refuses– like Frankenstein’s monster– to die. Part of Karloff’s great legacy is how he brought us all together and gave horror fans a hero.
During the reign of Universal’s claim to what would become the most famous monsters in cinematic history, Karloff elevated the studio’s output with his limitless beauty by interpreting the genre through great instinct and intellect, not just in James Whale’s tragic monster in Frankenstein 1931 but as Imhotep in The Mummy 1932.
A few of my favorite Boris Karloff films are three of Val Lewton’s psychological metaphors of fear where he showed the range of his acting skills. The masterpieces Bedlam, Isle of the Dead, and The Body Snatcher were sparked ‘alive’ by his gentle soul and his ability to dive into authentically sinister roles manifesting truly dark, menacing fiends and yet it was the exact opposite of who he was in real life, a fine English gentleman who possessed grace and kindness.
Boris as Cabman John Gray in Val Lewton’s The Body Snatcher (1945) directed by Robert Wise.
Boris as General Nikolas Pherides in Val Lewton/Mark Robson’s Isle of the Dead (1945)
Some of my favorite performances are the set of three films, The Black Cat 1934, The Raven 1935, and The Invisible Ray 1936, all co-starring Bela Lugosi. These pictures too, showcased Karloff’s ability to elicit chills on a wholly deeper level possessing a true passion and understanding for creating thoughtful scary stories. He could be imposing as the crazed Morgan in The Old Dark House 1932, playing twin brothers Good & Evil in The Black Room 1935, and the tragic pianist framed for murder in The Walking Dead 1936. And I adore his more sympathetic and benevolent characters as well — Before I Hang 1940, The Devil Commands 1941, Corridors of Blood 1958, and The Haunted Strangler 1958.
Boris in James Whale’s The Old Dark House (1932).
Boris and Bela in Ulmer’s The Black Cat (1934).
Boris and Bela in The Raven (1935).
Boris Karloff as John Ellman in Michael Curtiz’s The Walking Dead (1936).
Boris as Dr. Janos Rukh in Lambert Hillyer’s The Invisible Ray (1946).
Boris as Dr. Julian Blair in The Devil Commands (1945) directed by Edward Dmytryk.
Boris as Dr. Bolton in Corridors of Blood (1958).
I've enjoyed his films since I was a girl, and I continually watch everything in his long body of work, as I never tire of seeing his incredible talent, his serious portrayals, and the wonderful light that shines through every performance. He has many layers to his persona, but his class, kindness, and thoughtful embrace of the work that is ever-present. Boris has the unparalleled ability to Immortalize the sinister only to be counterbalanced by his divine power in other roles, to draw out our sympathy. He will always be the eternal paradoxical face of terror and gentility.
Sara and I had the most warm and welcoming conversation over the course of that day, and I had the chance to tell her about my deep and abiding affection for her dad. I was in a sparkling daze, because I felt like I was talking to her father as well, and I believe she enjoyed spending time with me too. Sara Karloff is so gracious and delightful about her devotion to her father’s fans.
One little part of our exchange at Chiller"¦
I told her, “He elevated each film to a higher level because of the quality of his acting, the dimension to his emotional output, his body language and that exquisite voice. A soft and dream like tone that is both calming and poetic.
His legacy is that he brought honor to the genre of horror. He contributed to the world an incredible body of work, and he will be remembered so dearly by so many of his. I wasn't exaggerating when I said I wished he had been my grandfather." She replied, “He would have like that, he would have been my grandfather.” The words shot through me with warmth and the joy of awaking from a wonderful dream. Because she meant it.
I told her, “He exuded such a gentility, that even with his most brutal characterizations in film, you always knew it was the actor of the man. And quite the grand actor he was. I wanted to mention, how much his voice is so unique. He has a depth, and a pathos that no other actor possesses.”
She replied, “You are correct about his voice. It was remarkable. It not only was his British accent, but the way he could soothe you or scare you with his voice. He was indeed a fine actor and a wonderful human being.”
We had a long conversation that day, laughing and talking about contributions he made to dramatic television performances aside from the collection of well-remembered films, from silents to drama, his films were not exclusive to the horror genre. Talking about Boris makes me dewy and teary-eyed, explaining what I think about his great body of work and the legacy he left us as one of the most memorable cultural icons.
Even though he is the recognized face of "˜horror', early on Boris Karloff acted in many different films with varying scenarios and narratives that weren't connected to the classical horror genre. James Whale's Frankenstein for Universal was Boris Karloff's 81st picture. He had done theatre and dramatic films, like Howard Hawks’ The Criminal Code1930 where his brilliant performance as Galloway had a particularly restrained hostility. As neither a monster nor a bad guy, he created a figure of dark and shadowy apprehension.
He also appeared in the ultra-violent Scarface 1932Â for Howard Hawks. Aside from being the host of CBS's Thriller anthology series, where he opened up each episode with his own ominous epilogues for Thrillerwith his cheeky sense of humor, "Sure as my name is Boris Karloff — this is a thriller!"
Boris’ droll epilogue to Thriller episode Roses Last Summer starring Mary Astor
My favorite performances were his collaborations with Val Lewton. They are psychological in tone and gave Karloff the highly layered characterizations that allowed him to reveal his dynamic versatility surpassing his monster image in the Universal cycle of horror films. Lewton gave Karloff a place to flex his subtlety of the human psyche and how we all struggle with the light and darkness of the soul and he captured that nuance brilliantly. While Universal excelled by manifesting corporeal monsters, Val Lewton played on the monsters of the mind. Here Boris was able to convey these darker complex personalities with depth. Lewton used elements of dark and light within us all, and Boris Karloff was a master at dancing between the shadows of Val Lewton's complex vision.
And that is what he managed to portray within Jack Pierce's makeup for Frankenstein's monster. Beneath the fierce snarling innocent that rose from death and was born into a cruel world, judged by his ugliness and his otherness, Karloff imbued the monster with a sadness that evoked pity. He could transmit that to us, through his eyes and his thoughtful movements.
Since the last time we spoke, Sara and I have maintained a connection and I had the great privilege of continuing our conversation where I got to discuss her iconic father a bit more. If COVID-19 hadn't thrown the world into chaos and changed how we now interact with each other, this month would have been another wonderful celebration- spending the day together regaling Boris Karloff's career and the man himself.
Sara: Hello
Jo: Hello, Sara?
Sara: Uh-huh
Jo: Hi, it's Jo Gabriel. How are you feeling?
Sara: I'm better, thank you. I'm still recovering but I'm better.
Jo: Yes, you sound a little bit better.
Sara: Yes, I am. I'm listening to your CD.
Jo: You are! And?
Sara: I am enjoying it immensely!
Jo: Oh, that's good! I wanted you to like it.
Sara:Oh, it's marvelous.
Jo: Oh, good!
Sara: It's so relaxing and it's so autumnal (I never can say that word). And it's just like walking through the woods and it's like listening to a brook babble. It's just wonderful.
Jo: Are you feeling up to doing a little talking about your Dad?
Sara: Sure, I'd be glad to.
Jo: Ok, wonderful, because as I said, I'm going to start delving into his career and really doing a very extensive feature on him on my website. And in order to do that it's going to take some time and some research and I really want to do a good job.
Sara: Oh, I'm sure you will.
Jo:Thank you. It's a labor of love and I think it's about time that I do it. And now that we have this connection I thought it would be good to include a little conversation with you about a few things I am curious about.
Sara: Ok, that's fine.
Jo:So, you know, you and I when we were sitting and talking at Chiller, we talked a little bit about how your father loved working with Val Lewton.
Sara: Yes, indeed, he did.
Jo: Yes, Lewton's work is very visual like poetry and I think a lot of the films showcase the depth of your dad's versatility as an actor. His performances in those particular films were extraordinary. Do you want to tell me a little bit again about how he felt working with Lewton?
Sara: Well, I think I can only say what I've read and heard but my father said that working with Val Lewton and his films saved his soul. You know, he had made so many "“ well he made 3 Frankenstein films and then by the time he made the Val Lewton films the quality of the films being offered had really diminished. And he said that working with Val Lewton was such a joy. It was such a pleasure and such a joy because he and Lewton got along so beautifully. They were both well-educated and well-read men. And they enjoyed one another's company. And those scripts were well written and well directed and well shot and well lit. And they were in black and white and they were suspenseful. And he and Val became good friends and my father really enjoyed doing those high-quality films after some of the ones he'd been doing. And they were well-received by the public. They've stood the test of time. My father got to certainly prove his acting skills. He enjoyed working with the other actors, working with good scripts. It just was a joy for my father to make those 3 films.
Jo: Yes I was going to ask about that. I know director Mark Robson and director Robert Wise were both really accomplished directors, but is there one particular film out of the three? I mean, I love Bedlam and thought that was extraordinary. But is there one that he talked about more?
Sara: You know my father didn't talk about his work and he didn't bring it home. But I do know that he was really very very pleased to have that opportunity. But I never heard him state a preference amongst those 3 films.
Jo: Well that's interesting and I'm not surprised that Val Lewton was one of his favorites, favorite body of work to put his stamp on. So the other thing I was wondering "“ I have something written here. It says "Boris Karloff's gentility and grace show through the monster, the Frankenstein's monster. Which is partly why he's so transcendent in that role, because of his embodiment of the monster. And I really think he, the monster, was beloved by your father and beloved by the fans. And he knew when to leave that character with dignity. Can you tell me a bit about his feeling about that role?
Sara: Well, you know, that role made such a pivotal difference in his life both personally and professionally. And he was forever grateful for that difference. And he felt a certain debt of gratitude to that role. He often would in tongue-and-cheek refer to the monster as his best friend. He did say the monster was the best friend any actor could ever have because it made such a huge difference in his life. But, it was his decision to stop playing that role after those 3 films because he felt that the storyline had been developed as far as it could or should be before it fell apart and before the creature became the brunt of bad scripts and bad jokes, as it did. And he just didn't want to be a part of that because he did feel a debt of gratitude. My father was a very gracious human being. A very gentlemanly human being. He was an English gentleman with a very self-effacing sense of humor. He understood and portrayed the creature with a sense of pathos and elicited empathetic reactions from those viewers at that time. And he said that children got it. They understood the creature was the victim and not the perpetrator, and any acts of violence were reactions more than proactive. So, that's the way he played it and that's the way the audience perceived it.
Jo: Yes, and that was my introduction into horror films was feeling that sympathy towards his characterization and feeling empathy and feeling like I was on his side. And he was provoked and he didn't do anything wrong, he didn't even ask to be here. And just feeling that kind of camaraderie with the "other." He evoked that in children and I think we're all grateful to him for that.
Sara: Well, I think that is the reaction that his roles elicited and that was how he intended to play it. And I think that there were times when James Whale wanted a bit harsher performance and my father stuck to his guns.
Jo: Good, good! And he was right. It was good instincts.
Sara: I think it is proven to be so in cinema history.
Jo: Absolutely. He's one of the most iconic figures. I think that's why it's so eternal and it's because he was definitely right. And I think that anybody else who might've played Frankenstein's monster, it would have been a who different ballgame.
Sara: Well, it would've been a different portrayal. And who knows if it would've been better. It would have been different. That's all one can say.
Jo: Ehhh, I don't know if it would've been better but I'm partial [laughs].
Sara:Well, you know it would've been different. [laughs] That's all we can bet on.
Jo: [laughs] Yes, that's for sure. Another thing that we talked about was his involvement with the television anthology show Thriller that he hosted and starred in 6 episodes. And he seemed to love his work on that. And his little introductions like little soliloquies, were so wonderful. Can we talk a little about that?
Sara: Oh, sure! He loved doing that show and he was proud of it. And again they were some of the best writers and actors and directors of the time involved with that show. And it was a fine, fine production. I mean, people like Ida Lupino, I mean you can look at the jackets for each show and recognize the names today"¦
Jo: Yes, John Brahm. They had a host of good writers and actors, and the character actors were wonderful.
Sara: They were indeed. And then as you said, my father's introduction to each was a bit, not really tongue-in-cheek, but he had a good time doing them.
Jo: And you could see that he really did. And you could see in the beginning they were trying to figure out where they wanted the show to go. Whether it was going to be more crime thriller like Alfred Hitchcock or if it should be more supernatural. And I think once your father took over and started doing the hosting I think it really went in the right direction.
Sara: Well it did indeed. And it captured a large piece of the audience, the viewing audience. And gave Hitch a run for his money.
Jo: Oh yes, I know. I had heard there was something where Hitchcock extended his show to an hour to try to compete with Thriller because it was doing these 50 minute episodes that were like little movies. So I heard there was some kind of, I guess, competition between the two. But I thought Thriller was very unique and very self contained and had it's own thing going for it. You know I was reading that Boris worked on something like 80 pictures and stage performances before he landed the role of Frankenstein's monster.
Sara: It was his 81st film.
Jo: Yes, it was his 81st film. That's incredible. And I was reading in particular that he did a lot of work with director Howard Hawks where he worked on The Criminal Code and Scarface. I know he didn't bring home his work or talk about it, but it is fascinating that there's this whole other aspect of him before he played the monster.
Sara: He did a lot of silents, and a lot of serials. He referred to himself as having been an extra 3rd from the left in the 4th row. He was in the business 10 years and nobody knew it. And 20 years, 10 years in British Columbia in theatre and then 10 years in Hollywood. And as he said Frankenstein was his 81st film and nobody saw the first 80.
Jo: [laughs] Right, right. But now they do. Now they go and they revisit a lot of his work, I know I do.
Sara: And they're trying to redo some of his silents and put them back together.
Jo: Oh, that's wonderful.
Sara: Yes, that'll be fun if they're able to do that.
Jo: Yes, that would be wonderful. Last year, the year before this one, when we first met, we had a good laugh about the picture The Raven which your father costarred in with Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone and how they used to play practical jokes on one another. Do you remember the story you told? They were playing tricks on the set and I just don't remember quite all of it"¦
Sara: Well one of the"¦ I can't remember which of the two films it was, Basil was put in a vat and they thrown all sorts of awful things into that vat of water like cigarette butts and I don't remember what else. And then they sat one it when he was in there and wouldn't let him out.
Jo: [laughs] Oh my goodness! So were they always doing things like that?
Sara: Well that's one example, I don't know all of them. A lot of them are lost to history. And I know that Peter Lorre had a tendency to not learn his lines and adlibbed which drove my father crazy.
Jo: Oh, really? Oh that's interesting [laughs].
Sara: And Vincent was much better at handling that than my father. My father was a stickler for himself learning lines and speaking on cue. And Peter, I guess, drove everybody crazy, including Roger Corman, because he didn't learn his lines and he adlibbed a lot.
Jo: Wow, right. You'd think that Roger Corman would encourage adlibbing because he would just go for broke. He'd do anything on the set. And I could see Vincent Price being"¦ he was a bit of a jokester too, so"¦
Sara: Oh yes, all of them where. All of them had a wonderful sense of humor. Jo: Yeah, they must've had a fantastic time together as an ensemble of actors with each bringing their own thing to the table.
Sara: Oh, indeed and they had such a good time working together because they'd know each other all for years and respected one another professionally, and liked each other personally. And having a chance to spoof their own boogeyman images in these films was a great treat.
Jo: Yes, definitely. Well I have just one more question for you. Beyond being one of the most beloved icons, he's definitely the finest caliber of actor. And I think he transcends the ideology of the horror genre.
Sara: Oh yeah, he did some comedy and he guest stared on an enormous number of television shows of the day. He did some drama. He did a Joseph Conrad with Roddy McDowell and he did all sorts of things.
Jo: Oh yes, I've seen that performance and it was actually an extraordinary performance. Well, one of the things that strikes me about him is that he gives a very emotional and thoughtful contemplation on the human condition. He seems to tap into"”in the most subtle ways"”people's personalities and the inner machinations of people in his performances. And that's probably why the Val Lewton films were so important to him because they were very psychological and suggestive. But this is the question, and I don't know if you can answer it. What do you think your father would want his greatest legacy to be?
Sara: Oh, I can't really answer that. I think that he was a man of integrity and kindness.
Jo: And that's it. That's his legacy. Because that's what seems to remain. I always hear how gentle he was and how gracious he was with the people he worked with. Well, then, putting it this way his legacy definitely lives on through that and through his timeless work. And you travel all over as a curator of his memory. Are there things you hear quite often or most commonly about your father's legacy? Is there one common thing that comes up when you speak to his fans about him?
Sara: Ah, that he was so different than the roles he played. That he was a man of great kindness and gentleness. And how different that was from his roles. And that he had a sense of humor.
Jo: Well, that's what strikes me about him. And I say this to you honestly that when I see him, whenever he comes on the screen, I cry because I feel his gentleness coming through. No matter what he's playing. He could be playing the most nefarious sinister character and yet I know that he's Boris Karloff and I know he's acting and I get into the film. But it makes me cry because I feel like there is such a greatness there. And it comes through. And I mean it that I really wished he was my grandfather [laughs].
Sara: [laughs] Well, he was a lovely man, he really was. He was a lovely human being.
Jo: I wish I could have met him. I mean I feel close to him in a way because we're talking and I see his legacy lives through you. And you keep that alive"¦
Sara: Well, his fans keep it alive. His fans keep his legacy alive. For which I am extremely grateful.,
Jo: Yes, but you keep it alive too. You do a great job of reminding us that he gave us you and"¦
Sara: And he gave us his body of work.
Jo: Yes, he did that too. And I will always love him"¦
Sara: Well, that's wonderful to hear certainly as his daughter.
Jo: I really want to thank you for spending this time talking with me about him. And I think that the fans are absolutely going to love it. And you have my music to keep you company.
Sara: I do indeed. Thank you so much. It's just beautiful, I'm enjoying it immensely.
Jo: Thank you, I love playing piano. That's one of my great passions.
Sara: Well, you can tell from your music.
Jo: Thank you.
Sara: How long have you been playing?
Jo: Since I was 8 years old. For many years I taught myself how to play.
Sara: Did you really?
Jo: Yes, I was going to be trained as a classical pianist and I did have recommendations to Juilliard. But I chose to play my own music and not go the classical route. And I'm happy for that because I play my own work. And I don't think not training hurt me any"¦
Sara: Oh heavens, no. It's beautiful.
Jo: Yes, I wanted to find my own way. And I'm very proud of it.
Sara: Well, I can see why, thank you for sharing it with me.
Jo: Thanks for letting me share it with you. Use it for your healing and I'll be in touch with you. I'll send you the finished piece but we'll speak before that.
Sara: That's great, thank you so very very much.
Jo: You're welcome and thank you for spending time.
This is your EverLovin’ Joey saying Grandpa Boris’ Feature tribute is coming your way!
Universal Studios might have locked her into formulaic romantic comedies and hyperbolic adventures, something Piper Laurie herself felt restricted by, but even those films are still delightful viewing and she shines in each role. Unfortunately, the label stuck to her name and made it impossible for the actress to get serious scripts. Universal forced her to turn down potential break-out dramatic roles with their constrictive servitude. It wasn’t until she took to the stage once again — as she has when first starting out in drama class– and acted in 1950s television shows featuring extraordinary writing and directing, that she was able to shed the stigma of some of Hollywood’s insipid labeling. There were directors and producers who saw something more in Piper Laurie. It is infuriating that she was not given the role director Vittorio DeSica had chosen for her because of Universal’s narrow-mindedness and strangling contract. And it is frustrating that there are remarkable performances from 1950s dramatic teleplays and series that are just not available for viewing. The only performance that I can find is Piper Laurie as Kirsten Arnesen Clay in Playhouse 90’sDays of Wine and Roses directed by John Frankenheimer.
