Lee Remick | |
|---|---|
 Remick in 1974 | |
| Born | Lee Ann Remick (1935-12-14)December 14, 1935 Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | July 2, 1991(1991-07-02) (aged 55) Brentwood, California, U.S. |
| Education | Barnard College Actors Studio |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953–1990 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Lee Ann Remick (/ˈrɛmɪk/;[1] December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actress for the filmDays of Wine and Roses (1962) and was nominated for theTony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role inWait Until Dark (1966) in addition to earning sevenEmmy Award nominations.
Remick made her film debut inA Face in the Crowd (1957). Her other notable film roles includeAnatomy of a Murder (1959),Wild River (1960),Days of Wine and Roses (1962),No Way to Treat a Lady (1968),The Detective (1968),The Omen (1976), andThe Europeans (1979).
She wonGolden Globe Awards for the TV filmThe Blue Knight (1973), and for playing the title role in the miniseriesJennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974). For the latter role, she won theBAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. In April 1991, she received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.
Remick was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, the daughter of Gertrude Margaret (two sources say Patricia[2][3]) (née Waldo), an actress, and Francis Edwin "Frank" Remick, who owned a department store.[4][5][6] She had one older brother, Bruce.[7] One of her maternal great-grandmothers, Eliza Duffield, was a preacher born in England.[8]
Remick attended the Swoboda School of Dance and TheHewitt School.[3]
Remick made her Broadway theatre debut, age 18, in the 1953 productionBe Your Age.[9] She began guest starring on episodes of TV anthology series such asArmstrong Circle Theatre,Studio One in Hollywood,Robert Montgomery Presents,Kraft Television Theatre andPlayhouse 90.[10]
Remick made her film debut inElia Kazan'sA Face in the Crowd (1957). While filming the movie in Arkansas, Remick lived with a local family and practiced baton twirling so that she would be believable as the teenager who wins the attention of Lonesome Rhodes (played byAndy Griffith).
After appearing as Eula Varner, the hot-blooded daughter-in-law of Will Varner (Orson Welles) inThe Long, Hot Summer (1958), she appeared inThese Thousand Hills (1959) as a dance hall girl, both for20th Century Fox.
Remick came to prominence portraying a rape victim whose husband is tried for killing her attacker inOtto Preminger'sAnatomy of a Murder (1959).
She made a second film with Kazan,Wild River (1960), which co-starredMontgomery Clift andJo Van Fleet. That year she played Miranda in a television version ofThe Tempest with Richard Burton.
Remick was top-billed inSanctuary (1961) alongsideYves Montand. She appeared inThe Farmer's Daughter (1962) on television. She starred oppositeGlenn Ford in theBlake Edwards suspense-thrillerExperiment in Terror (1962). The same year, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as the alcoholic wife ofJack Lemmon inDays of Wine and Roses (1962), also directed by Edwards.Bette Davis, also nominated that year forWhat Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, said "Miss Remick's performance astonished me, and I thought, if I lose the Oscar, it will be to her." They both lost toAnne Bancroft inThe Miracle Worker.[11]
WhenMarilyn Monroe was fired during the filming of the comedySomething's Got to Give, the studio announced that Remick would be her replacement. Co-starDean Martin refused to continue, however, saying that while he admired Remick, he had signed on to the picture strictly to work with Monroe.[citation needed] Remick didThe Running Man (1963) withLaurence Harvey andThe Wheeler Dealers (1963), withJames Garner.
Remick next appeared in the 1964 Broadway musicalAnyone Can Whistle,[9] with music and lyrics byStephen Sondheim and a book and direction byArthur Laurents, which ran for only one week. Remick's performance is captured on the original cast recording. This began a friendship between Remick and Sondheim, and she later appeared in the 1985 concert version of his musicalFollies.[12]
Remick returned to films withBaby the Rain Must Fall (1965), withSteve McQueen from a script byHorton Foote, andThe Hallelujah Trail (1965) withBurt Lancaster.
In 1966, she starred in the Broadway playWait Until Dark under the direction ofArthur Penn and co-starringRobert Duvall.[9] It was a big success, and it ran for 373 performances; Remick was nominated for a Tony award for Best Actress (Dramatic).[13] It was adapted into asuccessful film the following year starringAudrey Hepburn.
