Sandy Dennis | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Dennis in 1967 | |
| Born | Sandra Dale Dennis (1937-04-27)April 27, 1937 Hastings, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | March 2, 1992(1992-03-02) (aged 54) Westport, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1956–1991 |
| Partners |
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Sandra Dale Dennis (April 27, 1937 – March 2, 1992) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the dramaSplendor in the Grass (1961). For her performance in the comedy-drama filmWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), she received theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Dennis appeared in the filmsUp the Down Staircase (1967),The Fox (1967),Sweet November (1968),That Cold Day in the Park (1969),The Out-of-Towners (1970),God Told Me To (1976),The Four Seasons (1981),Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982), andAnother Woman (1988). Her final film appearance came in the crime drama filmThe Indian Runner (1991).
In a successful career on stage, Dennis appeared in the original stage production ofCome Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. For her performance in the playA Thousand Clowns, she received theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. For her performance in the playAny Wednesday, she received theTony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Dennis was devoted to the cause of animal welfare. She rescued stray cats from the bowels ofGrand Central Terminal. At the time of her death in Westport, Connecticut, she lived with more than 20 cats, who were adopted out by longtime friends to new homes.
Dennis was born inHastings, Nebraska, the daughter of Yvonne (née Hudson), a secretary, and Jack Dennis, a postal clerk.[1][2] Her parents divorced in 1966 after 38 years of marriage.[3] She had one brother, Frank, who was eight years older. Dennis grew up inKenesaw, Nebraska, andLincoln, Nebraska, graduating fromLincoln High School in 1955; one of her classmates was writer and comedianDick Cavett.[4] She attendedNebraska Wesleyan University and theUniversity of Nebraska, appearing in the Lincoln Community Theater Group before moving toNew York City at age 19.[5] She studied acting atHB Studio in New York City.[6]
Dennis made her television debut in 1956 in the soap operaGuiding Light.
She had an early break when cast as an understudy in the Broadway production ofWilliam Inge'sThe Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1957) directed byElia Kazan. Kazan cast Dennis in her first feature film, a small part inSplendor in the Grass (1961), which starredNatalie Wood andWarren Beatty.
Dennis was cast inFace of a Hero (1960) on Broadway alongsideJack Lemmon. The play had only a short run, but Dennis received good notices.The Complaisant Lover (1961–62) byGraham Greene was more successful, running for 101 performances;Michael Redgrave andGoogie Withers were also in the cast.
Dennis achieved Broadway fame with her leading role inHerb Gardner'sA Thousand Clowns (1962–63), for which she won a Tony award for her performance. She was replaced in the 1965 film version byBarbara Harris.[7] The show ran for 428 performances.[8]
Around this time, Dennis guest-starred on episodes of the TV seriesNaked City ("Idylls of a Running Back", 1962, "Carrier", 1963),The Fugitive ("The Other Side of the Mountain", 1963),Arrest and Trial ("Somewhat Lower Than the Angels" 1964), andMr. Broadway ("Don't Mention My Name in Sheboygan", 1964).[9] She was the lead of the Broadway comedyAny Wednesday (1964–66), which ran for 983 performances[10] and won her a second Tony.[7]
Dennis' second film role was as Honey, the fragile, neurotic young wife ofGeorge Segal's character, inWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). Directed byMike Nichols and starringElizabeth Taylor andRichard Burton, the film was a huge critical and commercial success and Dennis won theOscar forBest Supporting Actress for her role.[11]
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Dennis returned to the stage in a production ofThe Three Sisters (1966) withGeraldine Page andKim Stanley that went to London and was filmed.
Dennis' first lead role in a movie was inUp the Down Staircase (1967), directed byRobert Mulligan. In his review forThe New York Times,Bosley Crowther cited her for "a vivid performance of emotional range and depth … engagingly natural, sensitive, literate and thoroughly moving."[12] The film was a box-office success, as wasThe Fox (1967), directed byMark Rydell, despite its controversial subject matter. In 1967 Dennis was voted the 18th biggest star in the US.[13]
Dennis briefly returned to Broadway to star inDaphne in Cottage D (1967), which had a short run.
She starred inSweet November (1968) as a woman who takes multiple lovers, and made a TV version of the playA Hatful of Rain (1968).
Dennis went to London to star inA Touch of Love (1969), alternately titledThank You All Very Much in the USA, which flopped at the box office.That Cold Day in the Park (1969), byRobert Altman, did not fare much better.The Out-of-Towners (1970), aNeil Simon comedy withJack Lemmon, was a hit.[9]
Dennis made a TV movie withStuart Whitman,Only Way Out Is Dead (1970). She returned to Broadway forHow the Other Half Loves (1971) byAlan Ayckbourn, which ran for over 100 performances, then did another TV movieSomething Evil (1972), directed bySteven Spielberg, which drew a mixed reception.
Let Me Hear You Smile (1973) on Broadway only lasted one performance, butAbsurd Person Singular (1974–76) was a big hit, running 591 performances.
In 1974 she playedJoan of Arc in the pilot ofWitness to Yesterday,Patrick Watson's series of interviews with great figures out of the past.