In April 2019 I had the incredible opportunity to sit down and talk with the great actress while at the Chiller Theater Convention here in New Jersey. There, in the midst of enthusiastic fans buzzing around like drones in a spectacle hive excited to see Carrie White’s sinister mother, sat Piper Laurie as beautiful as always. She exudes a gentleness and presence –an aura– that emanates from her smile beneath one of her signature hats. I stood there struck silent for a moment, nervously. I think I might have even trembled a bit, about to meet one of the great actresses I’ve revered for years. Amidst signing autographs and Carrie bobbleheads, her smile greeted me peacefully. She was gracious and welcoming. After I told her that I thought she should have won the Academy Award for her nuanced and provocative performance as the damaged Sarah Packard in Director Robert Rossen’s The Hustler, she invited me to come and sit down and chat with her for a while. I found her to be extremely kind, witty, and in particular, quite feisty and honest.
Just like her incredible life story and eloquently written autobiography Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir (which she proudly informed me was written completely in her own words without the aid of a ghostwriter). While I’ll give some snippets of what you’ll find in Piper Laurie’s captivating autobiography, I’d rather leave you to obtain the book and take the journey with her yourself.
The book details brutally raw and honest expository remembrances of her intense journey as a child, from her early experiences as the reluctant and lovely starlet in 1950s Hollywood to finally finding the voice that she struggled to manifest for so many years because of pathological anxiety. She tells how Universal shackled her to a contract while she slowly grew more courageous wanting to only take good scripts and shatter the image of the vapid Hollywood starlet. The book includes wonderful anecdotes about the days of great actors and directors, the experiences of working in the Hollywood system, and the friendships she established while discovering her creative voice through it all. The book deals with her exploration into love from her first unfortunate encounter with Ronald Reagan to the tumultuous lifelong love affair with director John Frankenheimer.
I told Piper Laurie that I understand why so many people bring up the movie Carrie at these conventions– it stands to reason that there’s a thrill in the mythos of characterizations like that. But it was when I told her how much I loved her work beyond that famous iconic role, she held my hand looked into my eyes, and told me with great and stately sincerity how much that meant to her. This is a piece of time in my life I will always remember with great affection and awe.
Throughout our conversation, her soft eyes look straight into mine and her effervescent smile summoned validation in me and we were having such a real and candid conversation. We talked about her performance in Until They Sail (1957), Robert Wises’ superior underrated film about four sisters during the war. She was thrilled to talk about it, that it was a good film but no one ever mentions it. Piper Laurie’s performance as Delia Leslie is extraordinary filled with layers of self-preservation and boldness.
During WWII the four sisters struggle to survive without the men in their lives. Piper Laurie's performance as Delia Leslie is extraordinary filled with layers of self-preservation and boldness. Delia is a free spirit who will not bend to others’ will.
Piper remarked about the wonderful actresses she got to work within the film as it also starred Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, and Sandra Dee. She told me how sweet Sandra Dee was and that it was her first film role. They had to build her up with a body suit to make her look older and more developed as her character aged. She was very appreciative to talk about the work she had done that she was proud of. [SPOILER ALERT] I told her how upset I was that they killed her off at the end of the film. In her humorous, feisty manner she responded, “They always seem to be killing me off in these things!”
Of course, we talked a little about the phenomenon that is her comeback role in Carrie (1976). She appreciated hearing that it was her performance as Mrs. White that was the true horror narrative of that film, and not the supernatural subplot. Even her orgasmic death scene where being crucified brought her a certain ecstasy emblematic of iconic death scenes on screen for generations.
Piper Laurie as Ruby Claire in Curtis Harrington’s Ruby (1977)
While fans were mimicking “They’re all gonna laugh at You” from Carrie (1976), I asked her about working with director Curtis Harrington and her work in his extremely atmospheric horror film Ruby (1977)where she plays the sensual torch singer Ruby Claire who ran with gangsters during prohibition and owns a drive-in theater haunted by an angry ghost. She got such a kick out of me bringing that film up and told me she herself loves the film! In Ruby, Piper Laurie’s sultry performance is haunting and sexy, and the film is an off-beat gem. She said working with Harrington was a great experience and that he was wonderful to work with. She also agreed with me that Harrington has a particular sensitivity and sympathetic eye for the vulnerability in women much like Tennessee Williams. His characterizations of women in each of his films are very complex, for example, Simone Signoret in Games 1967, Shelley Winters and Debby Reynolds in What’s The Matter with Helen, Julie Harris in So Awful About Alan, Ann Southern, and Ruth Roman in The Killing Kind and of course Piper as Ruby Claire. “He was a gentle and lovely man during and after.”
I told her how much I loved her performance as Dolly Talbot in The Grass Harp (1995). After reading her autobiography I can see how she manifested the gentle quality of Capote’s ethereal character. In contrast, it’s ironic that a good many people remember the monstrous mother from De Palma’s Carrie –she still frightens horror fans to this day– when Piper Laurie can only think of how funny it was for her to be so mean. Who at first thought the film was supposed to be a comedy and how the director was deadly serious about her playing it utterly satanic right down to getting crucified by kitchen implements? She had to stop herself from laughing during the shooting of that scene.
To be honest, Piper Laurie as Toni Collette’s (Arden’s) mother in The Dead Girl 2006 is far more frightening than Carrie White’s mother could ever be. One is macabre and Grand Guignol and the other is too real and tragic to cause a shudder in your psyche. Having met her it’s even more of a revelation that she is an incredible actor to be able to manifest such horror when she is quite the opposite in true life.
I also mentioned her performance as Mary Highmark in Naked City Howard Running Bear is a Turtle (1963). Naked City is an Emmy Award-winning dramatic television series from the 1960s. Its well-scripted episodes, cinematography, and casting of the finest actors from stage and film were groundbreaking. And while this particular episode is problematic in that actors who were not Native American were miscast in those roles, and they whacked a really awful black wig on Piper, her performance was the one illuminating aspect of the episode. When I reminded her of the show, she remarked, “Didn’t I dance on the table in that?” while she laughed with that distinctive voice of hers. I had to laugh as well and tell her that she was very good in the role, but the wig was frightful. We had a good laugh about it. I joked that perhaps it was the same one they stuck on William Shatner when he played a Balinese man in the other disappointing episode from all 4 seasons. Aside from her dancing –which was really painful to watch as she mimics a Native American dance the partygoers are insensitively asking her to do an offensive impression of– her performance was poignant and powerful. She was surprised that I got that much out of it, in her words, “it didn’t age well” — the wig and the episode.
When I told her that I would be very respectful in the feature about her personal life, she joked about it saying that she would be disappointed if it wasn’t racy! That gentle beaming smile with that sassy sense of humor. I love Piper Laurie even more than I possibly could have before!
As time has moved on her talent has not only diminished she continues to recreate herself and grow even more beautiful with age.
Piper Laurie is a three-time Oscar nominee, nominated by BAFTA as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best performance by an actress in ‘The Hustler’ with Paul Newman. Her career has spanned 7 decades. Piper Laurie earned three Oscar nominations for her portrayal of the tragic Sarah Packard in director Robert Rossen’s The Hustler (1961).
PIPER LAURIE INTERVIEW FROM 2012 TALKING ABOUT ROBERT ROSSEN’S THE HUSTLER (1961)
The character of Sarah Packard (The Hustler) is immortalized on the screen by an arresting performance by Piper Laurie (Kim Novak had turned down the role) who should have won the Oscar for Best Actress with her nuanced, and heart-wrenching interpretation of the vulnerable loner and self-loathing Sarah. Director Robert Rossen has often dealt with the intricacies within the psychological landscape of his films. (The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946, All the King’s Men 1949, Lilith 1964, Billy Budd 1962).
Sarah Packard is a complicated woman who has a tenuous connection to the world but allows herself to fall in love with Eddie who is driven to succeed and land at the top as the greatest pool hustler. Sarah is a lost soul longing for someone who will love her. She receives a stipend from her wealthy father, but there is no sign of affection or acceptance from him, his is non-existent. Eddie awakens desire in her, but he cannot deliver anything but his hunger and ambition to beat Minnesota Fats and attain the title. Fast Eddie destroys everything he touches. In order to really throw herself into the role of Sarah Packard Piper Laurie actually hung out at the Greyhound terminal at night.
Piper Laurie was also nominated for her portrayal as Sarah’s mother Mrs. Norman in Children of a Lesser God (1986) and quite notably as the fanatical nightmarish mother Mrs. White in Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) But those who remember her best from that role may be surprised to learn that she overcame an equally turbulent childhood, including an anxiety disorder that left her unable to communicate as a child.
Once free of Universal's iron grip she was able to take on roles in dramatic teleplays, performances in the theater, and in films that would lead her to her signature artistry. Some of her most memorable performances were the stage production of The Glass Menagerie on Broadway, the original Days of Wine and Roses, in the film The Hustler for which she was nominated for the Academy Award.
After a hiatus from acting she reemerged in the iconic horror film Carrie in 1976 and had a major role in David Lynch's cult television show Twin Peaks, Children of a Lesser God, Tim, and The Grass Harp. Piper Laurie is also a skilled sculptor and director, and one of the industry’s most brave and talented originals.
"I've had a tough life sometimes, and a very rewarding one," Piper exclusively shared with Closer Weekly in 2018. Who is "not frightened often by anything. Either I've been through it before, or I just know I will survive!"
Cheesecake pin-up model Piper Laurie posing in the hay. (Photo By Ed Clark/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images).
There are so many intricate details of Piper Laurie’s journey that it would be impossible to sum it all up in one tribute. Besides I’d like to leave plenty of the morsels and insights that are so well written in her book. I can’t think of a better way to tribute the great actress than by allowing her to tell the full story in her own words. I cannot stress again the importance of getting this amazing autobiography and delving into the weeds with this brilliant woman who has a compelling story to share with us.
Piper Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs on January 22nd, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents, Charlotte Sadie, and Alfred Jacobs, were of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent. It wasn't easy for her parents to raise two little girls in the middle of the Depression. After years of struggling to survive Rosy's weary mother took her sister Sherrye, who suffered from a terrible case of Asthma, and Rosy to a Sanitarium in the Mountains called Reslocks a home for children in the northeastern part of the San Fernando Valley. Grandmother and mother dropped the two little girls off without goodbyes as Rosy felt everything go black, she had fainted. She was left there to keep her sister company for 3 years in the cold dormitory-style home where there was no nurturing presence just steel-handed guidance from unemotional guardians who inflicted more harm than good on the children in their care. With no contact with her mother except for a visit or two, otherwise, the girl was left at the mercy of Reslocks.
"As for me, my exile had cultivated an imagination that grew like a giant sheltering flower. It was a lifetime gift."
Though Rosy, then called Sissy returned home, the desperate love that she originally felt for her mother turned into something dark, and the years away drove a wedge between mother and daughter. "During the long years in the sanitarium, I had felt like a motherless child. Three years after leaving it, my mother consumes my life. For better or worse, my life had become hers, and I didn't know any other way to live it."
As a child, Rosy desperately loved her mother and suffered from an acute anxiety disorder that often left her in a fugue state when attentions were upon her. "People's patient expectations caused me to panic." The family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1938 where Piper attended Hebrew School and the shy Piper was enrolled in elocution and then acting lessons.
Piper's passion for performing started as early as 2 years old when she heard a full orchestra play for the first time. Taken by the magnitude of the instrumentation, so moved she climbed onto her mother's lap, frightened by the sheer vibrations of it, but moved by it at the same time. Another time she saw Jane Withers perform "Out of what cloud had she come? Fantastic How did this happen? It was unfathomable to me that a child could get that kind of attention and adulation."
Rosy's first play at age 11 was Guest in the House. It was her mother that suggested she be in the movies. She would devour the Technicolor musicals with Betty Grable and Alice Faye and the black and white comedies starring Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers. When she was 14 she was brought by her agent to Howard Hughes’s office as an offering but the two sat quietly, as he decided not to elect to add her to his list of conquest. Through their silence, she began to realize her own isolation. She won a screen test with Warner Bros. took elocution lessons and eventually studied with German actress Hermine Sterler who taught her to lose her "˜tricks' and find her sense memory to "be "˜specific' about subtext and to be honest in every moment."
Piper talks about going to see Judith Anderson in the production of Euripides' Medea at the Biltmore Theater. "My eyes were opened that night and have yet to close"¦ What moved me was her inner nakedness. I could hear her and feel her power. The whole experience of the play was life-changing for me. It was so clear-the beauty, creativity, and epically the courage of the theater and the actors were what I wanted. My dreams were now being transformed into another vision, completely my own."
She studied acting with Benno and Betomi Schnider at the Actor’s Lab "My concentration and imagination out of necessity and opportunity had developed so fully during my childhood. It was one of the gifts from those years." She took classes with these great teachers for almost 3 years. Tony Curtis was the newest member of the acting class. He was under contract at Universal but had only done some bit parts. It was there she met classmate and friend Bob Richards. He directed her in a class in the Tennessee William's one-act play This Property Condemned. The play seems so "organic' to her spirit.
She was offered a test option at Warner Bros after they saw her performance in Schneider's class. It was 1949 when they were ending all their contracts with their big stars. Shortly after she turned 17 her agent Herb Brenner showed the test to Universal. She was called in for an interview and did a performance from This Property Condemned. She came back and did a second performance in front of a crowded class of new actors. The handsome Richard Long was one of them who said "That's the best piece of work I've ever seen in this room"
After, she signed a long-term contract with Universal Studios and changed her name to Piper Laurie. It was her first manager Ted Raden who came up with the name. Her breakout role was in Louise with Ronald Reagan. With Universal, she made over 20 films starring opposite actors like Rock Hudson, Tyrone Power, and Tony Curtis. To build up a mystique around the young actress, Universal Studios claimed she bathed in milk and ate flower petals. But failing to get serious roles, she broke her contract with Universal and moved to New York City. Two years there working in theatre and live television turned her career around. During this time she appeared in live television performances of Twelfth Night, Days of Wine and Roses, and Winterset, both presented by Playhouse 90.
The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) Tony Curtis, Everette Sloane, and Piper Laurie.
Piper Laurie in The Mississippi Gambler.
American actor Rory Calhoun (1922 – 1999) with actresses Piper Laurie (right) and Mamie Van Doren (left) in a publicity still for the 1955 comedy romance ‘Ain’t Misbehavin”. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Universal thrust their brightest new star into a regime with stylists and chaperones and cast in leading roles, sent on dates with some of the most handsome Hollywood actors for publicity. Her popularity and fresh allure attracted a myriad of fans and men like Ronald Reagan Howard Hughes, Paul Newman, Tony Curtis, and Roddy MacDowall including dozens of significant directors. Piper Laurie's name appeared on movie marquees across America starring in hit Hollywood films of the 1950s like The Prince Who Was s a Thief, The Mississippi Gambler, and Ain't Misbehavin' (1955).
She started to feel her confidence growing inside. Kirk Douglas was preparing to produce a movie and was looking for a young girl to co-star opposite him. Piper would be under contract with Kirk Douglas. Being an inexperienced seventeen year old she was advised to wait for Universal. Perhaps this was a missed opportunity. But Piper Laurie says she regrets very little in her life, even her mistakes.
She was locked inside a prison away from her creativity, not realizing that Universal made low-budget B westerns and programmers. She was given gems of advice like this beauty from the judge who witnessed her signing her contract. "Don't ever let men know that you are smart." She was thrown into a "˜boot camp' of training to become their latest ingenue. Changing her clothes, hairstyles, and makeup.
From the young dreams of a silent little girl, Piper Laurie struggled to break free of the oppressive culture of the studio system with its inherent objectification of their female stars and holding them back from more substantive roles. She was uncomfortable and embarrassed by the shallowness of the quality of the scripts she was given and finally, The courageous actress found her voice and sought out the artistic vision she had longed for since she was a child.
In her first picture Louisa, the entire cast embraced Piper warmly it was a charming part to play Spring Byington's granddaughter who acted more like a teenager than she did. Edmund Gwenn would visit her in her dressing room to sing little songs with her. Charles Coburn would sit out on the soundstage puffing on his cigars and coaching Piper on her role.
About the film Louisa"¦ "I couldn't find any reality in what my character did in the script or in the words she used. Every line and moment for the girl seemed like a cartoon. It seemed to me that a real girl would be amused and appreciate her grandmother's behavior. Perhaps in a more clearly stylized screenplay, I could have found a way to make this caricature of a teenager live. I kept trying to think of ways to make her real for myself, but it was a constant struggle on the set."
The relentless publicity campaign. Fred Banker was the publicity man for Louisa. He had this idea based on one of the scenes in the film where Edmund Gwenn prepares a salad for the family. He tosses marigold petals from a centerpiece on the table into the salad. When Fred studied the scene he got the flash and called the wire services. "Universal's new contract player-Piper Laurie-eats nothing but flowers," and arranged exclusive interviews with the flower-eating girl. She had to play along. At the commissary there she sat eating a meal that was an assortment of edible flowers prepared artistically on a plate. Piper said it was more interesting than her role in the movie! "Oh yes, they're really delicious." Ultimately she would go home dejected about pushing this lie every day. "My expectations to make art were beginning to crumble."
Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie in No Room for the Groom (1952)
In the 1950s universal paired newcomers Piper Laurie and Tony Curtis old classmates from Benno and Bertomis acting classes they were in four movies together. Make Room For the Groom, The PrinceWho Was a Thief, and Johnny Dark 1954. Curtis had been very unkind publicly about his co-star’s performances saying that he was the real draw. This was very hurtful to Piper Laurie and the two actors never became friends after that. 1950 Louisa is a delightful romantic comedy starring Spring Byington in the lead role as the Grandmother Louisa Norton who allows herself to be wooed by two gentlemen Edmund Gwenn and Charles Coburn. In Piper Laurie’s first role, she plays Louisa’s granddaughter Cathy with a feisty spirit bringing plucky charm to her film debut.
American actress Piper Laurie, circa 1958. (Photo by Frederic Lewis/Archive Photos/Getty Images).
1950 The Milkman, 1951 Francis Goes to the Racesas Frances Travers, 1951 The Prince Who Was a Thief as Tina, 1952 No Room for the Groom as Lee Kingshead, 1952 Has Anybody Seen My Gal as Millicent Blaisdell, 1952 Son of Ali Baba as Princess Azura of Fez / Kiki, 1953 The Golden Blade as Khairuzan- she has wonderful chemistry with Rock Hudson, the two are quite funny together, it showcases Piper Laurie’s comedic sensibilities and IMO the affinity between Hudson and Laurie is far more cohesive than all her pairings with Tony Curtis together, Dawn at Socorro (1954) as Rannah Hayes, Johnny Dark (1954) As Liz Fielding, 1954 Dangerous Mission as Louise Graham. Again the chemistry between Rory Calhoun and Victor Mature is tenable in both Dangerous Mission and the surprisingly good Western Dawn at Socorro and the romantic comedy Ain’t Misbehavin’. Both male stars make a great pairing with Piper Laurie.
Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie in Has Anybody Seen My Gal.
Piper Laurie and Rory Calhoun in Dawn at Socorro (1954).
Victor Mature and Piper Laurie in Dangerous Mission (1954).
Piper Laurie in The Golden Blade (1953) with Rock Hudson.
In 1953 The Mississippi Gambler Piper Laurie plays the beautiful Angelique ‘Leia’ Dureau She possesses a great vitality and a driving hunger to live life. In 1854, Mississippi riverboat honest card gambler Mark Fallon (Tyrone Power) wins young Laurent Dureau’s (John Baer) diamond necklace family heirloom. Fallon pairs up with Kansas John Polly (John McIntire) who goes on a mission to clean up gambling and push an honest game on the river boats. At first, he hires Angelique whose brother loses her diamond necklace in a poker game but she cannot deny the fiery chemistry between them.
Angelique: "May I ask you one question before I leave you abruptly , knowing how I feel about you why did you humiliate yourself by asking me to dance?"