She performed inDamn Yankees! (1967) for TV and starred inNo Way to Treat a Lady (1968) withRod Steiger andGeorge Segal,The Detective (1968) withFrank Sinatra, andHard Contract (1969) withJames Coburn.
Remick went to the UK to makeLoot (1970) andA Severed Head (1971). Back in the U.S., she was inSometimes a Great Notion (1971).
She appeared inHennessy (1975), withRod Steiger. She co-starred withGregory Peck in the 1976 horror filmThe Omen. The film was a commercial success.
Remick followed it up with leading actress roles inTelefon (1977), withCharles Bronson;The Medusa Touch (1978) withRichard Burton; the television miniseriesWheels (1979) withRock Hudson;Ike: The War Years (1979) portrayingKay Summersby; andThe Europeans (1979) for directorJames Ivory.[14]
Remick starred in many TV movies beginning withThe Man Who Came to Dinner (1972) withOrson Welles. She followed it withSummer and Smoke (1972) for British TV;And No One Could Save Her (1973);Of Men and Women (1973), an unsuccessful pilot;The Blue Knight (1973) withWilliam Holden;A Delicate Balance (1973) withKatharine Hepburn;QB VII (1974);Touch Me Not, a.k.a.The Hunted (1974);Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1975), playing the title role, which earned her an Emmy nomination;Hustling (1975) withJill Clayburgh;A Girl Named Sooner (1975);Breaking Up (1978); andTorn Between Two Lovers (1979) withGeorge Peppard.
Remick playedMargaret Sullavan inHaywire (1980) and earned an Emmy nomination (as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Special). She had the lead inThe Women's Room (1980) and supporting roles inThe Competition (1980) andTribute (1980), the latter with Lemmon.
Remick starred inThe Letter (1982),The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983) and a TV adaptation ofI Do! I Do! (1984). She had a role in the miniseriesMistral's Daughter (1984), adapted from the novel byJudith Krantz. The reviewer ofThe New York Times praised Remick for portraying Kate "to fresh-faced clawing perfection".[15]
Remick was inRearview Mirror (1984),Toughlove (1985),Of Pure Blood (1986), andNutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (1987), earning another Emmy nomination (as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special). She went to Australia to makeEmma's War (1987).
Remick's later performances includeThe Vision (1987) withDirk Bogarde,Jesse (1988),Bridge to Silence (1989) and playingSarah Bernhardt inAround the World in 80 Days (1989). Her last performance was the lead in the TV movieDark Holiday (1989).
Remick married producer Bill Colleran, whose credits includeYour Hit Parade,The Dean Martin Show andThe Judy Garland Show on August 3, 1957. They had two children, Katherine Lee Colleran (b. January 27, 1959) and Matthew Remick Colleran (b. June 7, 1961).[2] Remick and Colleran divorced in 1968.
Remick married British producer William Rory "Kip" Gowans on December 18, 1970. He was an assistant director on films such asDarling (1965),Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) andThe Lion in Winter (1968) before they married, and afterward worked onSleuth (1972),The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) andThe Human Factor (1979). She moved with Gowans to England and remained married to him until her death.[3] She starred in four telefilms he produced,The Women's Room (1980),The Letter (1982),Rearview Mirror (1984) andOf Pure Blood (1986). Remick and Gowans spent time in both England and Osterville, Massachusetts, which she considered her "true home".[16]
In the spring of 1989, Remick was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Treatments at first seemed to be successful.[17] However, this proved not to be true, and she died on July 2, 1991, at the age of 55.[18][19]
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Remick was awarded theWomen in FilmCrystal Award in 1990.[20]
She has a star in the Motion Pictures section on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6104 Hollywood Boulevard. It was dedicated on April 29, 1991.[21]
Remick was the subject of "Lee Remick", the 1978 debut single by the Australian indie rock bandThe Go-Betweens.Remick was American-born and raised (as were her parents); after 1970, she divided her time between England (where she had family ancestry) and the U.S.
The English indie rock bandHefner recorded a song titled "Lee Remick" in 1998, unrelated to the Go-Betweens' single.
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