Gretchen Corbett | |
|---|---|
 Corbett in 1975 | |
| Born | Gretchen Hoyt Corbett (1945-08-13)August 13, 1945 (age 80)[a] |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Partner | Robin Gammell |
| Children | Winslow Corbett |
| Relatives |
|
Gretchen Hoyt Corbett (born August 13, 1945[a][4]) is an American actress and theater director. She is primarily known for her roles in television, particularly as attorney Beth Davenport on theNBC seriesThe Rockford Files, but has also had a prolific career as a stage actress onBroadway as well as in regional theater.
A native ofOregon and the great-great-granddaughter of OregonU.S. SenatorHenry W. Corbett, she spent her early life inCamp Sherman andPortland, where she graduated from theCatlin Gabel School. Corbett studied drama atCarnegie Mellon University before making her stage debut in a production ofOthello at theOregon Shakespeare Festival. She subsequently appeared in lead roles on Broadway inAfter the Rain (1967) andForty Carats (1968), oppositeJulie Harris. She also starred off-Broadway in the title role ofIphigenia in Aulis (1968), and as Joan la Pucelle in Shakespeare'sHenry VI, staged atCentral Park'sDelacorte Theater in 1970. She starred asJeanne d'Arc inThe Survival of St. Joan between 1970 and 1971.
She made her feature film debut in the comedyOut of It (1969), followed by a supporting role in thecult horror filmLet's Scare Jessica to Death (1971). In 1972, Corbett signed a contract withUniversal Studios, and appeared in numerous television films and series for the studio, while simultaneously working insummer stock theater on the East Coast. Between 1974 and 1978, she starred as the idealistic attorney Beth Davenport on theNBC seriesThe Rockford Files, oppositeJames Garner. Corbett subsequently starred in the horror filmJaws of Satan (1981), and the dramaMillion Dollar Infield (1982), directed byHal Cooper.
For the majority of the 1980s, Corbett appeared in guest-starring roles on numerous television series, includingCheers (1983) andMagnum, P.I. (1981–1983), and starred in the short-livedOtherworld (1985). In 1988, she starred in the original workshop stage production ofThe Heidi Chronicles for theSeattle Repertory Theatre. She later had minor parts in the filmsWithout Evidence (1995) andA Change of Heart (1998). Since the 2000s, Corbett has served as the artistic director of the Portland-based Haven Project, a theater project serving underprivileged children, and appeared in numerous stage productions at thePortland Center Stage as well as the city's Third Rail Repertory. She returned to television with a recurring character on theIFC seriesPortlandia in 2013, and had a guest-starring role on theHulu seriesShrill in 2019.
Gretchen Hoyt Corbett was born August 13, 1945. Corbett's year of birth is variously given as 1947[1][2][3] and 1945.[4] inPortland, Oregon[b] to Henry Ladd Corbett, Jr. and Katherine Minahen (née Coney) "Kay" Corbett. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Oregon pioneer, businessman, and SenatorHenry Winslow Corbett,[8] and granddaughter ofHenry Ladd Corbett, a Portland civic leader, businessman, and politician. The community ofCorbett, Oregon is named for her great-great-grandfather.[9] Through her paternal ancestry, she is ofEnglish descent, with ancestors originating fromEssex,Norfolk, andSuffolk.[10] Corbett has two brothers and one sister.[6]
Corbett's father, tired of the city, relocated the family to ruralCamp Sherman, Oregon,[11] where she spent her early life.[7] "I rode my horse to school every day, four miles each way," she recalled in a 1985 interview. "I hated it then, but, in retrospect, it was a marvelous life and a great way to grow up."[7] The family eventually returned to Portland in her later childhood, where her mother worked as an administrator at theUniversity of Portland.[6] At age seven, Corbett was inspired to become an actress after attending theOregon Shakespeare Festival.[5]
Corbett attended theCatlin Gabel School in Portland, and as a teenager apprenticed with the Carnival Theatre camp at theUniversity of Oregon.[12] She studied drama at Pittsburgh'sCarnegie Tech (before its merger with theMellon Institute of Industrial Research to formCarnegie Mellon University in 1967), but dropped out after her first year of studies to begin working as a full-time actress.[5]
Corbett made her stage debut asDesdemona in a production ofOthello at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1966.[13] She subsequently appeared in productions with theNew Orleans Repertory Theater in 1967.[14] This same year, she was cast as Sonya Banks in theBroadway production ofAfter the Rain withAlec McCowen.[15] In 1968, she appeared inThe Bench at theGramercy Arts Theatre, and in the title role inIphigenia in Aulis at theCircle in the Square Theatre, oppositeIrene Papas.[16] She subsequently co-starred withJulie Harris in the Broadway production ofForty Carats, staged at theMorosco Theatre.[17]
One of Corbett's first television roles was on ABC's short-lived police detective show,N.Y.P.D., in 1968; in the episode, "The Case of the Shady Lady", Corbett played a dancer who tries to make her husband's suicide into a murder for the insurance money.[18] Corbett made her feature film debut in the comedyOut of It (1969), co-starring withJon Voight.[19] She then appeared in the cult horror filmLet's Scare Jessica to Death (1971).[20] Meanwhile, between 1970 and 1971, Corbett starred asJeanne d'Arc in a New York production ofThe Survival of St. Joan.[15] She also appeared inThe Government Inspector withDavid Dukes andJohn Glover at The Phoenix Theatre.