Mark: "Oh a matter of courtesy If a man is going to ask a woman to humiliate herself then he should be willing to accept it first."
Angelique: "I don't understand"
Mark: "You and I are in love with each other. We always will be. We've known it since that first moment we met in St. Louis. I want you and your happiness. But you're not ready for marriage yet and I won't be until you can truly be happy with a man.
The Mississippi Gambler ended Tyrone Power’s marriage to Linda Christian. The film was originally a vehicle to pair the couple, but Universal Pictures pushed for their starlet Piper Laurie to be cast in the role of Angelique.
Piper Laurie plays a good-time gal who marries the wealthy Rory Calhoun. This puts high society onlookers enraged that he should marry a showgirl. She should be a lady of quality. So she tries to stop causing scandals for her wonderful husband and get some culture. Piper Laurie is witty and does a great job fending off the old hen set on putting her down. Rowdy Club girl including Mamie Van Doren crashes high society when a wealthy older man falls for her (1955) Ain’t Misbehavin‘ as Sarah Bernhardt Hatfield. Piper was very proud of her singing and dancing. Her character shined and Piper was a natural at being very humorous, and graceful with quick comebacks.
I've seen people ask her about Tony Curtis, and Rock Hudson but I think that her chemistry with Rory Calhoun is romantic sweet, sharp witty, and a sexy delight to watch. They were able to shift gears in Dawn in Socorro and bring out a more serious deeper emotional connection in that picture. I for one enjoy seeing them act together. in Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1955). Rory Calhoun plays Kenneth Post who loves Sarah for who she is, but she tries to fit into the role of high society girl. Painting to understand the old masters etc. Reginald Gardiner as Anatole Piermont Rogers is hilarious. And Jack Carson is obsessed with protecting his friend from bad publicity is at his polished gruff best for this romantic comedy.
Kenneth Post- “Have you ever been to a psychiatrist?”
Sarah- “Just once, he gave me fifty dollars not to come back.”
During this time Piper Laurie met director John Frankenheimer in Los Angeles. She was dating Gene Nelson they had dinner with John and his wife Carolyn. He was a new director at that point, but he was up and coming right out of New York. She was told by Millie Gussie to go and observe John in action. She sneaked into a booth and watched John Frankenheimer direct with an “incredible display of an artist’s intelligence, combined with the speed and power of a tornado. Watching him was like seeing a thunder and lightning storm conducted by a musician.” He winds up directing her in The Ninth Day for Playhouse 90. It was one of Piper’s favorite live shows. Written by Dorothy and Howard Baker, with a beautiful script, ‘lots of humor and humanity’ The cast was Mary Astor, James Dunn, Victor Jory, John Kerr, Elizabeth Patterson, and Nehemiah Persoff. This was the first time John and Piper worked together.
In 1955 she was in Robert Montgomery Presents (TV Series)"¨ Stacey Spender"¨- Quality Town (1955).
All the exciting dramatic performances were happening on live television now. She then got a script for Robert Montgomery Presents it was an hour-long dramatic broadcast from New York. It was a great script called Quality Town This would be a substantial and challenging role for Piper Laurie. Rehearsing for the live television show was a lot like preparing for a play.
Joseph Mankiewicz had seen the performance and deemed it some of the best acting he had seen on television. The two had a little memorable tryst back in those early days of Piper's budding dramatic television career. Scripts for live television were coming in.
(1955) The Best of Broadway (TV Series) "¨Billie Moore- Broadway (1955) … Billie Moore, 1956 The Ninth Day(TV Movie), 1956 Kelly and Me as Mina Van Runkel, (1956) The Road that Led AfarG.E. Theater, (1956) Front Row Center (TV Series) as Judy Jones, (1957-1958) Playhouse 90 (TV Series)"¨ Kirsten Arnesen Clay / Ruth McAdam – Days of Wine and Roses(1958) … Kirsten Arnesen Clay – The Ninth Day (1957) … Ruth McAdam, (1957) The Seven Lively Arts (TV Series)- The Changing Ways of Love (1957) "¨(1957) Studio One in Hollywood (TV Series) as Ruth Cornelius- The Deaf Heart(1957). Director Robert Wise’s film (1957) Until They Sail"¨as Delia Leslie Friskett, (1959) Winterset (TV Movie) as Miriamne, (1959) Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (TV Series) as Eileen Gorman- The Innocent Assassin. (1959).
Piper Laurie goes to New York. "We can't afford to have a Piper Laurie and what she stands for in the play." Humiliated she flew back to L.A.
She appeared in Studio One'sThe Deaf Heart (1957) directed by Sidney Lumet, a poignantly beautiful one-hour play centered around psychosomatic illness written by Mayo Simon about a woman who is the sole caregiver in a family of nonhearing people. The play co-starred Vivian Nathan, William Shatner, Richard Shepard the great Ruth White, and Fritz Weaver.
The next show directed once again by Sidney Lumet was challenging in that Piper Laurie would be playing three different roles in one play. The show was called "”The Changing Way of Love. The first was Awake and Sing! By Clifford Odets co-starring Jason Robards Jr. The next vignette would co-star Rip Torn in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams." The third act was called Three Empty Rooms by Reginald Rose co-starring Dick York.
By that time Piper was working on simultaneous projects including her role as Viola in Maurice Evan's production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
With all of Piper's extraordinary anxiety around performing "Sometimes my anxiety was eased when I was bold. I found my greatest strength and power when things were tough."
"I had finally shed my life as a harem cutie and didn't think twice when I expressed my outrage for the love of art."
During the late 50s and early 60s Piper worked on Studio One in Hollywood's The Deaf Heart 1957, The Seven Lively Arts' The Changing Ways of Love (1957), Playhouse 90 The Ninth Day 1957 and Days of Wine and Roses (1958), Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse The Innocent Assassin (1959), Play of the Week's Legend of Lovers (1960), as Phoebe Durkin in G.E. Theater's The Road That Led Afar (1956), Caesar and Cleopatra (1959), A Musket for Jessica (1961), Westinghouse Presents Come Again to Carthage, The United Stated Steel Hour Mission of Fear (1963), You Can't Have Everything (1960).
Actress Piper Laurie acting in a scene from Caesar and Cleopatra with actor Maurice Evans. (Photo by Allan Grant/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
Despite her growing reputation for being difficult, she was still receiving offers for challenging roles. Director Mitch Leisen offered her the part in George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra for G.E. Theater. She had another encounter with Maurice Evans who had referred to Piper as a pariah the year before. Evans didn't remember the debacle with Twelfth Night and was fine working with Piper again. "He was like a charming kitten." Piper was gracious and made the effort to be open to working opposite him for a 30-minute straight run-through.
After being complacent at Universal Piper started to swing out at anything that didn't feel right to her, even if it was not seemingly important, it was the principal. She regrets having given director Ralph Nelson such a hard time on his Play of the Week show called Legend of LoversPiper playing Eurydice starring Robert Loggia and Sam Jaffe. Piper Laurie was now empowered to speak her mind. She might have been earning a reputation in the industry as a difficult actress to work with but she had years of being compliant to make up for. Universal had unleashed a woman whose voice would not be silent. As Piper says in the title of her brutally honest autobiography, to speak out loud.
Frustrated, wanting to meet directors and producers who would take her seriously. Their perceptions came from the publicity, never even having seen her films. Finally, her agent gave her a script, one he had to steal because the producers just thought she was a "˜glamorous bimbo' It was a drama for G.E. Theater. The Road That Led Afar (1956) written by Hagar Wilde. And adapted from an original story by Lula Vollmer. She had to keep pushing her agent to fight with the producer who did not want to even consider her for the part of a young rural girl. She showed up for the reading wearing old jeans and no makeup. That night the producers called and said they were mistaken about her and she got the part. The show was directed by Herschel Daugherty. She co-starred with Dan Duryea who would play the older man who takes her for his bride and to live with his motherless children. The preacher is played by Edgar Buchanan who marries them. The role would be an entirely different role than anything from her past career, it would be a break from being her past. She felt blessed to have this role. She received her first Emmy nomination as Best Actress for The Road that Led Afar.
Then came a version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams" (1956)directed by Ralph Nelson and co-starring Anthony Perkins filmed for CBS studios in Los Angeles. She was playing real people not contrived shallow characters.
Participating in the USO in Korea opened her heart and her eyes. "My empty person was starting to be filled. The Korean trip opened my heart and my eyes. But when I go home and returned to the business of show business, it seemed I was wasting my life. The efforts made by my agent to get me some freedom to work at other studios, or on television or on the stage, were rejected. Even my requests for time off to work in Betomi's class were denied. Universal kept refusing to loan Piper out to other studios though the press was unkind to her, she felt like she had "˜signed her life away.
Upon finishing Ain't MisbehavingPiper Laurie was sent a new script for a low-budget Western starring Audie Murphy. This was the last straw! She felt so unappreciated at this point that she had finally hit the wall. She had endured enough. She told her agent Mike Zimring that she'd rather go to prison than work for Universal any further. Even though the studio offered her more money she wanted out. Universal finally released her from the contract but imposed a penalty of $25,000 per movie, and she'd have to do one a year for three years. But now how was she going to put the image that Universal imposed on her, behind her and recreate her public identity?
Piper was asked to do a screen test for The Goddess (1958) but she turned down the part it wasn't the right timing for her as she was now pregnant, of course, the part went to the inimitable Kim Stanley.
STAGE WORK:
Pat Hingle, Maureen Stapleton, George Grizzard, and Piper Laurie in The Glass Menagerie.
After that, Piper Laurie became extremely selective about her work. After arriving in New York Piper’s first experience in Theater was two, one-act plays written by Molly Kazan called Rosemary and The Alligators (1960) at the York Playhouse. Then she did The Glass Menagerie (1965). Tennessee Williams considered Piper to be one of the greatest actresses of all time. Piper was accepted into Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse. She appeared in The Destiny of Me at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (1992), Biography at Stage 73 (1980), Mornings at Seven (2002), and Zero Hour 2009/2010.
PL: Â It’s similar, but live television is much more extreme. It’s really walking on the high wire. I don’t think people today understand that when you did the show, not only could you not do it again, but it was going out on the air at that moment to everyone in the country. And whatever mistakes you made, that was it. You would live with it for the rest of your career. It was really chancy. It was a daredevil act. I was terrified and forced myself to do it, because I thought I should and thought I could. And it was very rewarding.
Frankenheimer was the ideal director for her newfound sensibilities, brutally honest but sensitive, and utmost he was imaginative. He then directed her in The Days of Wine and Roses (1958).
“On broadcast day we had a late call so I drove several hours away, through the rolling hills of the Valley, almost to the ocean. I was trying to deal with the terror that threatened to overwhelm me. I drove so far that I could not go farther without being late for the dress rehearsal. I was tempted to keep driving and miss the whole thing, this thing we’d been rehearsing and dreaming about for so many weeks. I looked around at the hills, breathless at the beauty of the world, and prayed for strength and guidance that my work could be part of it. The broadcast was that night. The countdown to air for a live show never gets easier. This was the time actors clung to whatever spiritual belief they had. I looked at Cliff across the room, in position for the first scene, and, with all the intensity I possessed, sent my energy across to him and asked him silently to play with me And I answered. The miracles of this show: Cliff opened himself so beautifully to me and on air we played together for the first time.”
New York Times review by Jack Gould-
“It was brilliant and compelling work…Miss Laurie’s performance was enough to make the flesh crawl, yet it always elicited deep sympathy. Her interpretation of the young wife just a shade this side of delirium tremens–the flighty dancing around the room, her weakness of character and moments of anxiety and her moments of charm when she was sober–was a superlative accomplishment. Miss Laurie is moving into the forefront of our most gifted young actresses.”
Piper Laurie was cast in the stage play Handful of Fire (1958) opposite good friend Roddy MacDowall produced by Bob Lewis. Piper was eventually replaced which was devastating to her. Her good friend Roddy came over to comfort her. John Frankenheimer had worked well with Piper on The Ninth Day, he asked her to do Days of Wine and Roses (1958). She had never played a drunk scene in all of her acting classes. She visited AA meetings to research the mindset of being an alcoholic. Her performance in Frankenheimer’s teleplay is nothing short of raw and astounding.
Emmy TV Legends interview Piper Laurie about Days of Wine and Roses
When John’s marriage to Carolyn was over, he asked Rosie (Piper) to marry him. “Rosie I want to marry you! I’ve been in love with you for such a long time. I want us to be together.” Piper-“Slowly at first, and then completely, John became the love of my life.”
Though Montgomery Clift was one of the actors she would have most liked to perform with she turned down the film Miss Lonelyhearts filmed as Lonelyhearts (1958) a story by Nathaniel West. Monty Clift was friends with Roddy MacDowall whom Piper also knew at the time. Monty sought out Piper for the role even coming to her home. He tried to convince her to take the romantic lead opposite him in the movie. Piper wasn't interested in the script, and Monty agreed but he was counting on both their performances to lift the script and elevate it to a high level. The film was considered a failure, she does often wonder if it was a missed opportunity. But there was no more compromising for Piper Laurie.
I’ve loved Barbara Rush for as long as I can remember. In every role where she graced the screen she left a lasting impression on me. I’ve followed her career from major motion pictures to wonderful dramatic television programs. To me, she is one of the great screen stars of all time "” there is no one quite like her and her subtle emotional layers of acting that get peeled away with each scene. Barbara Rush possesses an inimitable grace and fine beauty. She has a transcendent gracefulness and a speaking voice that pours like honey. And when her words are meant to cut it's not with knives or claws but with a feather quill carefully placed, an intelligent stroking, a gentle lash across the heart to cause the hurt. She has the finesse of diamond cut. She moves with great poise of a dancer, a beautiful gazelle stirring in the gentle quiet spaces of silent woods. A smile that beams like the sunniest of days.
When I think of Barbara Rush I think of a versatile acting style and an ability to draw out deep emotions. She delivers all of her lines with a deft swiftness that is subtle in all directions, ironically, witty, seriously thoughtful and always deeply from the heart.
When I see Barbara Rush I see beauty personified by elegance and an emanating dignity. Barbara Rush will always remain in my eyes, one of the most gentlewoman of the screen. No matter what role she is inhabiting, she brings a certain kind of class that is not learned, it's inherent. The actress also is the most kind and generous with her compliments and her fond rememberances of her fellow actors and colleagues. She worked with some the finest actors in Hollywood, stage, and television, co-starring with the most notable actors such as James Mason, Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Richard Burton and Kirk Douglas. Her roles were diverse– from savvy independent society girls, and disillusioned house wives, to an Irish spitfire and an iconic science fiction heroine.
She was born in Denver, Colorado in 1927 and graduated from University of California in 1948. Then she joined the University Players, taking acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse School for Performing Arts in Pasadena, California.
By Susan King Los Angeles Times:“She talks about everybody she's worked with "” even the notoriously difficult Joan Crawford "” with an endearing sweetness that makes you feel like you've known her forever. And in a way, we have…
She fondly recalls her time on the set with Niven and others. "I was just this foolish young girl," she said of her character. "David Niven, he made me laugh so hard. They couldn't [shoot] me because I was laughing so hard. I kept apologizing. He was a raconteur, always telling stories about what he did. Nunnally Johnson made me laugh all the time. I was really hopeless."
Rush worked with Frank Sinatra in the 1963 comedy Come Blow your Horn and in the 1964 Rat Pack musical "Robin and the Seven Hoods." She admitted she was nervous about working with Sinatra because she learned he didn't rehearse. "I am from the stage,"she said. "I really can't do [a scene] unless I rehearse. I didn't know what to do."
Rush talked to an actress (Carolyn Jones) who had just worked with him. "She said, "˜This is what you do, Barbara. You go up to him and say, "˜Mr. Sinatra?' He'll say, "˜Call me Frank. Now what I can do for you?'
So, she asked Sinatra if they could rehearse their first scene just one time. "He said, ‘Baby doll, of course. I'll do that with you. Clear the stage. Get everybody to leave. Barbara and I are going to go over the scene.'We went over the scene just once. From then on, he said, "˜Are you OK? Do you want to go over it again?' He was just wonderful to me. And he gave me my wardrobe by Edith Head [from the film]. I wore the most wonderful clothes."
Paramount signed Barbara her to a contract in 1950. She debuted with The Goldbergs (1950) as Debby Sherman, acting with Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg. The Goldbergs became a popular television show that deals with the human interest story of famous Jewish Bronx radio & TV family the Goldbergs, their typical struggles and hilarious moments. The show co-stars David Opatoshu and Eduard Franz.
Barbara Rush met actor Jeffrey Hunter and they fell in love. The ideal pair became one of Hollywood's most beloved couples at 20th Century Fox. Barbara Rush and Jeffrey Hunter were married in December of 1950 until their divorce in 1955. Tragically Hunter died of a stroke due to a head injury in 1969.
Barbara Rush also turned to work on the stage. She garnered the Sarah Siddons Award for her starring role in Forty Carats. Making her Broadway debut in the one woman showcase, "A Woman of Independent Means" which also subsequently earned her the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award during its tour. Other showcases included “Private Lives”, “Same Time, Next Year”, “The Night of the Iguana” and “Steel Magnolias”.
Barbara starred in director George Templeton’s Quebec (1951) with John Drew Barrymore and The First Legion (1951) directed by Douglas Sirk co-starring along side Charles Boyer.
Sterling Hayden, Barbara Rush and Forrest Tucker Flaming Feather (1952)
Barbara Rush in Jack Arnold’s It Came From Outer Space (1953)
In (1953) she appeared in Prince of Pirates co-starring John Derek. That same year she would take on the role of heroine Ellen Fields in Jack Arnold’s sublime It Came from Outer Spacethat would become an emblematic performance of a smart and self sufficient leading lady in a science fiction masterpiece, that would leave a legacy for years to come. Ellen-“I just wish we had found just one of them really. Just one little monster to toss into the principles bedroom!”
In it, she co-stars with Richard Carlson who discovers an alien ship has crash landed in the side of a mountain. From the beginning Ellen supports him and doesn’t cower from the threat of extraterrestrials taking over her small desert town. She’s a strong feminist figure whose alien double wields a nifty ray-gun.
Then she starred as Oona in Taza, Son of Cochise (1954), In 1954 Barbara Rush appeared in director Douglas Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession co-starring Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson and Agnes Moorehead. Barbara plays Jane Wyman’s step daughter Joyce. Rock Hudson is a playboy who is seriously injured in a boat crash indirectly causing the death of Jane Wyman’s husband. When he tries to ingratiate himself into her life she becomes blinded. He spends the rest of his life trying to find a deeper understanding of life and the two fall in love.
Barbara Rush in The Black Shield of Falworth (1955)
Barbara Rush and Jack Palance in Kiss of Fire (1955)
Captain Lightfoot 1955 takes place in 1815 Ireland struggling with the ordinary people of Ireland trying to separate themselves from the British Dragoons and seek their independence. Barbara is fiery and beautiful as Aga Doherty the daughter of an Irish Rebel Captain Thunderbolt played by Jeff Morrow. She falls for Rock Hudson a strong willed highwayman who strives to be like his hero Captain Thunderbolt. There is great chemistry between Hudson and Rush, as Aga adds a fiery spirit to the role, again exuding intelligence and that distinct sensibility to deliver lines in her sparkling cheeky manner.
Jeff Morrow, Rock Hudson and Barbara Rush in Captain Lightfoot 1955
Barbara Rush and James Mason in Bigger Than Life (1956)
In Bigger Than Life, mild-mannered schoolteacher Ed Avery (James Mason) suffers from severe headaches and blackouts. He is diagnosed with a rare inflammatory disease of the arteries. With death looming over him, he agrees to an experimental drug, cortisone. And at first he makes a remarkable recovery, but Ed begins to abuse the drug which causes wild mood swings and delusions of grandeur. Eventually he has a complete psychotic break and endangers the life of his family. Barbara Rush gives an emotionally heart wrenching performance as Ed's beleaguered wife Lou who must support him through the madness.
Between 1954-1956 she appeared in 4 separate episodes of Lux Video Theater’s theatrical playets for television. Then in 1956 starred in World in My Corner with Audie Murphy and Jeff Morrow in this lesser known boxing noir. In 1956 Barbara also starred in the emotionally riveting drama Bigger Than Life with co-star James Mason as a teacher who progressively grows psychotic after trying a new drug.
Barbara portrays the sexy Pamela Vincent in the slick film noir Flight to Hong Kong with Rory Calhoun directed by Joseph M. Newman. Barbara appeared in director Nunnally Johnson’s hilarious romantic romp Oh, Men! Oh, Women! (1957) co-starring David Niven, Ginger Rogers and a quirky debut by Tony Randall. Afterwards Barbara appeared in director Martin Ritt’s No Down Payment (1957) co-starring Joanne Woodward, Sheree North Tony Randall and Jeffrey Hunter.
Bigger Than Life (1956)
Oh, Men! Oh, Women! (1957)
In Flight to Hong Kong1956 she plays an independent, sophisticated writer from San Fransisco who pursues a fling with the swarthy smuggler Rory Calhoun because he is wild and different than any other man she usually meets. Pamela is smooth as she maneuvers through the plot leading him on. But, she exploits their passionate fling to write another best selling book and goes back to living a high society life, leaving Tony to flounder after hiding out for a year on steamers. Barbara is good at being cool, collected and coy in this film noir. She plays a very unconventional femme fatale.
1957 Barbara appears as the flighty Myra Hagerman in Oh, Men!, Oh! Women. The scene with her emptying her purse is hilarious and showcases Barbara’s comedic timing. Myra is no stranger to dating men which throws the stiffly composed therapist into a tizzy because of her past. She’s set to marry psychiatrist David Niven who shows off his talent for finesse and comedic fortitude and it’s a delight to watch the banter between Barbara and Niven.
You can tell the actors were having fun with their roles, and you can almost see Barbara Rush holding back the laughter in her scenes with David Niven. They had to do many takes, as she tried to keep a straight face with him.
in director Martin Ritt’s No Down Payment1957 Barbara does a fine job of playing housewife Betty Kreitzer married to Herman (Pat Hingle) with an ensemble cast in a film concerned with 1950s collective aspirations toward the American Dream and upcoming middle class white suburban families with frailties and secrets that's get aired out over nightly BBQs. Barbara's character is the steady rock in the community. She goes to church, isn’t a drinker, and is devoted to her husband Pat Hingle but she does not push him to strive for anything more than being mediocre and mainstream. Barbara Rush as Betty plays this type of middle class American housewife with an expert amount of reserved.
Barbara then appeared with Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, and Dean Martin in The Young Lions (1958) about the intersecting lives of 3 soldiers, two Americans and Brando as a sympathetic Nazi soldier during WWII. Then cameHarry Black and the Tiger (1958) with theatrical television roles on Lux Playhouse “The Connoisseur” and Suspicion’s “A Voice in the Night.”
Marlon Brando and Barbara Rush in The Young Lions (1958)
In The Young Philadelphians (1959) Paul Newman plays Anthony Judson Lawrence an up and coming lawyer who is trying to navigate social pressures and balance his ethics while trying to make a place for himself in Philadelphia. Barbara Rush is wonderful as Joan Dickinson, the bright independent society girl who planned to marry Anthony. She wants him to stick to his morals, yet through misdirection by her father and the misunderstanding that ensues she becomes disappointed in the direction his career goes. The two part ways but fate brings them back together once again. Directed by Vincent Sherman.
Joan Dicknson "At least you have someplace to go. Anthony Judson Lawrence "Haven't you?"
Joan Dickinson "Are you kidding? I have no talents. Nothing. I was very well educated to be an idiot. And I was a good student."Â
"I think Paul has made some really great films, he won Academy Awards and all kinds of things and he's done some wonderful work. But you know just as far as an audience watching a film likes to hear a good tale told, I think this is one of his most enduring films. And I think of all the films that I've done the best one that's played the most on AMC and Turner Classic Movies , they play it over and over again and I still get at least 20 letters about The Young Philadelphians. They love the story. And when I go on cruises and we play films and so forth they always want to see the young Philadelphians and it wasn't even in color, that was a black and white film but the love story is enduring and they seem to like it a great deal. Towards the end of the film Paul wanted certain changes with the script and I think Vincent Sherman was amenable to that and Stewart Stern was brought in and so he came in and did certain scenes and I think it just kind of spiced the picture up a little bit. You know who else was in the film that I loved her"¦ so often when I worked in film I worked with people that I admired a great deal so it was such a happiness to work with them to be able to work with them to be around them, was Alexis Smith. She was a wonderful woman. And I loved her scenes with him. And Otto Krueger, I worked with him on Magnificent Obsession, but I thought he was such a good actor. You know they have these wonderful character actors in it." –Barbara Rush
No one cries quite like Barbara Rush. Though the film is a commentary on class and the focus is predominantly about the male relationships. Barbara's contribution works perfectly to condemn the masculine stubbornness she maintains a dignity throughout the picture never losing her sense of belonging to the narrative.
In 1959 Barbara appeared in Sunday Showcase “What Makes Sammy Run? as Kit Sargent.
Barbara then appeared in The Bramble Bush 1960 directed by Daniel Petrie co-starring Richard Burton. The film deals with mercy killings and small town morals. Richard Burton plays a young doctor Guy Montford who comes back home to his small New England town in order to see his dying friend (Tom Drake) through his last days. Larry is suffering and begs Dr. Guy Montford to help him end his suffering which he does by overdosing him on morphine. Guy is haunted by the mercy killing and finds solace in the arms of Larry’s wife, Margaret, portrayed with a beautiful sensitivity by Barbara Rush. The chemistry is palpable and especially potent in the love scene when Burton and Rush kiss on the boat.
Margaret tells him “That’s the worst part of it. You know we had a passionate relationship our marriage was founded on it. It wasn’t so bad when we could still make love. Now he’s a stranger. A cold white sheet.”
From 1957-1960 Barbara appeared in Playhouse 90 “Alas, Babylon (1960) and “The Troublemakers” (1957). In 1960 Checkmate (TV Series)"¨ she plays Margaret Russell/Nikki"¨- The Dark Divide, a disturbed young women with split personality. She makes a wonderful transition from repressed mouse to sexy femme fatale, giving a stellar performance of a woman conflicted by repression and self-possession. Barbara Rush then appeared in television’s Sunday Showcase, “What Makes Sammy Run?”
Barbara then plays Eve Coe in Strangers When We Meet 1960. Kirk Douglas portrays Larry Coe a suburban architect who loves his wife Eve. This is a role that Barbara once again summons versatility to switch gears and play the epitome of middle class etiquette and decorum. Larry becomes weighed down by his “perfect” marriage and his mundane work, until he meets the sexually frustrated Maggie (Kim Novak) whose husband is not only keeping her in a lovely marriage but wields a big dose of morality on his desirable wife. The two start a passionate affair which leads to a question of complacency, morality and the dilemma of self fulfillment.
As Kirk Douglas’s wife Barbara plays the “pushy housewife” who is practical and uptight and wants Larry to conform. But Larry falls for Kim Novak. Neighbor Walter Matthau finds out about the affair and feels emboldened to try to have his way with Eve on cold rainy afternoon. Coming close to an assault, Eve’s reaction is intense and brutal and Barbara Rush pulls it off without being overwrought yet believable as a woman who has been violated and frightened all while being processing the incident.
It’s a very intense scene played very well by Barbara. Afterwards she realizes why Felix might have felt empowered to make a pass, Eve telling Larry about the attempted assault- “I’ve been sitting here thinking what gave Felix the peculiar notion that I’d be an easy mark.” Barbara does an excellent job of playing the middle class housewife who fits a certain mold, but eventually catches onto the affair and her raw emotions begin to surface. It shows her range, serious and vulnerable.
She appeared in the 1960 episode of Theatre ’62, “Notorious”, and also in 1962 General Electric Theater’s “A Very Special Girl.” She appeared in four episodes of Saints and Sinners– “New Lead Berlin” 1963, “The Home-Coming Bit” 1963, “Luscious Lois 1962” “Dear George, the Siamese Cat is Missing” 1962. And she appeared in a Ben Casey “From Too Much Love of Living,” directed by Mark Rydell.
The Eleventh Hour episode “Make Me a Place” to me is one of Barbara Rush’s stand out performances. Wendell Corey plays a psychiatrist in the series who helps his patients find their way through the maze of problems. Barbara Rush gives an extraordinary performance as Linda Kinkaid, a fragile woman who has had a breakdown. And is under the impression she might be trying to kill herself again. Barbara plays the role carefully restrained without appearing hysterical relating some of the most powerfully emotional scenes I’ve experienced anywhere. Her performance will rip your heart out, and leave you in tears. She should have won an Emmy for that acting feat. The episode co-stars David Janssen.
1963 Come Blow Your Horn, Tony Bill plays Buddy Baker who leaves his parent’s (Molly Picon and Lee J. Cobb) stifling home and goes to live with his swinging stylish brother Alan (Frank Sinatra) who has a slew of women. Barbara plays the one steady classy lady in Alan’s life, the sophisticated mature Connie who wants a commitment from the playboy and teaches him what love really is. The chemistry between Sinatra and Rush is once again very dynamic.
In 1964 she appeared in The Outer Limits “The Form of Things Unknown” as Leonora Edmund co-starring Vera Miles. A powerfully atmospheric fairy tale written by Joseph Stefano. Barbara Rush and Vera Miles play Leonora Edmond and Kasha Paine who are at the mercy of a ruthless blackmailer Andre (Scott Marlowe). When the two women flee after poisoning him they stumble onto a mysterious house during a rain storm. There they meet the butler Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Colus who tends to the house belonging to the brooding young inventor Tone Hobart (David McCallum) obsessed with his time machine made up of clocks.
Both Barbara Rush and Vera Miles turn in outstanding performances amidst this dark fairy tale landscape. Both women’s very antithetical roles play off each other brilliantly. Stefano’s writing is layered with psychological maelstroms and the cast interpret the story magnificently without reducing it to a simple hour long television fantasy yarn.
“Robin and the 7 Hoods” Sammy Davis Jr., Richard Bakalyan, Frank Sinatra, Hank Henry, Dean Martin, Barbara Rush, Victor Buono 1964 Warner Brothers ** I.V.
Barbara continued to make several significant television drama appearances in 1965, including Kraft Suspense Theatre “In Darkness, Waiting,” Vacation Playhouse, Convoy, The Barbara Rush Show, Checkmate “The Dark Divide”, Dr. Kildare “With Hellfire and Thunder” and “Daily Flights to Olympus” co-starring James Daly, and in 1966 Laredo, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater.Â
Then came Robin and the 7 Hoods where she plays Marian, a classy vamp who's outfits are divine. She's cheeky, sophisticated, funny, and also cunning and deliciously mercenary as a mob boss who runs circles around all the hoodlums in the city.
In The Fugitive she plays Barry Morris’ wife Marie Lindsey Gerard in the episode Landscape with Running Figures (1965). It’s a dramatic performance as the wife of the man so driven to catch wrongly accused Doctor Richard Kimble that his obsession drives his wife away and into a dangerous situation. Barbara Rush conveys a woman who is repulsed by her husband’s mad course to bring the fugitive in. While leaving Gerard behind, she is injured in a bus accident and of course Dr Kimble is there. It is up the good doctor to get her the help she needs. Barbara plays the situation with pathos and intensity she is temporarily blinded and doesn’t realize that it is the man her husband has been pursuing who is helping her to safety. It’s one of the best episodes of the series. not least of which is due to Barbara Rush’s compelling, intuitive performance. “I should explain my marriage to you Mr. Carver (Richard Kimble’s alias) What you see before you is the losing end of a triangle. I lost my husband to a Will O The Wisp who drifted in and out twisting our lives. The little man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today. He’s never there.”
Barbara Rush And Frederic March in a scene from the film ‘Hombre’, 1967. (Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)
in 1968 Barbara starred in Hombre with Paul Newman directed by Martin Ritt. In the Batman (1968-69) television series Barbara played villainess Nora Clavicle and the Ladies’ Crime Club and Nora appeared again in “Louie’s Lethal Lilac Time.”
She starred as Marsha Russell in the popular dramatic television evening series Peyton Place, appearing in over 75 episodes of the show until it’s end.
Barbara also appeared in four distinctive Medical Center episodes. A Life is Waiting (1969) is a very feminist episode that challenges the idea that a women's body is her husbands property. Barbara Rush gives a powerful performance as Nora Caldwell, a woman who recognizes the tenuous hold she's had over her identity and her place in her husband’s world. Barbara delivers thoughtful cutting oft dark comedic lines while giving an emotionally potent portrayal of a women fighting to be heard. In Awakening (1972) Barbara plays Judy whose husband has woken from a coma after three years. Judy has moved on from her marriage and blames him for the death of their 9 year old daughter. She gives a tour-de-force as a woman torn between her own needs, and ties to the past.
BARBARA RUSH ACTRESS 01 May 1980 CTC4589 Allstar/Cinetext/
I would never resort to objectifying the great actress by reducing my commentary to just how beautiful she looks but I am bound to mention this or I'll bust"¦ Aside from her tremendous acting, I love her signature hair styles and her incredible fashion sense that has followed her throughout her career, on and off screen and to this day. And she carries it well.
Other television appearances during the 1960s-70s include Love, American Style 1970, The Mod Squad 1971 the television movie Suddenly Single 1971, Night Gallery 1971 “Cool Air” Cutter 1972 tv movie, Marcus Welby M.D. episodes “Silken Threads and Silver Hooks 1960”, & “Don’t Talk About Darkness 1972” McCloud 1972, The Eyes of Charles Sands 1972 tv movie, Cade’s County 1972, The Man 1972, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law 1972. Barbara Rush plays Louise Rodanthe in the tv movie Moon of the Wolf 1972, Maude 1972 “Maude’s Reunion” Barbara plays old school pal Bunny Nash. Ironside 1971-72 episodes Ring of Prayer” &”Cold Hard Cash”, Crime Club 1973 tv movie, The Streets of San Francisco 1973 “Shattered Image”, Of Men and Women 1973 tv movie, The New Dick Van Dyke Show 1973-74, Medical Center 1969-1974 episodes “A Life is Waiting”, “Awakening”, “Impact”, & “Choice of Evils”, In Police Story 1974 “Chief” Barbara plays John Forsyth’s smart and stunning wife. She manages swift and clever lines quoting Shakespeare and being a dutiful and intelligent partner.
Fools, Females and Fun 1974 tv movie, The Last Day1975 tv movie, Cannon 1975 “Lady on the Run”, Mannix 1968 episodes “A Copy of Murder”, & Design for Dying” 1975, Ellery Queen 1975-76 episodes “The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario”, & “The Adventures of Auld Lang Syne” 1975, The Bionic Woman 1976 as Jaime’s mother, ABC Weekend Specials 1977 “Portrait of Grandpa Doc” The Eddie Capra Mysteries “Dying Declaration” Death Car on the Freeway1979 tv movie, The Love Boat 1979 2 episodes.
Barbara Rush also turned to work on the stage. She garnered the Sarah Siddons Award for her starring role in Forty Carats. Making her Broadway debut in the one woman showcase, "A Woman of Independent Means" which also subsequently earned her the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award during its tour. Other showcases included "Private Lives", "Same Time, Next Year", "The Night of the Iguana" and "Steel Magnolias".
Barbara Rush still possesses that transcendent talent, beauty, poise and grace. She will always be someone special, an actress who is memorable.
Though Barbara Rush skill shows incredible range and depth in her performances, the one great role of a lifetime never seemed to come her way, though what ever she has appeared in is brightened immensely by her presence. To think of what might have been had there been even MORE substantive scripts offered to her, what she could have accomplished like many fine actresses, in addition to her already impressive career, it makes you wonder of the missed opportunities Hollywood made by not taking advantage of Barbara Rush’s marvelous talent.
Television became a wonderful avenue for Barbara Rush's acting, and her performances are no less effective and adept than those in her major motion picture roles. To every performance, she brings an authentic reality to her characters with her bright engaging smile, the wisp of seriousness to her tone, streak of comedic talent within her ironic lilting mannerisms. Barbara Rush is an iconic actress who shows a special quality, spunk and spirit that begs to be cherished. I love you Barbara Rush, and will continue to enjoy the legacy of your work. You make me smile.
Barbara talking about starring in The Old Pros Radio Shows like Inner Sanctum at age 88!
Barbara Rush as adorable and kind as ever answers questions at the Aero Theater 9-29-2010
Barbara Rush still possesses that transcendent talent, beauty, poise and grace. She will always be someone special, an actress who is memorable.
10th July 1970: Studio portrait of American actor Lee Grant, wearing a flower-patterned dress in front of a light backdrop, (Photo by Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The audio version of our wonderful chat-
LEE GRANT at the 63rd annual Writers Guild Awards at the AXA equitable Center 2-5-11-Photo by John Barrett/Globe Photos, INC.2011
Jo: Hi, Lee. It's Jo, how're you doing?
Lee: Hi Jo!
Jo: What's going on? How's your day?
Lee: Good so far.
Jo: So hopefully it'll just even get better now. [laughs]
Lee: Of course!
Jo: Are you ready to talk a little bit?
Lee: Sure!
Jo: Ok, great! Um, God, I don't even know where to start because I'm just really excited and very grateful that you're spending time talking to me.
Lee: Sure!
Jo: Um, so, before I start asking you any questions, I mean I guess I could just start asking you some questions. We spoke a little yesterday, and you know how much I love your work. I've just followed you for such a long time. And I'm kind of in awe of you, so I'm a little starstruck. [laughs]
Lee: Oh, good! [laughs] You're so cute and I don't think there are many people who would say that anymore. So it's yummy.
Jo: No, that's not true, let me tell you, you've got fans! There are so many people who just adore you. You are memorable! You are a beautiful spitfire. You're complex, you're powerful, you're evocative, and very memorable. So don't think I'm the only one. [laughs]
Lee: Ok, I give in!
Jo: Ok, you give in!
Lee: I give in, I am memorable!
Jo: You are memorable, you really really are. I mean, seriously, it's like every time something would come on TV, a show or a movie, and I would say "Oh, Lee Grant is in this!" I would get so excited. No matter what it was, I would watch it. If it was like a television program, even if I wasn't familiar with the show or the film, I'd be like "Well, Lee is in it, I've got to see this now!" So I'm going to start asking away and hopefully, they're good questions.
Lee: Where's Wendy?
Jo: Oh, Wendy's here, too.
Wendy: I'm actually here, Lee. Hi! I'm the technical person so I'm here to make sure everything goes ok.
Lee: Hi Wendy. Ok!
Wendy: And I do have a question for you at the end, too. I couldn't resist!
Jo: The sociologist in her!
Lee: You know, I'm just glad to hear from you girls. You were so alive and interested and interesting when we met, and here we are, what is it 3 months later? You meet someone on an airplane and you see somebody and you sit and you talk for 6 hours and then you get off and you never see them again. So this is nice!
Jo: It was really amazing to just walk into this big room with all these people fluttering about, swarming about like a hive. And then to see you standing there [Lee laughs] and you're like this legend. This utter legend, stuck in the corner of a room!
Lee: Yeah, and you know, I've been writing a lot. And that deserves its own story.
Jo: It does. It definitely does… To walk over and just talk to you like that"”I wanted to grab a big pot of coffee and a couple of chairs and just sit. So now we're doing it, really.