Corbett moved toLos Angeles under contract toUniversal Studios, as one of the lastcontract players. Her first role under contract was in (Conspiracy of Fear) the ninth episode ofKojak (1973).[2] The same year, she appeared in stage productions ofTennessee Williams'sSummer and Smoke, and Shakespeare'sAs You Like It (portrayingRosalind), held atDrew University in New Jersey.[21][22] Under her Universal contract, Corbett guest-starred in numerous network series in 1974, includingColumbo,Gunsmoke, andBanacek.[23]
In 1974, Corbett joined the cast of NBC'sThe Rockford Files where she played Beth Davenport,[24] the beleaguered lawyer and sometimes lover of series leadJim Rockford, a private investigator portrayed byJames Garner. She appears in 33 episodes (including one uncredited voice-over).[citation needed] During Christmas 1974, Corbett survived a house fire at her residence inHollywood, California, which destroyed nearly all of her belongings and left her with minor injuries.[25][26][27] After completing the first season ofThe Rockford Files, Corbett starred in a televised production of the playKnuckle (1975), part ofPBS'sHollywood Television Theater, as well as guest-starring on the seriesHawaii Five-O andMcMillan & Wife.[23] On September 13, 1975 she appeared in the television seriesEmergency! as flight stewardess Sue Hickman who started a relationship with Gage after an in flight emergency brought the two together. She also appeared inMarcus Welby, M.D., playing the stepmother of a young boy molested by his teacher.[28]
Corbett appeared as Penny in another PBS televised play,George Kelly'sThe Fatal Weakness, oppositeEva Marie Saint andDennis Dugan.[29]
Corbett leftThe Rockford Files at the end of the fourth season over a dispute between the show's producers and Universal, who owned Corbett's contract as a contract player.
Corbett starred in the horror filmJaws of Satan (1981), playing a doctor implicated in a preacher's battle with a snake which isSatan incarnate.[2] In 1982, she starred as Roxane in a production ofThe Carome Brothers' Italian Food Products Corp.'s Annual Pasta Pageant at theLong Wharf Theatre inNew Haven, Connecticut.[30] In 1985, she starred in the science fiction seriesOtherworld.[31] In 1988, Corbett starred in the original workshop production ofWendy Wasserstein'sThe Heidi Chronicles at theSeattle Repertory Theatre.[32]
Corbett reprised her role of Beth Davenport in theRockford Files television films of the 1990s, includingFriends and Foul Play,If the Frame Fits... (both 1996) andIf It Bleeds... It Leads (1999).[2]
Between 2013 and 2014, Corbett appeared in a recurring guest role on theIFC seriesPortlandia. In 2014, she directed a production of the playBo-Nita atPortland Center Stage.[33] In 2019, she appeared in theHulu seriesShrill, oppositeLuka Jones andAidy Bryant.[34] In late 2019, Corbett began filming the independent dramaPig, starringNicolas Cage,Adam Arkin, andAlex Wolff. She also appeared inLorelei, starringPablo Schreiber andJena Malone, which was released in 2021.
In the 2000s, Corbett served as Artistic Director of the Haven Project, a theatre project for underprivileged children inPortland, Oregon, a replication of New York's 52nd St. Project.
Corbett had a relationship withRobin Gammell.[citation needed] Her daughter is actressWinslow Corbett.[35]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