Lee: We're doing it! And I have the coffee, too. I'm not sure it counts, though.
Jo: So, I'm going to just start asking questions. And I think I told you yesterday that I do these little setups because it helps me bridge to the question.
Lee: Whatever, just go honey!
Jo: You were in films with diverging mainstream audience appeal"¦ showing the wide range and versatility of your acting such as In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger which dealt with racism. Valley of the Dolls became a cult pop sensation, and Plaza Suite where you were sublimely hilarious in Neil Simon's timeless comedy at its best. What is it that makes you such a versatile actress?
Lee: Well, I was a very compelled actress. You know I was blacklisted for 12 years, and those were the years from age 24 to age 36. I couldn’t work in film or television because I was married to a writer who was called a communist and therefore I was asked to name my own husband in front of the Unamerican Activities Committee, and my loathing"”I was going to say fear and loathing, but there was no fear. My loathing for that kind of activity and McCarthyism. You know, I can feel it in my stomach as I'm talking to you, it's so great. It's the feeling I have about Trump and that little lawyer Roy Cohn. You know, I was taken out of the acting system for the most important years of my life, I thought at the time. So when I came back, you know, they hired me for Peyton Place, and let me see, it would've been 1952-1964. Peyton Place at that time was the biggest television show in the country.
Jo: Yes, I just finished binge-watching it.
Lee: I went from near obscurity to being the bad girl"”Stella Chernack"”on Peyton Place which was seen by America three times a week. And not the same show three times a week. The appetite for it was so great that they did three new shows each week. So all of a sudden I was everybody's bad girl. You know, and my hunger for work, for acting, for reestablishing myself, for getting back at the bad guy was so intense, that all the film or TV show had to say was "Do you want to?" And I said yes. That was the title of my book, I said yes to everything. Yes, yes, yes because the appetite was unfillable, to work, to act. And with each part, you know you talk about my first movie, the movie that Norman Jewison directed, the one with Sidney Poitier and Rod Stieger.
Jo: Of course, In the Heat of the Night…
Lee: You know, when Norman interviewed me, he knew my background. This was a decade of intensely liberal filmmakers in Hollywood. Intensely liberal filmmakers. And the producer of Peyton Place, too. It was like they couldn't wait to hire me. They couldn't wait to make up for"”and it makes me cry a little bit"”all the years I didn't work. Their generosity, their kindness, their focus, their need to say "You're ok now, we got you." And for them to see that as an actor I was ready to take on the kind of roles that they were ready to give me. And I was.
Jo: And with an extra fierceness. You probably had an extra fierceness to show yourself because you had this fuel, this anger. This impetus.
Lee: It wasn't to sell myself, it was to act. It was to drop into that character and live that new life. After all, I'm a method actress. And I was starved to act. So I just couldn't get enough after wanting to act for all those young years. And I had to lie about my age because I was 36 when I got back in, so I got Mayor Yorty to change my driver's license. We had no computers then so nobody would know. You know, it was like everything to get back that they took away.
Jo: Everything that they stole from you! You mentioned being a method actress"¦
When you act what are you tapping into, beyond the acting Method you studied, and beyond the imagination of little Lyova Rosenthal? You take words in the script and make them come to life like no other actor. Lee Grant has her own unique way of expressing herself. You bring a unique identity to each role. Did it come from starting out with Meisner, or teaching at Uta Hagen's studio working with improvisation? Where does your genius come from?
Lee: It absolutely came from Meisner, because I was 17 when I went into the neighborhood playhouse. I was a failing high school student, and all I wanted were boys, boys, boys, and all I did was flirt, flirt, flirt. And when I went into that class and he gave me an objective. Jo, you know what an objective is"”it's to want something.
Jo: Oh yeah, yeah.
Lee: And the situation he set up with another boy in class was to get him out of the room, that he'd been a boyfriend and he wanted to get him out of the room. Well, this, there's a Jewish word for it"”a guerilla, a goomba, whatever it is, came out of me so this boy had no chance. The rage that I never knew"”I never knew I had– this impulse, this fierceness, of carrying out that objective to get that poor guy out of the room. With my voice, with my hands, it overwhelmed me. It overwhelmed him. And my strength was born. My strength was born in that first improvisation at 17. And to be given the benefit of saying "I want to do this" and then within safe circumstances, which is the play, you get to carry it out. You may not carry it out in life, but in that room, for that moment you can do anything because you have the objective.
Jo: That's incredible. That's an incredible background story. And I understand it's like that moment, that epiphany when there it is, it's born.
Lee: That was it. And that became my life. That was it.
Jo: Well thank god for that because we've enjoyed the outcome of that.
Lee: Thank god for that is right! I could've gone anyway, I could've been breaking up marriages.
Jo: Well, now I have a fun question"”You are our favorite Columbo murderer"¦ you were also in the Balcony with Peter Falk"¦
This is a 2 part question. You worked with Peter Falk in several roles, from plays like Prisoner of 2nd Ave. to an emotional episode of Ben Casey (you both gave a wonderfully passionate and heart-wrenching performance!), to the very post-modern The Balcony, and then, famously, as our favorite Columbo murderer the lady lawyer Lesley Willams in Ransom for a Deadman. What was it like to work with him? How did you end up working with him so much?
Columbo was one of those shows that were set up in such an interesting way because there were certain murderers who were "˜sympathetic', and you were one of them. You could tell Columbo had a lot of respect for your character's savvy. Did you enjoy playing cat and mouse with each other (like when you say to him "It's always the jugular he's going for" and then when you take him for that terrifying joy ride in your airplane and he doesn't want to talk for a while, and you're enjoying his discomfort)? How much fun were you both having on the set?
Lee: Oh, you're so funny! [laughs]
Jo: And I promised myself I wouldn't ask you about Shelley Winters (co-star in The Balcony), but maybe if we have time I'll ask you about Shelley"¦ [laughs](back to Peter Falk)
Lee: It was a good marriage.
Jo: That's a good way to put it.
Lee: Yeah, it was a good marriage. All of the parts we played, or were thrown in to play together, since it certainly wasn't planned. Peter was in it and I was hired, or I was in it, and then Peter. And we found ourselves each time within a new situation with a new role to play with each other. Never the same role. And we were not friends.
Jo: You weren't? Oh, that's what I was curious about because it almost seemed like you had such a natural flow together.
Lee: I think that’s one of the things that worked for us. That we were familiar as actors and felt each other as actors, but we had no history that would get in the way of whatever that character was. Whoever he was playing went through many versions certainly, and in his big show, I was the enemy. So it was fun to attack him freshly in whatever character he was and whatever character I was at the time"”friend, enemy, enemy, friend. And at each time find an actor who could spar with you, you know, fence with you.
Jo: And you did it so well. I mean it's funny because with Columbo there are several instances in the series where there are sympathetic murderers. And Wendy and I both think that you're one of them. You, and Joyce Van Patten, I loved her character. ( actually, Lee was one of the more ‘ruthless’ murderers – maybe I just love her so much that I was on her side!)
Lee: Oh, Joyce is one of my best friends.
Jo: Ah, love her! And Ruth Gordon, we love the one with Ruth Gordon. If Ruth were here Wendy and I would try to get you three to sit and have lunch with us and celebrate the best Columbo murderers.
Lee: I would do it any time, to have lunch with Ruth Gordon any time. And Joyce is one of my three very very very very best friends.
Jo: We love her. She's another one, we just light up when we see her. She's so wonderful. That's so nice to hear that you are such good friends. Tell her we said hi.
Lee: I knew Joyce Van Patten when I saw her on stage as a child actor. I saw her on stage when she was about 13 or 14.
Jo: Really? Wow, so you have a long history together.
Lee: We have a long history.
Jo: Awwww that's wonderful. And it's interesting that you both were that sympathetic murderer, and he really had that kind of respect for you. Because no matter what hell you put him through, like flying in that plane and making him suffer, you can tell he says, "Don't talk to me for a few minutes."
Lee: Well the thing is also that I'm the worst driver in the world. I have no sense of direction. So getting me to fly a plane like I knew where I was going and I knew what buttons to push was such a kick for me.
Jo: Oh, that's great! This is an interesting question and something I really wanted to know."¦
Do you feel that your roles in non-mainstream films (pause) or television series like Peyton Place Do you feel like they were less constrained for you as an actor?
Lee: Than what?
Jo: Thank doing a major motion picture. The smaller television series.
I wish there were more roles for you like Stella Chernak or the wandering mother/wife in The Neon Ceiling. Or Mrs. Enders, the mother in the Landlord, or Marilyn Kim Novak's neighbor in Middle of the Night. One of my favorites and you’re going to laugh at this, but sassy Edna from Storm Fear. They were very complex, and reflexive, quirky, and substantive roles for women?
Jo: Storm Fear directed by Cornel Wilde. It was that… ok I'm glad you're laughing"¦ I'm going to ask you about that now.
Lee: [laughs] Where did you ever get to see it?
Jo: Well I've seen most all your work anyway, but because I knew I was going to talk to you I started re-watching a lot of your films again because I just wanted to spend time with Lee Grant.
Lee: Oh honey, that's funny.
Jo: Ok, I have my question about Storm Fear"¦ this will make you laugh even more"¦
I get the sense Cornel Wilde didn't give a lot of direction in Storm Fear. But Edna was a very bright light in an otherwise conventional heist movie. Edna was rough around the edges, likable, and kind. There's a great scene where she's walking in the snow, in her fancy boots and snow shoes, swinging her purse. And she says about her mink coat "If it gets left behind, I'm gonna be in it." And in the end, they leave Edna dying in the snow with her two broken ankles, a wad of cash, and her mink coat. We were so upset at the end for you! Is Edna still out there in the snow? What was your experience working on that film?
Lee: "I'll kill ya!" Do you remember his reading of "I'll kill ya!"? Cornel Wilde would say "ok, cut. Now listen to me Steve (Steven Hill), "I'll kill you." "I'll kill you. Now you try it." And Steve goes "I'll kill you." And Cornel would say "ok, you've got it, Steve. Alright, and action!" And Steve would say "I'll kill YA!" "I'll kill YA!" [laughs]
Jo: [laughs] That's too hilarious! So I suspected right"¦ that you two did your thing and were the highlight of the film. There's the great scene"”you'll remember this"”where you're walking in the snow in your fancy shoes. And you're swinging your purse and you're wearing the mink coat. And you say "If this gets left behind I'm going to be in it!" And that's exactly what happens. They leave you dying in the snow with two broken ankles and a wad of cash in your mink coat.
Lee: [laughs] Falling down into the ravine.
Jo: You had fallen into the ravine. And Wendy and I are "“ I'm the kind of person, I yell at the television set"”And Wendy and I were like "Where's Edna?" I'm like "What about Edna?!"
Lee: Thank you! Thank you! I needed that!
Jo: I’m like all upset, what are you leaving her down there in the snow for? Give some closure. Where is she? Rescue her! Dammit! Rescue her! She's got broken ankles!
Lee: That is so funny.
Edna-“I hate you, you creep! I hate you!!!!”
Jo: But you were great in that. And those are the kind of roles that I really do love.
Lee: Well you know the thing about that is, historically speaking, that was an absolute crossover moment in my life because I was still blacklisted. Cornel Wilde who was a really, really decent guy hired me as a blacklisted actress in an important part in which he wanted to introduce his wife, the non-actress, as the lead. With Dan Duryea, who is no small pickings. Dan Duryea is one of the great character actors of all time.
Jo: Yes, I love him.
Lee: Now Cornel hired me when I was still deep on the blacklist and nobody else would hire me. And we made enough money to have my daughter. She was conceived in Hollywood at that time because we had enough money to have another baby, and to have my baby, as I had two stepchildren. So you know it was a ridiculous thing, stomping in the snow with these big snowshoes and a black satin dress, and my blistered scalp because they dyed my hair from dark red to platinum blonde. So my head was all blistered. But bless Cornel Wilde. He did a remarkable and wonderful thing, and I had the most important thing in my life. Dina saved me through that whole blacklisted period. Having a little girl to take care of and to be there. And she was the best, the funniest, the sweetest, the most interesting. So she saved my life, and that came out of Storm Fear. I mean, it's so interesting when you think about it.
Jo: It really is. And your performance is almost bright and glowing. There's something emanating from Edna. I just love Edna. And maybe that's what I was picking up on.
Lee: Oh yes, sweetheart. But having daughter Dina was the thing that held me together through the whole thing.
Jo: And she's a hoot.
Lee: She's the best. The best. I just came back from being with her.
Jo: I love that she's in that episode of The Golden Girls when Blanche, Rue MacLanahan, keeps slamming the door in her face. It is just so hilarious. The comedic timing between the two of them is brilliant. I mean, she's got your"¦ she's got the gift.
Lee: Yes, she does.
Jo: It's in her genes. Ok, now we'll move on and I'll ask you another question"”I'm glad we had a good laugh"¦
I loved the scene in Hal Ashby's film The Landlord when you and Pearl Bailey are getting drunk on pot liquor, and you walk out with the ham hock in your bag. Mrs. Enders is such a fabulous character, did you have any particular inspiration for her character? Did you enjoy working with Pearl? And, do you have any great stories from that film? He's a great director, and Mrs. Enders is another fabulous character that you've played.
What was the inspiration for her character"¦?
Lee: Yes! [laughs] Well, my mother and my aunt, yes. And I had just finished doing In the Heat of the Night which was all about losing my first husband who died of a heart attack, Norman Jewison knew that and Hal Ashby was his editor at that time, so they knew that I would come in to do In the Heat of the Night with an experience that they knew I had, and Sidney and I really improvised that scene. But that's how they knew me. And then as a friend they let me read The Landlord, and I said I can do that part and their whole image of me was of the grieving widow. And I said, "Let me just do it for you because that's my mother, that's my aunt." And they told me that they had Jessica Tandy attached to it and I found some blonde wig, and I stood under the lights in the hallway so that I looked older. And I did it for them and they got it. And they gave it to me. So you know to go from the first, In the Heat of the Night, to Mrs. Enders was just everything I ever wanted. To plumb both of those things. So it was just thrilling for me. First of all, the movie is a masterpiece. And it was Hal's first directing job.
Jo: So it Was his first movie.
Lee: Yes, then he did the one with Ruth Gordon.
*Hal Ashby on the set of Harold and Maude with Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon.*
Jo: Wendy and I were sold on him after he did Harold and Maude.
Lee: Harold and Maude is one of the great masterpieces ever made.
Jo: It absolutely is"¦
Lee: And I wanted to do Ruth Gordon's part, too. It shows you how hungry and stupid I was at the same time.
Jo: I wouldn't say stupid.
Lee: Well, how hungry and ambitious.
Jo: Right.
Lee: Not ambitious, how starved I was. I was so starved that when you showed a piece of marrow bone, like Ruth Gordon's part, I was like "Let me have it, let me have it" but I never saw a piece of work as brilliant as her"¦
Jo: Oh yes, she is a whole other subject"¦ she's something else!
Lee: She is. She is to be worshiped.
Jo: I think so. But I mean so are you, really!
Lee: Oh, ok!
Jo: We're worshiping you today! [laughs]
Lee: Worship away! [laughs]
Jo: Ok I'm going to ask you about Shampoo"¦ I think there should've been more of you"¦
You won an academy award for Shampoo. We're huge fans of the brilliant filmmaker Hal Ashby. People experience this movie as the 1970s, romanticized, sexual freedom film.
I experience the film as a deification of Warren Beatty's insatiable sexual prowess running around with his phallic blowdryer. I just think there should have been a lot more of you. Do you think the film would've benefited from more development of the women characters and their sexuality? You also mention in your wonderful book that Warren Beatty tried to direct you and you almost quit the film. Do you think the film needed more of your vision and direction to bring the women characters more into focus?
Lee: Well I think there should've been more of me!
Jo: I think so!
Lee: I think there should've been a lot more of me in everything that I've ever been in. But unfortunately, there are other actors and there is a plot and there are other ramifications. So while I always think there should be a lot more of me, practically speaking it's not the thing to do. I think that the woman I played was sound. I think her needs, her bitterness. The rejection of her within the Hollywood framework of that time. And that glowing gorgeous daughter played by"¦
Jo: Carrie Fisher.
Lee: She was the most beautifully white-skinned little girl, Carrie Fisher. And for me to be a mother who was hungry and rejected and to have that child right downstairs in the house. My character was just filled with conflict and unfulfillment. And all I seem to care about in that film was my coat and my hair and getting shtupped. And grabbing at whatever I could that would fill this emptiness. I hated Hollywood at that time.
Jo: But you were more interesting and intricate than Warren Beatty's character. I didn't find his character as complex as I did yours.
Lee: I don’t think that he intended to be"¦ to be"¦ you know, Warren wrote that with Robert Towne. A great, great, great writer. And the character he wrote was a very simple guy who likes to please. He likes to please everyone. He likes to please the Jack Warden character as much as he does with the women whose hair he does, his customers. He is guaranteed to please. Because certainly, he's not that attracted to me. Right before he goes to bed with me, my daughter seduces him. And you know one of the real arguments that Warren and I had in that film was that right before the scene when I come home and I go to Carrie's door, and I'm expecting him to be there. I'm expecting him to go upstairs and make love to me. The day before we do that scene he sits me down at the table and says "You know Lee, Felecia (which is the character I played), Felicia does not know when she opens the door to her daughter’s room that the daughter and he has"¦" And I was so enraged that he would tell me what to think before I open that door that I quit the next day.
Jo: I read that in your book!
Lee: Yes, I quit the next day. And of course, he apologized and we moved on with the scene but I said "If you ever tell me what I'm supposed to think, I won't be there." But the thing was, that I opened the door and of course I knew that they had gone to bed. I mean, I'm no dummy!
Jo: Of course!
Lee: And my own need was so ferocious that it didn't matter! And that's the way I played that scene when I went upstairs. I kept on my coat. I kept on my curlers in my hair. I just pulled down my stockings and pulled him over to me. You know, it was my need.
Jo: Right, yes. And it's a powerful scene and a powerful role. And that's why you won the Academy Award for it!
Lee: Well, you know I'd been nominated a lot of times.
Jo: Oh, I know.
Lee: So usually when you're nominated and you don't win then you're just a thing in the way after that. At first, it's like "Lee, Lee, look this way!" And then when you don't win, they want you out of the way.
Jo: That's rotten!
Lee: But I knew even when I went up to get the award finally that I was now at the age where they wouldn't hire me. That I was going into 50, and this was probably the last big movie.
Jo: But it wasn't.
Lee: Only one more.
Jo: What was the movie after?
Lee: Oh, the Jewish"¦ the boat"¦
Jo: Oh, yes, Voyage of the Damned.
Lee: Yes, Voyage of the Damned.
Jo: I watched the scene where you cut your hair. It's a very difficult movie for me to watch. And, I had a relative on the ship.
Lee: What?
Jo: Yes, she was a child and she survived it. She made her way back.
Lee: Where?
Jo: Eventually she made her way to France and she is now a biochemist and a professor at Harvard. I lost relatives in the Holocaust but she was on the ship and I don't have her name in front of me. This is terrible. My brother has been doing historical research to find our relatives and where we came from in a small town that is now part of Poland.
Lee: That's where my father came from.
Jo: Yes, and it was Austria at the time.
Lee: We're little strong Polish Jews!
Jo: Yes, yes, and we came to New York and it made us even stronger.
Lee: Oh yes.
Jo: We're tough.
Lee: Something about us makes us tough.
Jo: And my mother was Russian.
Lee: So was mine! My mishpocha, honey! [laughs]
Jo: My mishpocha, yes! [laughs] That's why I called you Bubbie (short for bubbles-friend not grandmother) yesterday and then felt bad. I said, "I'll talk to you later, bubble!" [laughs] And then I was like "Oy, should I have said that?"
Lee: [laughs] I'll be your bubbie!
Jo: Oh, good, good! Ok, so now I'm going to ask you about Stella Chernack because we were talking about that bad girl you played. Again, you won a much-deserved Emmy for that. And I did watch the entire show, because of you, and I knew you were in it. So I watched Peyton Place"¦ now, Stella is amazing. An amazing character.
Again, you won a much-deserved Emmy for your portrayal of Stella Chernak. Stella leaves her working-class background in Peyton Place to become a biochemist, returning when her brother gets into trouble. This is when the writing and the show were the most cohesive and well thought out. It's one of my favorite roles. Stella is very complex and there are lots of layers to your performance. She is a bit of a Tennessee William's character, even in the way she struts the dusty streets of the town. Did you channel any of that feeling in her character? It was an intense character study and one hell of a performance. What did Stella mean to you?
Lee: Well, the whole thing was like stepping into heaven. First of all, Stella's an angry girl.
Jo: Yes
Lee: And I was an angry girl. And Stella was fighting the unfairness of the things around her. And I had been fighting. So this was a funnel through which all of Lee and Stella's resentment and anger and feeling of unfairness in the world around her could go. It was like made for me.
Jo: It gave you a place to channel that anger.
Lee: It channeled it. It channeled everything. And don't forget that I went from obscurity into America's favorite program.
Jo: Right, and one of the greatest characters, I think. Very complex. She was angry but she was also very sympathetic. You understood where she was coming from, you know?
Lee: Yup.
Jo: And that's what I loved about her. That's what you brought to the show. The show is really good. After you left, things just kind of went a little crazy but still I watched the whole thing. I love Barbara Parkins, and I love a lot of the actors on the show, too.
Lee: Barbara Parkins was given her first shot in that movie"¦
Jo: Yes, Valley of the Dolls
Lee: Valley of the Dolls, where I played Stella again as Sharon. You know, and Patty Duke. Those were their first shots after television. And of course, it went down like a log.
Jo: The film is such a pop culture icon. I mean, people are fanatical.
Lee: That's because it's so bad.
Jo: Did you know that it was going to become a pop religious experience for some people?
Lee: [laughs]
Jo: It is, I'm telling you!
Lee: Because it's so bad. [laughs]
Jo: But it is and it isn't. I mean, yes, it is. [laughs] But it's bad in a good way.
Lee: [laughs] It could be worse, but people embrace those things and raise them up.
Jo: I can see why. You do need that kind of alternative to the heavy stuff that's out there. You need that counterbalance of the delicious–
Lee: It was pop.
Jo: It was pop. And the acting was still good!
The name of your book is "I Said Yes to Everything." And you did say yes to films like Visiting Hours, The Swarm, and Airport '77"” the last two big-budget disaster films. I was sad you ended up floating face down in Airport '77. Did you at least have fun making these films and working with actors like Olivia de Havilland and Jack Lemmon? Do you have any good stories to tell?
I watched you in Visiting Hours with the parrot.
Lee: Oh no! tisk tisk tisk! Don't even talk about it!
Jo: Ok, I won't talk about it. I won't talk about Visiting Hours. We'll bury it. Can I talk about The Swarm and Airport ’77 where you played Christopher Lee’s wife who’s a lush?
Lee: Ohhh, absolutely! [laughs]
Jo: Ok [laughs]
Lee: Visiting Hours was what made me absolutely shut down as an actor and turn to directing.
Jo: I understand why.
Lee: You know, one of my very best friends, a writer, I took to see it in the movie house. And he wouldn't talk to me on the way home"”"You can't need money that much." And I knew that I couldn't do"¦
Jo: Look, every actor has done that. Every single actor has done a movie like that.
Jo: I mean, you ended up floating face down in the water. And again, Wendy and I were yelling "No!"
Lee: [laughs] Well I have to tell you I had it in my contract that I didn't have to jump in the water. They had a double. But, when the water scene came up, 60-year-old Olivia de Havilland raised her hand and said "Let me be the first! Let me!"
Jo: [laughs] Oh my god!
Lee: I was so shamed that when it came time for me to do it
Jo: You had to do it!
Lee: They said "Well let's get Lee's double" and I went "No no no I don't have a double!" I didn't want them to know what a coward I was.
Jo: [laughs] So you did it.
Lee: So I just jumped! Because I wanted to be like Olivia, you know. She's just so amazing.
Jo: Yes, she is.
Lee: What a hero Olivia de Havilland is. I mean, think about it.
Jo: We share the same birthday so every time it's my birthday I always toast Olivia. Because, wow we have the same birthday and she loves cats.
Lee: I do too.
Jo: Oh, you do? I thought you were a dog person.
Lee: Yes, we have 2 cats. But what a woman, what a spirit! Let me be the first, she said, climbing down from the rafters.
Jo: [laughs]
Lee: All through Airport '77 she sat in the rafters with the lighting guys and chatted with them.
Jo: Do you know Wendy was a lighting designer before she was a sociologist.
Lee: Of course she was! Wendy the lighting designer sociologist, of course!
Jo: Same thing, right?
Lee: Same thing! Shed the light someplace!
Jo: Exactly, beautifully put. See, leave it to you. I have a few more questions, is that ok?
Lee: I'm just lying here on the chaise lounge in my nightgown as comfortable as somebody who just woke up.
Jo: That sounds lovely!
Lee: And having a wonderful time with you.
Jo: Oh good! We're having a blast, too! There are several performances of yours I've never seen and that makes me upset because I'm a completist. I want to see everything you did. And in your book, you write about the show The Defenders. I love the show, but that episode is unavailable. The particular episode that you did is not out, or not yet at least.
Like a few others, there are several performances of yours that I haven't been able to see because they're unavailable. For example, there's an episode of The Defenders in which, as I read in your book, director Stuart Rosenberg lit you in a way that was your favorite. There was The Doctors and the Nurses, another incredible dramatic television series. And then there is the motion picture An Affair of the Skin (1963) where you co-starred with the brilliant Diana Sands, who died tragically at 39. I would love to see your work in that film. Can you tell me about the film and about working with Diana?
Lee: I know, she was in"¦ Raisin in the Sun.
Jo: Raisin in the Sun
Lee: Yes, and the other movie with Pearl Bailey"¦ The Landlord
Jo: Yes! She was The Landlord, too, that's right. So you worked with her twice. What did you think of the film Affair of the Skin, because I don't know much about it?
Lee: I don't remember it. Vivica Lindfors was in it. And I just don't remember it. I don't remember what I did or anything.
Jo: Maybe somebody will find the film.
Lee: I hope not!
Jo: Ok, then maybe they’ll find a way to get it buried so it never comes out. Did you enjoy working with Diana I love her work and I find it so tragic that she died so young. She was kind of one of the first Black women who had a much different kind of persona. She wasn't doing the roles"”well maybe Ruby Dee and Cicely Tyson did"”but she wasn't playing the maids and she wasn't playing the nurses.
Lee: Well, also Hal Ashby didn't get them maids and nurses to play. The Landlord was a brilliant script and it highlighted the difference between the Long Island whites and Harlem. And Bo Bridges, I mean he was astonishing in it. His sweetness, his openness. You know, that was a script for the ages. And I personified again that kind of closed-minded rich stupid mother.
Jo: Well, insulated maybe.
Lee: Yes, totally insulated. You know no idea beyond the house and the garden and the friends what life was about at all. And it's such an astonishing piece of work.
Jo: Yes, it was. Did you get to work much with Diana in that?
Lee: Yes, well, we hung out. And after the film was over I gave a party at the apartment in New York, as we all stayed in New York, and Diana and I were sitting there waiting for Hal because we both had a crush on him. And his girlfriend, who he later married, at the time she would not let him come.
Jo: Possessive! Oh really [laughs]
Lee: So Diana and I sat and drank wine and talked about how mean she was and how much we loved him. [laughs]
Jo: Did he help you pick out clothes, did I read that right?
Lee: Yes, he did. In the Heat of the Night.
Jo: Yes, in the Heat of the Night he helped you pick out the clothes. He was the editor on the film.
Lee: Yes, yes.
Jo: Ok, you might not want to talk about this movie either, and if you don't want to you don't have to. But first, I noticed recently you did an interview for a documentary on Boris Karloff. You worked with him on "Even the Weariest River" on the Alcoha Hour. And I haven't been able to see it. A lot of the Alcoha Hour and those dramatic television performances from the 50s are hard to get. But Boris Karloff is my idol. I've always said I wanted him to be my grandfather because he's the most gentle soul. And I met his daughter Sarah and she's just wonderful.
You worked with Boris Karloff in 1956 on the Alcoa Hour "Even the Weariest River" It hasn't been released so there's no way to see it. I have to ask you what was it like to work with him? Do you have any stories about working with him?
Lee: Well, you know, I just remember that when I was blacklisted and he was playing on Broadway, maybe it was St. Joan, I don't know but there was something so gracious and so magnanimous, and so grandfatherly, and beautiful about him. And he would always sign all my petitions. I was the little girl who couldn't work. And, you know, it was dangerous to sign petitions, you know you couldn't work either if you did. And Kim Stanley and Maureen Stapleton were the ones who were always working on Broadway and also signed my petitions. But you know I hadn't remembered working with him in this television movie. I know they brought it to me, and the people in it"¦ I was the only girl. And it was during the blacklist so the director had to be a very very brave guy. A very brave guy. Because I was the only woman and he cast me in it.
Jo: So you stood out.
Lee: Yes, it was with Boris Karloff and Christopher Plumber. It's a terrible movie.
Jo: Oh is it really? [laughs]
Lee: Yes, but very interesting. I mean because it's all packed. In those days you shot on set. There wasn't a closeup. You kind of walked into the shot.
Jo: Right, it was live theatre, really, right?
Lee: Yes, it was shooting live theatre. So it had that kind of rushed feeling. But the story was meaningful, and I was just so surprised to see me there. And I've just forgotten a lot of what I did.
Jo: Well I didn't even realize you had done something with Boris Karloff.
Lee: I didn't, either. [laughs]
Jo: [laughs] Well, you know he's so iconic, and thinking of you and him together is such an interesting confluence. Ok, so I'm going to ask you about a movie you might not want to talk about"¦
Lee: Which could that be?
Jo: Ah, The Mafu Cage?
Lee: [laughs] Oh, yes!
Jo: Because you worked with Carol Kane. She's brilliant, she's such a noodlehead. She's just something else.
Lee: Yes, she is.
Jo: I thought that The Mafu Cage, directed by Karen Arthur, is a very primal and dark film. It seemed like a difficult and disturbing narrative for both you and Carol Kane to step into. It's a psycho-sexual minefield, almost filmed like a stage play, about captivity and dependency. It must have been a tough movie to film. Was it difficult for you two seasoned actors? Can you tell me what the process was like for you?
Lee: Oh, of course! Oh, I don't know, there must've been some spare time to do it. And it was a woman director, Karen Arthur. And I don't remember what year it was. But I know I thought, why not? It was Carol Kane, who was a delicious friend. And it was an absurd concept. You know, for her to have this relationship with a"¦
Jo: An orangutan maybe?
Lee: It was a gorilla, you know, Carol and the gorilla. So I mean it was absurd enough to say why not? It didn't take very long and so it was like going to a bad nightclub, you know what I'm saying?
Jo: Yes! [laughs]
Lee: Oh, let's go in there and see what happens.
Jo: Yes, dark and scary and there's a little journey in there.
Lee: Yes, yeah. It was a why not, you know?
Jo: But the thing is it's an interesting, disturbing film but there's a lot in it. And your performances, you made it a good film. I think it's really kind of an unsung horror/ psychological thriller. I don't think it's a bad film at all, maybe it could've been a stage play.
Lee: The thing is that Karen Arthur conceived it and directed it and she got Carol Kane and me, and James Olson, to do it. Wow! I would like to be able to say that I did that. That I pulled it off and made that movie. So it's really Karen Arthur's triumph.
Jo: Yes sure.
Lee: And any time a female director"”especially at that time"”with that concept, to pull it off and make that movie. You know, my hat off to her!
Jo: Yes, absolutely! She did a really amazing job because I walked away from the film kind of speechless. And thinking about things, and when a movie sends you away thinking about something, speechless, you know that there's something going on there.
Lee: Yes and don't forget there were no women directors then. There were like 2 in New York and that's it.
Jo: Right, that's another reason to applaud the film, the fact that her vision was realized. It's very good. And then, this is one is probably one of my favorite performances of yours, The Neon Ceiling, where you play the mother who leaves her husband and just drives into the desert. It's a special film"¦
In The Neon Ceiling, you play a mother who leaves her husband and just drives "” winding up in the desert with her teenage daughter. It's a very unusual and special little film co-starring Gig Young and Denise Nickerson, a talented young actress. Wendy and I were really enchanted by it. I found your performance as Carrie Miller profoundly moving because it was so un-selfconscious and powerful. At the risk of sounding contrived, what was your inspiration for bringing that character to life?
Lee: Well, first of all, that character was the part of me I never got to play.
Jo: In real life?
Lee: In real life, yeah. The part of me in my first marriage where my husband fault with me, that I wasn't this enough, or that enough, or, or, I was never enough. And I wasn't smart enough. And so that whole beginning with the husband that I run away from. Where I can't do anything right, I can't even shop for groceries"¦
Jo: It kind of paralleled"¦
Lee: Yes, yes, and I had a daughter. I had Dina. So Denise was Dina. And so if I could've known how to run away, in my early years I would have. And going into the desert"¦ the desert was a very new experience for me as a person. I'd never been in the desert. And the peace. Sitting on the back porch of this gas station and just looking out at the desert became, it became a totally new experience for me. And something that I needed but didn't know that I need. And there was an Indian tribe there who would come and ask for the lunch that we had every day. It was like the small remnants of what 20 people didn't eat. And a woman in the tribe who was leading the tribe became a mentor. So she was so strong and so calm. And the things that she asked for were so real. That she became somebody I admired and wanted to be like. And she gave me a puppy.
Jo: That's right, I read about the puppy Nusski given to you by the Sioux.
Lee: Yes!
Jo: Who was with you for many many years?
Lee: Yes, who came with us to New York. And Gig, he was so attractive and so hurt someplace.
Jo: I know, it's so tragic.
Lee: He needed caring for. You know, and so did Denise in her way. She asked for it, he didn't. And somehow me, tickled as I was, I felt a soul there that I connected with. And it was so beautiful and the writer created something that nobody else created.
Jo: Was that Carol Sobieski who also wrote for Peyton Place?
Lee: Yes, Carol Sobieski. She was extraordinary.
Jo: Yes, she's a great writer.
Lee: She's a great writer and I felt it was a privilege"”a privilege of all the things I've done"”being able to go there.
Jo: Yes, there's something"¦ I guess that's what we're doing, witnessing a lot of your transformations on screen. We're seeing, you know, you're in the desert and you're having this transcendence. And it's coming through to your character, Carrie.
Lee: Yes, yes.
Jo: It's such a beautiful performance. It's so subtle and so quiet and so beautiful. And so painful.
Lee: Yes.
Jo: You convey all of that and that's hard to do and you do it. You just pull it off like nobody else could. And that's the thing I love are these other women that you play, are these roles and these women that deserve to be looked at. And I've certainly been having a great time delving into your work.
Lee: And have you! Wow!
Jo: Maybe I've been digging too deep!
Lee: You've found things I've forgotten. That one I knew is just so special. It's interesting because Frank who directed it"”Frank Pierson. A very very close friend, too. He also, much later did The Life of Roy Cohn.
Jo: Oh, Frank Pierson.
Lee: Yes, Frank Pierson. On HBO, he called me then and he said "Do you want to be Roy Cohn's mother? Or do you want to be the one who was killed? The spy." Anyway, he was the writer who became the director, because he had nothing to do with writing that, Carol wrote it. And he came to be the night before and said, "You know, I'd like to do some changes in this. And you know she really isn't as good as all that." And I said, "Well, hire another actor. Because if you touch this script. (The Neon Ceiling) " You know why would you do that? Why, why? And he said "Oh, I"¦" and I said "You don't like women. You don't like women." And in that particular incidence, he didn't. And in everything else"”because I worked with him many times"”he's a great writer and a great director"”but this was too simple for him.
Jo: I know of his work and have seen a lot of it. So they kept it the same way?
Lee: Absolutely, he took it back. And we left the next day.
Jo: We just have a couple more questions. And Wendy wanted to talk with you. You know, I saw a scene you directed"”we'll get into your directing in a minute"”I watched a scene from Tell Me a Riddle with Melvin Douglas and Lela Kedrova that you directed. And just the little scene that I saw ripped my guts up. I just—
Lee: Mine too.
Jo: It's so heartbreaking. I know that you're a wonderful director and I know it's probably not hard to direct Melvin Douglas and Lela Kedrova, but you absolutely created this poignant journey. But Wendy here is a sociologist who teaches social movements and she shows documentaries in classes and has used your documentaries in classes. And she wanted to ask you about the documentaries that you did, you know back in the day when they became movies of the week and there was a wide audience for them. And you started asking socially relevant questions.
Wendy: Hi Lee, I teach sociology classes and I use documentaries all the time. So I'm always looking for ones that are good and well done. And I was really intrigued by the ones you did in the 1980s. The ones that really gave voice to marginalized individuals. So you did the film about poverty"”Down and Out in America"”which is still unfortunately relevant today.
In the early 1980s, you started directing documentary films, specifically films that give voice to marginalized individuals way before others were doing so Down and Out in America (the poor, transgender individuals WHAT SEX AM I, women in prison who killed their abusive husbands in self-defense, the Willmar 8, etc.). Some of these were released as movies of the week to very large audiences. What led you to start making these kinds of documentaries? Were there social and political triggers?
Lee: Yes, unfortunately, it's still relevant.
Wendy: And it was also, to me, when it came out in the mid-80s, very much a response to Ronald Reagan's trickle-down economics. You can really see it situated in that.
Lee: You put your finger right on it.
Wendy: And I talk about that when I teach inequality so it's good to give students that context and history. Then there's the documentary you did in the 1980s on transgender individuals, which no one had really done yet.
Lee: Yes, What Sex Am I?
Wendy: The Women in Prison, the Willmar 8, about women bankers who went on strike and I cannot find that one anywhere but I would love to use it because I teach about activism and social movements so I'm always looking for things about activism and I couldn't find that one anywhere so I haven't seen it. I was just curious about what made you switch, to not just directing, but directing these documentaries about marginalized populations. Like what were the social and political triggers of that for you?
Lee: Well, you know during the early years and not being able to say anything. And even when I was in LA, I was careful about what I said about it. You know, I acted in things that said things. And I have a best friend, Marybeth Yarrow, who had been married to Peter Yarrow. And in her small town in Willmar, there were 7 women who went on strike at the bank because the bank president there would have them train these boys in the bank, and then have them be the women's bosses. So these little boys that they would train would suddenly tell them what to do and get a higher salary. So the women went out on strike. And Marybeth read that to me, and I had just been at AFI and had taken a women's directing workshop. Their first women's directing workshop. I said let's go there and make a documentary. And that kicked open the whole tunnel. Her husband, Peter, raised like 30,000 dollars and went to Willmar. It was the middle of the winter. So cold that you couldn't open your mouth to ask a question.
Jo and Wendy: [laugh]
Lee: I mean your mouth froze. And those 7 women were out there on strike in front of the bank. They could hardly walk it was so cold. And you know it kicked open a door in me that had said, don't talk, be quiet. You know, save yourself, don't talk, be quiet. And I thought you know, thank God, I can do this. I can get away with this. I can put it on film. Finally, I've found my voice. I have found my voice. And it just meant everything to me. Finally, I'd landed on my feet and there was no fear. So I was just starved for that. And I made one after another after another after another. I loved that I had to go to all different places and open all kinds of doors. You know our second film was in the prison system
Wendy: Yes, we saw parts of it.
Lee: You know, what a revelation! I was free! I was free! I was really free of the blacklist finally! And not only that, I had tools that could fight the blacklist. I could show what the truth was.
Wendy: Right, which is why I love showing documentaries because it shows students individuals"”gives voice to individuals"”who I can't bring to the classroom.
Lee: Right, exactly.
Wendy: Especially the women in prison film, I don't think anybody was talking about whether or not women should be in prison for killing an abusive spouse in the 1980s no one was covering that. And Down and Out in America is also unfortunately still relevant but also shows how devastating politics was in the 1980s while we tend to misremember it as being some golden era in America, right? Well compared to what we’re living in now"¦
Lee: Well, I don't know whether you were able to get hold of my Texas film?
Wendy: I don't think so.
Jo: No"¦
Lee: HBO was sued so it was only shown once.
Jo: Oh, about the children being taken away from their mothers"¦?
Lee: It was judges in Texas who took children away from the mothers and gave them to the fathers who were suspected of abusing them.
Jo: Oh my God! Wow.
Lee: Yeah.
Jo: You were sued for that?
Lee: HBO got sued, and that show was only on one time.
Wendy: I wonder if it's in any college libraries someplace still?
Lee: I have it! So at some point, I can lend it to you to make a copy of and you can use it.
Wendy: Oh that would be wonderful.
Lee: But also if and when this documentary thing happens in October and my films are shown.
Jo: Yes, the retrospective!
Lee: Yes, I can't wait for the documentaries to be shown.
Wendy: And I have so many sociologist friends in and around NYC who would totally be there for it. We're all big fans of well-made interesting documentaries.
Jo: And we'll be there.
Wendy: Yes, I love to nerd-out on documentaries. Jo watches her classic films and I'm watching 13th on Netflix"¦
Jo: Yes, she's watching her serious and depressing documentaries. I mean, I'm just so dark because of what's going on in the world in politics, because it's like a Stanley Kubrick nightmare that you imagine would never happen in real life.
Lee: Yes, it's so disturbing, this nightmare. It's like having Roy Cohn as president, you know, because"¦
Jo: It's dystopian"¦
Lee: Yes, and there aren't words and there's just no way to describe it"¦ This is a nightmare.
Jo: And there's a collective depression and angst that people are feeling in their lives.
Lee: And there is. It is.
Jo: And that's what's tragic and it's America's Id so then you've got the people that support him"¦
Wendy: I like to focus on"”because I study social movements and activism"”I like to focus on activism.
Jo: Yes, she's the glass-half-full person.
Wendy: Yes, I focus on the people making the change. That's what my research is about and that's what I try to teach my students to raise some hell. And voting. Because otherwise, I'd just lose my mind.
Lee: Yes, all of us. I mean living within this screenplay, being a character within a screenplay that we loath and detest and want to get out of. And are trapped in.
Jo: Yes, Well, is there an end in sight? When will we get out of this madness? We need relief.
Lee: Yes, it's madness.
Jo: We need to be able to breathe again!
Lee: And I'm overwhelmed. It's overwhelming. Everywhere I look is horror. And it's not like oh this is something that really has been addressed, it's not like we need to just shake this or show people"¦ this is horror.
Jo: Yes, it’s organic horror.
Lee: And it's death. It's killing people.
Jo: If not only in body but also in spirit.
Wendy: And actually in the body.
Lee: Yes, it's killing people. All over the world. Yesterday I was listening to the television and Saudi Arabia hires African soldiers to kill other Arabs. Instead of doing it themselves, they hire African soldiers into that Arab conclave that's left"”Yemen. It was like wow, hired professionals.
Wendy: We would just sleep better if we knew there were people in the office trying to make things better instead of worse.
Jo: I just don't understand, how we got here.
Lee: We got here in a minute.
Jo: Yes.
Lee: And watch out for this. I feel that the way Bernie Sanders treated Hillary Clinton"¦
Wendy: Oh yeah don't even get me started.
Lee: It was the beginning of the end. Kicked open the door for Trump.
Jo: Yes. When I saw his scowling face at the convention, I wanted to smack him.
Lee: Bernie, yes. He was so abusive to her. And of course, all my leftie friends are like "But Bernie's the best, Bernie's"¦" But look how he's treating her. It was like how my communist husband treated me. Like she's a dummy, she's Wall Street.
Jo: Yeah, we're in agreement!
Lee: And I think there was a democratic disaffection"”20% of democrats voted for Bernie and that's what pushed this bully"¦
Wendy: Yup, and we can thank them for the Supreme Court and a lot of crap.
Lee: That's right. You're the only ones who get it!
Wendy: There are others that get it, but it seems like we're few and far between. There are a lot of us who are not Bernie fans for good solid reasons. I'm happy Bernie's light seems to be dimmer this time around and he's not polling as well as he did before. People don't seem as excited about him now.
Lee: I'm just worried about it.
Wendy: Yeah, like are we going to get our acts together on the left?
Lee: Yes, are we?
Jo: Oh, but we should not totally veer off into politics. We should close with a good film or acting question! I wanted to ask you about your performance in Electra. I was reading your book and almost peeing my pants laughing as you're describing wearing that crimson red velvet gown. And it's raining and you get drenched in the rain.
I read in your book about how you worked with Joe Papp on Shakespeare in the Park, playing Electra by Sophocles. I can visualize this powerful performance, the method training, that rainy day, you dragging Theoni's Aldridge's crimson gown, the heavy fabric soaked through across the stage. And there's the audience floating away in the deluge as devoted as ever. You said it was the most risky, challenging role. Alfred Ryder a wonderful actor played Hamlet before this and his performance was televised, but it was a disaster, and it nearly ruined his acting career. Do you regret that your performance of Electra was not televised and recorded so that we could see it today? I would've loved to see you on stage, even in the flood.
Lee: And the whole audience is drenched!
Jo: And the papers are floating away, and you're out there shouting. And the show's ended and they're still out there clapping in the rain.
Lee: Talk about a switch from bleak and bad, to emboldened and powerful playing Electra!
Jo: Yes, we needed some Electra!
Lee: Jo Papp gave me Electra and saw that I was ready to spew and all lessons he gave me, the teachers who came in to correct my language so that I was ready to take on that role. And to let go of all that rage and fierceness, under the cover of the state at Central Park. It was such a release for me to play that.
Jo: Yeah, you said it was a very risky role for you. Challenging.
Lee: Very. And he handed it to me.
Jo: Wow.
Lee: And what a thing to do.
Jo: A gift.
Lee: Yes, what a gift. What a thing to do. The most powerful theatre man in New York and the most liberal and radical, and gorgeous.
Jo: Gorgeous?
Lee: Gorgeous, gorgeous [laughs]
Jo: He knew you could do it. So in your book, you mentioned that Alfred Rider had done Hamlet. And when they televised it and it didn’t go over very well. Electra… It doesn't exist. Do you regret that there is no visual evidence of that performance?
Lee: No, no.
Jo: I wish I couldn't see you on stage. Even in Prisoner on Second Avenue I wish I could've seen you on stage. So you’re really not sorry that they didn't televise it?
Lee: No. No, it's an experience.
Jo: It's one of those moments it exists like a firefly.
Lee: It was a live experience. Like a marriage. And you know it lifted me.
Jo: So you're laying on your chaise, did you finish your coffee?
Lee: Oh, it's half finished. I'm still in my nightgown. [laughs]
Jo: I could talk with you all day like this!
Lee: I know!
Jo: What is a great way to end this?
Lee: What's a great way to end this?
Jo: Is there something you want to talk about? That we didn't cover. You've got such an impressive career in theatre, film, and television. On both sides of the camera. You've worked with amazing people. You have great friends.
Lee: How about Al"”who's the one who was thrown out of office? Al Franken? How about Al Franken? He didn't have a choice to leave but I want him back. And that's what I want to write about.
Wendy: What are you working on for writing?
Lee: I've just been writing in spurts, just things that I have to get out of my system, as you can hear when I talk to you. There are things I have to spew, and get down on paper to get it out of me. And so what's I'm going to do, I'm going to write about the stupidity and short-sightedness of getting rid of the only one in Congress that I know of who could go up against Trump and just demolish him, with his humor and his knowledge. That was the stupidest action that could be taken.
Jo: I was so mad at him for messing up because we needed him. And so mad at him for stepping down.
Lee: He was pushed out. He was forced out. Did you read that New Yorker article about the woman who came to his defense?
Jo: No, we haven't seen that one.
Lee: It's like 2 weeks ago. So you can read it.
Wendy: I'll look it up. I keep more up on the political stuff than Jo does. Jo likes to live in her classic film bubble.
Jo: I like to live in my classic film world and if I don't"¦ I'll go mad.
Lee: Oh, I understand. And I'm sorry to break through that.
Jo: No, no. It's fine. And I don't want to give the impression that I'm not proactive. I do what needs to be done.
Lee: Oh, I'm not accusing you, I'm just opening my arms and pulling you into my world.
Jo: Oh I love your world, and I know that. And it's Wendy's world. I hear about it"¦ all about it, and friends who are very active.
Wendy: And we have friends who go to the TCM movie festival and a couple of years ago you were there and made a speech, and they were all tweeting and texting about it, saying oh my God, this is so awesome! And I was like, of course, it's Lee Grant! And that makes her even more amazing that you would give this really political speech!
Lee: It does, girls, it just makes me more amazing! Every single day.
Wendy: Hell yeah! People have to speak out!
Lee: On that note, we will end this.
Jo: Ok.
Lee: But I've had such a great time and I love you.
Jo: Oh, we love you too, Lee!
Lee: And I've had fun. And so we may not be still doing your thing, but we can still talk and still have a relationship.
Jo: We would love to stay in touch.
Wendy: And if you have copies of any of your documentaries, I would love it. If they would be easy for me to copy because I would show them in class.
Jo: Maybe someday soon we could come into the city and have coffee with you.
Lee: Yes, maybe you can do that and take things and make copies if you know how to do that. Because I don't know how to do anything.
Wendy: Ok, I'm good with the technical stuff.
Jo: So next time, we’ll come into the city and do it.
Lee: Yes, we'll do that. You're both adorable.
Jo: Lee speaks truth to power and wants to be heard.
Wendy: Great, so we'll be in touch.
Lee: Have a good day, girls!
Jo: Take care, Lee!
This has been YourEverlovin’ Joey saying what more is there to say… but I love you, Lee Grant!
"The dichotomy of my genius status at home and my slightly below par status in the outside world gave me a sense of instability and unreality throughout all of my life about exactly who I was and what I was capable of. Could that be why I grabbed so ferociously at acting? Grounding myself in a structure that worked for me, the observant child?"
"” And excerpt from I Said Yes to Everything -Lee Grant talking about Sandy Meisner and The Neighborhood Playhouse.
How do you start out a biography about someone who is a virtual legend?
When I attended the Chiller Theatre Expo I had the exciting opportunity to meet one of my favorite actors, Academy Award winner Lee Grant. This meeting turned out to be one of the great highlights of my life. While I've followed her work my entire life, after connecting with her, I began my exploration into Lee Grant's life by immersing myself first in her incredibly honest and potent autobiography. "I Said Yes to Everything"Â is an expository journey written long-hand by Lee herself in classic black and white note books. It's a well-written intimate portrait of a courageous and brilliant actor.
"Lee Grant's I Said Yes to Everything is heart-stopping. More than just a show-business memoir or chronicle of the Hollywood blacklist era, it is a terrifying account of a gifted artist's tumultuous journey"”both personal and professional. You will feel every jolt of terror that Grant endured, wondering if you would have been as brave. Her triumph becomes our own. Readers of this gripping book will surely reach the final page shouting a victorious "Yes! To everything that is Lee Grant."-Marlo Thomas
With every role Lee Grant undertakes "”from stage to early dramatic teleplays, to television series, and onto the big screen"” she transports an inner truth and an understanding of the world's pleasures, and too, its miseries. Never afraid to take risks, she turned a career that was at one time silenced, into a great triumph by reclaiming her place in Hollywood. She then forged her own road into directing, where her voice and compassionate vision helped marginalized people have their say as well.
This is the spirit of Lee Grant, a woman who kicked down the door, prevailed over the madness of the blacklist, and without settling, became a formidable actress, director, legend, and friend.
Reading about her incredible life story, I Said Yes to Everything, brought me closer to the actress whom I already admired and loved for so many years. It's a reflexive reminiscence, at times brutal, and at other times it evokes laughter. Lee Grant has a primal and candid sense of humor that is so invigorating to experience. And hearing it from Lee herself is life-altering and beyond meaningful.
Portrait of American actress Lee Grant, New York, New York, July 1970. (Photo by Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
I also reexamined a lot of her great work so I could surround myself with the essence of her talent. It not only fortified what I had already felt about her capacity to engage each role, but I also met several characters that I hadn't seen before. And was completely knocked over by Lee Grant's awe-inspiring performances. To have the opportunity to talk to someone you've known as an acting legend can make you quite a star struck as you try to find your own voice without sounding like a fool. But Lee Grant is a real and raw person. She's one of those people you meet by chance in life, striking up a wonderful connection as if you've known them for years. This is just another layer of greatness to an already great actor.
Lee Grant is one of the most expository of actors. She uses her distinctive voice, that moves along the walls of your mind like an elegant cat, with an expressiveness that brings to bear even the most subtle of gestures. She has an attentiveness to detail, and her extraordinary sensuality is deep-rooted with a swift and clever sense of humor.
As an actor, she brings intimacy to her roles, complex, passionate sensual dynamic versatile, and authentic. A talent caught up in the net of the HUAC insanity that ruined lives, and literally took her act of belonging away in Hollywood and from an industry where time is essential in order to obtain recognition and primacy.
I suspected that Lee always put a little of her real self in each role. It turns out I was right as you'll learn from our conversation about her performances. There is no one quite like Lee. Absolutely no other actor like her.
Lee with one of her original oil paintings.
Like David fighting Goliath, she kept her resilience during those dark years of the blacklist. She's an actor who is truthful enough to bare her vulnerabilities, machinations, fears, fancies, the quirks, and chinks in the armor"” it's all out there, and wonderfully bold and ballsy an individualist, and unfailingly frank. She is fragile and fierce, honest, courageous, and unwilling to be shut off or out.
The insanity of the McCarthy Era and fanatics like Vincent Hartnett tried to steal 12 years from Lee Grant. But she refused to be silenced. To this day she speaks truth to the powers that be. She has earned the right to be seen and heard. She's a woman who has become a firebrand with her socially conscious lens as a filmmaker, documentarian, director, activist, writer, and a mother to yet another gifted soul, Dinah Manoff. Talent and fierceness"”it runs in the blood.
Lee Grant to me, is someone I'll always regard with a sense of awe and respect. I'm incredibly honored that she allowed me a glimpse into her life and shared that sense of humor and her determination to be heard. And what a story she has to tell!
Actress Lee Grant poses for a portrait circa 1971. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Jerry Mathers is an American Icon whose presence undoubtedly continues to contribute to our collective consciousness. Born on June 2, 1948, in Sioux City, Iowa, he started as a child model from the age of two, and that led to his television and show business career in live television in the early 1950s. Jerry first worked on the popular Spike Jones live show. Jones was an American musician and bandleader Spike Jones and his City Slickers whose signature concept The Musical Depreciation Revue was satirical arrangements of popular songs, loud and not-quite-jazz-music of the 50s featuring musical riffs punctuated with unconventional noises like gunshots, whistles, and outrageous farcical vocals. His drummer would use trash can lids as cymbals and the trumpet players would use toilet plungers as mutes. The slapstick gimmick was certain whimsical instrumentals would cue Spike to drop his pants revealing his very loud boxer shorts.
When Jerry Mathers was about 3 years old he would walk out on stage with a big sign and start pulling on Spike’s coattails. The sign read ‘commercial’ to let him know that he had to take a break. Spike would chide him and shoo him away and then eventually go to the commercial. Working on the Spike Jones Show brought Jerry more work because people saw that he could go out on stage with the irascible Jones and not get rattled.
Jerry’s Mathers’ first foray into television was his debut in 1950 for a Pet Milk commercial with Ed Wynn on the Colgate Comedy Hour. The set up: A huge bar room scene with cowboys fighting one another and actor Ed Wynn tending bar. Jerry comes in through the swinging doors — amidst all the stuntmen brawling and breaking bottles over each other's heads — in diapers, a ten-gallon hat, six guns, and his big cowboy boots. One of the cowboys picks little Jerry up and sets him down on the bar where he pounds his little fist and utters his very first lines, "I'm the toughest hombre in these parts and you better have my brand" as Ed Wynn puts a can of Pet Condensed Milk on the bar! ( I wish there was an existing copy of this commercial )
Jerry as David Myer in This is My Love (1954) starring Linda Darnell
Jerry Mathers began to get cast in many early 1950s television programs, variety hours, and early live dramatic shows. And in 1954, he made his film debut in This is My Love starring Linda Darnell and Dan Duryea.
Soon after appearing in a major motion picture his impish, precocious ways caught the eye of master director/storyteller Alfred Hitchcock who cast Jerry as Arnie Rogers for his mystery/comedy The Trouble with Harry (1955) starring John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine in her first role, and some of the best character actors– Mildred Natwick, Mildred Dunnock and Edmund Gwenn. Next up at age 5 Jerry appeared with Bob Hope in two major motion pictures as Bryan Lincoln Foy, the black licorice lovin’ little rascal in The Seven Little Foys (1955) co-starring James Cagney and George Tobias. And he played the wonderful Norman Taylor in That Certain Feeling (1956) co-starring Eva Marie Saint, George Sanders, and Pearl Bailey.
The Trouble with Harry official trailer:
Bob Hope was wonderful with Jerry Mathers in the hilarious scene with the cute little guy eating his black licorice both actors’ body comedy was spot on — Hope choreographed the scene brilliantly with Jerry. It was pure genius. Jerry’s tugging at Bob’s coat, kicking and screaming the whole way.
Bob Hope actually played a part in saving Jerry Mather’s life on the set of the vaudevillian biopic The Seven Little Foys. Back then they used candles to light the stage. Jerry was sitting up in the catwalk and the stuntman was supposed to put gasoline on the curtain so it would ignite and all the extras were supposed to panic and run out of the theater, with the stuntman dressed as Bob Hope climbing up and saving little Bryan Foy (Jerry Mathers) from the flames. Well, Jerry was sitting up on the catwalk when they accidentally put too much gasoline on the curtains, that caught fire. The extras who were supposed to be fleeing the theater saw all these flames and actually did panic, and the stuntman dressed as Bob Hope got pushed out the door and no one realized that Jerry was still up on the catwalk but Bob Hope.
Bob courageously threw a blanket over himself and ran through the flames, grabbed a ladder, and got Jerry out safely. In another interview, Jerry said that he remembers the flames but it was also dripping like raining fire fragments because the cloth as it burned was dropping off. It must have been terrifying! So thanks to Bob Hope for saving Jerry’s life. They couldn’t even use the footage from the first fire. They had to re-shoot the entire scene all over again because there was too much smoke and flames and they couldn't see Bob Hope climb up and rescue Jerry so the very next day they had to do it all over again with A LOT less gasoline on the curtains. They didn't even use a stuntman, they shot it with Bob Hope who went up and got Jerry but the scene was a lot more toned down.
I found a small clip from the film which includes the re-shot recreation of the fire at the Iroquois Theater — with a little less gasoline this time!– and Bob Hope climbing the ladder and not a stuntman as planned. Hope is not only a comic genius but courageous!
Jerry talks about Bob Hope –
"He was really a fun person to work with. I did That Certain Feeling with him too and actually I did The Seven Little Foys first and I had a very small part in that and he liked me so much that in the next one in his next movie I had a very very big part and it was with Norman Panama and Melvin Frank who were some great writers if you go back and look at some of the things they've done and they both directed, I think they were writer/producers but because there were two directors we would do some scenes twenty and thirty times and the one would come over and say you do it this way and then they'd come back and say okay now do it this way and you just kept doing it so as a child it was I imagine now as an adult actor I would even think its tedious. It's a great movie. And he always made it fun. You know we'd sit there and do this same scene and he just made it so much fun as I say most people know him by seeing him on stage and he was just fun loving and just a great person to work with.
…Bob Hope was always seen as this very lovable person but George Sanders in a lot of his movies played, not villains but he had kind of an edge to him so when I first met him it was actually kind of scary and the other person.”
Among the other cast members he was very taken with Pearl Bailey who sang to him in the film, he liked her very much and thought the world of her.
 “She made the movie so much fun and her and Bob Hope used to clown around it was just so much fun to watch.”
Jerry Mathers in That Certain Feeling (1956)
Jerry Mathers in The Seven Little Foys (1955)
Other major motion pictures of the 1950s Jerry Mathers appeared in:
Men of the Fighting Lady (1954) and director Nicolas Ray’s Bigger Than Life (1956) starring James Mason and Barbara Rush. The gritty and obscure film noir The Shadow on the Window (1957)stars Philip Carey, Betty Garrett, and John Drew Barrymore. And The Deep Six (1958) starring Alan Ladd.
“Our generation is the first to have grown up with TV. I’m one of the first kids that they watched grow up on television.” –Jerry Mathers
It was the advent of television. TV was something new, and it was all live studio work. Jerry Mathers explains that while there were child stars in motion pictures, there weren’t really any television child actors, so they thought they could pool from child models who were used to being out on stage and could follow direction.
Heinz 57 was sponsoring and premiering a lot of television variety shows and pilots and after a year or more of languishing it was actually General Douglas MacArthur who was on the board of Remington-Rand (Typewriters) who decided to option the series. The pilot for the show was initially called It’s a Small World.
There was a cattle call for the pilot show where over 5000 young boys of varying ages turned up to audition for the part of both brothers and their friends. His mom wasn’t sure she wanted Jerry to do a series. After many weeks of showing up for the grueling audition schedule, Jerry started to get a bit tired of the process of sticking around, saying his lines, and being told to come back the next day as they weeded out the potential actors for the series. It came down to the last 10 kids and the day he was supposed to show up at the casting call, he had his first cub scout meeting, so he didn’t want to go. Writers Joe Connolly and Bob Mosher both had big families and were used to the machinations of children. They noticed that Jerry was acting pretty fidgety on the rehearsal stage. He agreed to go to the audition only after his mother fixed it so they could go to the audition and his cub scout meeting right afterward, Jerry even wore his cub scout uniform to the audition.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, 1957-63, Hugh Beaumont (kneeling), Bob Mosher (co-creator), Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Joe Connelly (co-creator) (sitting), Norman Tokar (director) (kneeling), 1958, on-set
It seemed like it took forever to watch each kid go in and run their lines. Finally, he was called in. Young Jerry went inside, said his lines and came right out in a short period of time. His mom asked why he was done so quickly, he told her that they asked him if he wanted to be there and he said “no,” he’d rather go to his cub scout meeting. That night they called and said he’d gotten the job! They’d rather have a boy that wanted to go to a cub scout meeting rather than be an actor. The producers chose him because they wanted a boy who possessed the genuine spirit of a real little boy.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, Jerry Mathers, Hugh Beaumont, ‘The Black Eye’, (Season 1), 1957-63
And of course, Connolly and Mosher just loved young Jerry every time he showed up for each exhaustive part of the audition process. Jerry Mathers is the consummate professional. He began his career at age 2, he took direction well, learned his lines perfectly, and gained immeasurable experience in the early infancy of television with variety shows and dramatic live performances. He is such an extraordinary actor and a natural talent that he makes you believe he wasn’t following direction at all, and somehow he had manifested Theodore ‘Beaver’ Cleaver as a very real character — a universally lovable little guy. And after listening to interviews and talking to the actor himself, he makes it clear that there was a little bit of himself in Beaver and a bit of Beaver in Jerry Mathers. The skill involved makes you think that what you’re seeing is real, and that is an art. A lot goes into the process of creating, not only a believable and beloved iconic character but a television series that will go on to last decade after decade. And as you will learn from my conversation with Jerry Mathers, that lovable little boy was very serious and focused on the craft of acting all while having the time of his life!
"You know, working isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. I wonder why older people do it so much?" "”Beaver Cleaver
On Friday, October 4th, 1956, months after the pilot aired, Leave It to Beaver debuted on CBS and began a legacy of the magic and innocence of childhood. The iconic television sitcom Leave It to Beaver is about an inquisitive and often unsuspicious little lad whose misadventures within the world of his suburban middle-class life symbolized the idealization of the American family during post-WWII.
The first sublimely marvelous episode ‘Beaver Gets Spelled’ introduces Beaver and Wally navigating the tricky mechanism of kid vs school and authority. It includes a scene where they feign taking their baths by running the tub, dampening towels, and throwing in some turtle dirt so it leaves a ring. The next episode ‘Captain Jack’ made television history by featuring the first toilet shown on TV. Beaver and Wally send away a pet alligator from the back of a comic book. In the 1960s, I ordered all sorts of things as a kid, including a giant rubber fly, sea monkeys, and X-ray glasses! It’s a quirky entertaining episode with wonderful moments — for instance when Ward accuses Minerva the cleaning woman of getting drunk on the job when she says there’s an alligator in the basement sink. In 1997 ‘Captain Jack’ was ranked number 42 in TV Guide’s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
In 1957, radio, film, and television writers/producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher conceptualized a television show that would feature the family life of an average suburban couple and their young children. Connelly and Mosher met in New York City while working on the radio show Amos ‘n’ Andy, which they continued to be involved with after it moved to television in 1950. What set the show apart from other family sitcoms and domestic comedies of that time period like Ozzie & Harriet or Father Knows Best is that their show would be conveyed through the eyes of the children and not their parents, which introduced a new direction for a mainstream family genre, a series being told from the kid's point of view. Leave It to Beaver is a thoughtfully lyrical insight of middle-class American boyhood.
Both Connolly and Mosher had kids of their own and actually got their inspiration for the characters, plot lines, and dialogue from their own personal lives and conversations with their children. Most of all 234 episodes, 39 per year for 6 years, were taken from real-life situations.
Joe Connolly collected stories in a notebook over the years with anecdotes based on things that really happened to family and friends, embellishing a bit along the way. “If we hire a writer we tell him not to make up situations, but to look into his own background. It’s not a ‘situation’ comedy where you have to create a situation for a particular effect. Our emphasis is on a natural storyline." -Joe Connolly
“The Haircut" episode, for example, is based on something that happened with Bob Mosher's son who had to wear a stocking cap in a school play because he gave himself a terrible haircut like the one Beaver gave himself with the help of his brother Wally of course!
Even the name Beaver was inspired by a merchant marine friend of Joe Connolly's during WWII. Both Connolly and Mosher became executive producers on the show having initially written all the earlier episodes. Later on, they began accepting scripts from other writers.
The series cinematographers were Mack Stengler, who shot 122 episodes between 1958 and 1962, and William A. Sickner who worked on 37 episodes between 1957 and 1959 and later included Fred Mandl, and Ray Rennahan. The cinematographers often keenly lensed the series using angles that emphasized the world from Beaver, Wally, and their mischievous friends' perspectives.
Director Norman Tokar, who had experience working with children, directed most of the episodes for the first three years and developed the characters of Eddie Haskell and Larry Mondello. Other directors involved in the series include Earl Bellamy, David Butler (who had worked with Shirley Temple), Bretaigne Windust, Gene Reynolds, and also Hugh Beaumont directed various episodes. Norman Abbott directed most of the episodes during the run of the last three years.
Leave it to Beaver is so memorable for us because it's an allegorical journey of innocence and the magical world of childhood. Beaver is the ‘innocent’ while Wally is the "˜transitional' character. Wally tries to explain to his brother what the world is really like because he’s been out in the world longer. Beaver often looks to Wally for guidance as he tries to navigate the awkward and often perplexing situations he gets himself into.
Beaver grew up on the television screen, and we watched his trajectory of his adventures and life lessons through his perspective. The show shared the valuable and straightforward morals he learns about life, love, and friendship. And amidst all the shenanigans and mischief, Theodore ‘Beaver’ Cleaver is a very loyal, caring, and kind little fella. Leave it to Beaver has touched fans’ lives immeasurably at the core of our collective hearts.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, Jerry Mathers on-set, (1959), 1957-63
Not only is Leave It to Beaver known as the first television show to reveal a toilet on air but quite a few scenes occurred in the boy’s bathroom. There's even an episode where Beaver allows a bum to come in and take a bath getting all sudsed up in Ward and June’s bathroom. Then he takes one of Ward’s best suits! It's a crazy bit of trivia but tubs and toilets were what the censors took notice of!
Jerry has mentioned in other interviews as well as in our conversation that the environment on the set was geared toward everyone involved feeling like a family and making sure that the crew's families felt welcomed and included. Writers Joe Connolly & Bob Mosher visualized the series with a very conscious aim at representing the idealization of the American family and the American Dream of the 1950s but somehow they managed to narrate finely drawn messages within the framework of the storylines. They even contributed to The Munsters which was a way to invert the average All-American ideal using an unconventional family of monsters to introduce not so subtly, the idea of "˜difference.'
Leave It to Beaver was filmed at Republic Studios in Studio City, Los Angeles during its earliest run of Season 1 and 2. Then the production moved to Universal Studios for the last four seasons of the show. All the exteriors, including the façades of the two Cleaver houses, were filmed on both studios' back lots.
One of the intros for Alfred Hitchcock Presents was done on the set of the Cleaver home. The studio went around looking for places and they decided on the Cleaver living room. If you know the design of the house and all the furniture – notice the foyer and as Jerry Mathers says- "It's probably a murder mystery – but they actually filmed on their set (Leave It to Beaver) one day"¦"
One of the significant elements of the series was the musical theme song at the opening of Leave it to Beaver and it's incidental music throughout. Each episode was accompanied by whimsical, evocative, and poignant melodies that help elevate the storylines in moments that invoked either the adventurous spirit, or the curious imagination, or tapped into the bonds of affection and kindness. The opening spirited theme song "The Toy Parade" was written by David Kahn, Melvyn Leonard, and Mort Greene. For the rest of the wall-to-wall incidental music, CBS utilized stock music from their Television Orchestra library, suggestive of shows from that decade and the early 1960s. There are expressive melodies used in Leave It to Beaver that can be heard in the studio's other shows, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The final season showcased one of my favorite composers Pete Rugolo who scored many television series of the 1960s.
Essentially the typical setup for each episode of Leave It to Beaver places Beaver or Wally or both boys in situations where they get into some sort of mishap or predicament. First, they try to noodle their way out of it somehow by covering up or avoiding the issue, eventually coming before his wise but not infallible mother and father June and Ward for his/their admonishment. Often June and Ward would discuss their own shortsightedness in handling the boys, ultimately admitting that they have a lot to learn as parents. This is part of what makes the show so earnest and endearing. And the affectionate and often humorous chemistry Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont share comes across as real as can be.
Frequently Ward tries to impart some kernel of wisdom referring to classical myths and literary characters as models for teaching the boys moral lessons about making good choices, and solving problems. Ward often idealizes his own childhood, forgetting the various ways boys can get in trouble. He gives the boys Tom Sawyer to read, forgetting that the book is full of Tom's bad habits and delinquency. Applying the logic to their own lives, for example when Beaver fights with Larry, and Ward tells him the story of Damon and Pythias, and the boys make a friendship pact that at first backfires on Beaver when Larry takes advantage expecting him to "˜die even' for him by giving him his math homework. Ultimately, Ward’s story gets through to Larry, and the boys learn a valuable lesson about integrity, loyalty, and friendship.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, Barbara Billingsley, Jerry Mathers, Hugh Beaumont, 1957-63.
One of the tenets of the show is the emphasis on cleanliness and the importance of good grooming habits, manners, appearance, and caring for your personal belongings. Like not throwing your grubby socks under the bed or in contrast to June's wishes that the boys take a bath, the two run the tub, dampen towels, and then throw some of Beaver's turtle dirt in to create a ring.
While girls were still "˜creepy', It's a mischievous ruse that would eventually be left behind as Wally grew up and pampered and preened himself once he started to notice girls. Beaver's awakening came a bit later, though he did have sweet crushes on Miss Canfield (Diane Brewster) and Miss Landers (Sue Randall), he wasn't above coming up with great verbal scourges like telling Violet Rutherford "You do too drink gutter water" after she gives him a black eye and calling Linda Denison "˜a smelly old ape' when the other kids accuse him of being her boyfriend.
And Leave it to Beaver dealt with issues that were pretty enlightened for its era. There was an episode that dealt sensitively with alcoholism as Beaver becomes aware of the issue within a very tender friendship with the house painter. There is a storyline where one of June’s college friend’s son Dudley comes to spend time with the Cleavers. Wally is asked to befriend him and introduce him to his friends. Dudley is gentile and cultured, playing piano, and wearing an overcoat and fedora. He carries a briefcase to school which serves as fodder for Eddie Haskell to ridicule the young man for being an oddball. Dudley was an outsider, the idea of his difference was blaring and the show handled it to subtle perfection. It was a very interesting character as he represented a very "˜different' sort of teenage boy.
There was also the episode that showed a Latino immigrant family whose little boy Chuey communicates with ease, without Beaver speaking Spanish embracing their newfound friendship without prejudice, until Eddie Haskell injects his cruel joke laced with racism when Beaver asks Eddie to teach him a Spanish phrase to surprise Chuey with, Beaver innocently tells Chuey he has "˜a face like a pig'. Even the episode with Lillian Bronson as the local "˜witch' who was really just an older woman living by herself in a spooky run-down house was a lesson in not judging people by their appearance.
Then there was the episode that dealt with classism involving the Junkman's kids. While June worries a bit that the boys will be playing in a dirty environment surrounded by garbage and rats and boys who might be rough around the edges "” boys from the other side of town–Â she learns that there is understanding and alternate wisdom to be shared from unexpected places and it teaches her not to judge people by their station in life, as they share endearing observations about June and Ward that impress not only Beaver and Wally who have a new perspective on their parents seeing them “through the eyes of the Junkman's kids.”
Leave it to Beaver in its own innocuous way even Introduced esoteric themes of the supernatural in a humorous fashion with the episode Voodoo Magic where Beaver believes he’s inflicted a curse on Eddie Haskell by sticking pins and nails in his Raggedy Andy doll. It's one of my favorites of the series. Ward in his calm and sage manner even teaches Beaver that you can beat a bully like Lumpy Rutherford by not becoming like him. But Ward learns his own lesson when he realizes that he sabotages Beaver’s self-confidence when he is disappointed that he’s only playing a yellow canary in the school revue and not a bald eagle. His underlying dismay at his son’s representation of masculinity by playing a wimpy bird sends Beaver into a panic on the night of the show.
And Beaver catches the capitalist fever in Water, Anyone? when the water main is shut off, and he gets inside information from the water department guys digging up the road. Beaver proceeds to try and sell his jugs of water from his wagon to the neighborhood, inciting one of the local housewives to call Ward up and invoke the word ‘communism’ in her rant. It's another of my favorites. And there's more than one episode that shows Beaver's sensitivity and caring for all creatures great and small.
After hearing Miss Landers recite a poem about trees, he is so moved that he goes to rescue the tree given to him on his birthday a few years back, which is still rooted at his old house. Beaver digs it up with the help of Larry Mondello and sneaks it back to replant it at his new house. What might seem like simple childhood exploits, there is always a small shining gem of wisdom within the narrative.
Some people may assess the show as syrupy or fluffy but the show is way more nuanced about unconditional love, acceptance, tolerance, difference, and embracing the vast untapped qualities revealed by a child’s flourishing imagination.
“Give the shrimp a paddle!”
Therefore the show shouldn't be constrained by 1950s standards. Uncle Billy and Aunt Martha who is an elitist, were single adults with no experience raising children, Billy is painted as sort of the "˜black sheep' on Ward's side of the family, a braggart and exaggerator who travels and doesn't have a stable lifestyle and June's Aunt Martha doesn't seem to be in touch with how to raise boys in a contemporary manner, dressing Beaver in short pants that lead to him getting into a brawl at school. Even Mrs. Mondello has to raise the problematic Larry as her husband is always out of town and rarely taking charge at home, leaving her to scramble for advice, often looking to Ward to help straighten out Larry when he gets into mischief.
Of course, Eddie Haskell is an archetypal anti-social troublemaker who is the counterbalance to Wally's clean-cut, always-follow-the-rules kind of idealized All-American boy.
The series offers us drunks, bums, effete males, bullies, fat shaming, and the emotional subject of divorce. A friend of Beaver's from camp Konig spends the weekend. He is bought off with gifts and cash to keep him placated while he's left alone amidst a hostile divorce, where the parents remarry every other year. This episode features another fine child actor, Barry Gordon who was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Nick in A Thousand Clowns on Broadway revising the role in the film in 1965.
Jerry Mathers is both fortunate and burdened — he will be forever associated with an eternal boy in the mind of the collective American audience. He will be typecast forever in our imaginations as a part of the cultural iconography of nostalgia for believed better bygone days.
Beaver is an "˜every kid' and each episode is filmed almost like a fable. There is a sweet alchemy that creates a world that feels comfortable and comforting amidst an early suburban enchantment that is gratifying. Beyond the nostalgia, there is an incredibly nuanced sentiment within the series and the performances "” clever morality plays which are veiled in the everyday adventures that wind up mattering a whole lot.
There are just wonderful "˜time period' aspects to the show that are steeped in nostalgia. And you'll hear expressions like ‘creepy rat’ ‘gosh’ ‘grubby’ ‘wise guy’ and ‘A hunk of milk’ or a hunk of anything really. The worries were whether you washed your feet, did not throw your dirty socks under the bed, not losing your library book, and not playing hooky from school!
Or you could be like Beaver, climbing into a giant steamy cup of billboard soup, ditching dancing class, spitting off a bridge, building a clubhouse, camping out in the yard during a torrential downpour, selling perfume that smells like an old catchers mitt, getting a black eye from a girl, and sneaking an alligator into the house"¦
I’ll just mention a few predicaments Beaver gets himself into, especially with the help of his best friend Larry. Beaver lets Larry talk him into drilling a few holes in the garage wall, and after Ward tells him if he doesn’t pay attention to the rules, they’re going to have nothing but trouble between them. So Beaver tells him he’s running away so Ward never has to be troubled with him hanging around there — no more. Of course, he gets as far as Larry Mondello’s dinner table with three desserts while June is frantic and Ward won’t bend… at first!
The boys are so late to school for the third time in one week when a truck crushes their lunch boxes that they play hooky and wind up on a television commercial at the local grocery store. One day the boys smoke from the Austrian Meerschaum pipe Mr. Rutherford sends the family – first they try just some coffee grinds then used cigarette butts Larry collects from last night’s company–they both get sick, and Wally is the one who gets blamed for smoking. Beaver believes Larry who tells him that Mrs. Rayburn has a spanking machine in her office closet then gets himself locked inside the school that night and needs the fire department to get him out — making himself a "˜most conspicuous' character. Then the very next day he gets his head stuck in the iron fence in the park, making himself yet again that’s right — ‘conspicuous’. I got my own head stuck in the wrought iron railing in our house when I was about his age. Let me assure you… It’s not fun!