Dennis was inMr. Sycamore (1975) withJason Robards and had a small role in the low-budget horror filmGod Told Me To (1976) byLarry Cohen. Her performance in the British comedyNasty Habits (1977) drew harsh criticism fromVincent Canby in theNew York Times.[14]
Dennis guest starred inPolice Story ("Day of Terror... Night of Fear", 1978), and starred in the TV moviesPerfect Gentlemen (1979) (written byNora Ephron), andWilson's Reward (1981). On Broadway she briefly joined the cast of the long-runningSame Time, Next Year.
She had a well-received part inAlan Alda'sThe Four Seasons (1981) and was inThe Supporting Cast (1981) on Broadway forGene Saks. She was in the stage production and film version ofRobert Altman'sCome Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982).[9]
In the mid- and late 1980s, Dennis acted less, owing to growing health problems. She appeared on TV inYoung People's Specials ("The Trouble with Mother", 1985),The Love Boat ("Roommates/Heartbreaker/Out of the Blue", 1985),Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Arthur, or the Gigolo", 1985) andThe Equalizer ("Out of the Past", 1986). In motion pictures, she had supporting roles in a 1986 remake ofLaughter in the Dark, which was never completed,Woody Allen'sAnother Woman (1988), and the horror films976-EVIL (1989) andParents (1989).
Her final role was in the crime dramaThe Indian Runner, filmed in 1990 and released in 1991. The movie markedSean Penn's debut as a film director. ActorViggo Mortensen, who played one of her two sons, wrote of the preparations for the movie and filming in the vicinity ofOmaha, Nebraska:
When I first met with Sean Penn and his producer,Don Phillips, to discuss the possibility of my playing Frank, one of the first questions I asked them was who, if anyone, they had in mind to play the mother. When Sean answered that he did not want to consider anyone other than Sandy Dennis for the part, I couldn't have been happier, or more in agreement. Aside from my feelings for her as a friend, I believed she would be a great asset to the movie and would inspire us all to do our best. This proved to be true.As it turned out, most of her work was cut from the movie. This was not due to any shortcoming on her part. On the contrary, she was brilliant throughout … She was working on a level far above the rest of us. The concentration and vulnerability that she invested in the scene were remarkable. Heart-breaking. The fact that most of us knew that she was dying of ovarian cancer as she showed us the emotional disintegration of the character made the experience all the more poignant.[15]
Dennis lived with prominent jazz musicianGerry Mulligan from 1965 to 1974. In October 1965, her hometown newspaper,The Lincoln Star, published anAssociated Press article stating she and Mulligan had married in Connecticut in June of that year.[16] In a 1989 interview withPeople, however, Dennis admitted that they only pretended to be married after she unintentionally became pregnant.[3] Dennis miscarried, adding, "If I'd been a mother, I would have loved the child, but I just didn't have any connection with it when I was pregnant ... I never, ever wanted children. It would have been like having an elephant."[3]
From 1980 to 1985, Dennis lived with actorEric Roberts, 19 years her junior. On June 4, 1981, her German Shepherd was riding with Roberts when he crashed his vehicle into a tree. Roberts, who was under the influence of cocaine at the time, was in a coma for 72 hours and had to withdraw from the Broadway showMass Appeal.[17] Dennis' dog survived the accident.[3] She and Roberts were engaged to be married in spring 1983, but the ceremony never took place.[18] In his 2024 autobiographyRunaway Train, Roberts wrote that he too had impregnated Dennis, but she got an abortion.[19]
Dennis' sexual orientation was a matter of public discussion as early as 1968, when the scandal magazineUncensored ran a story that labeled her a lesbian.[20] In an article published less than four years after Dennis' death, Eric Roberts identified her as bisexual.[21][22][23][24] According to Roberts, Dennis told him she had many lesbian relationships and that she "appreciated the beauty of women. But she also liked and appreciated what a very, very young man could do to a woman, I suppose."[25]
During Dennis' lifetime, in-depth published interviews with her, such as one withThe Christian Science Monitor during her stint performing in an ensemble cast at theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1981, made no mention of close relationships with women. That interview included the following exchange between journalist Louise Sweeney and Dennis about her marital status:
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At one point I say, "When you were married to Gerry Mulligan ..." but she breaks in, tersely: "I was never married to anybody." I point out that "Who's Who" says she was married to Mulligan.
She says, "It's not—I'm not fussy about that—the truth is I was never married. We had a long association but we never married..."
But there it is inCurrent Biography: "In June, 1965, after a three-week courtship, Sandy Dennis was married to Gerry Mulligan, the jazz saxophonist and composer."
She sits bolt upright and repeats: "I've never been married. And I'm not fussy about it. It's just the truth is, that I was never married. It isn't true that I was ever married, which means that I never got a divorce. The newspapers jumped to that conclusion. It's so hard to get to somebody and say ... Oh, they're so funny about it."[26]
Dennis also dated actorGerald S. O'Loughlin.[27]
Dennis died fromovarian cancer on March 2, 1992, at her home inWestport, Connecticut, at age 54.[28] She was cremated and inurned at Lincoln Memorial Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Guiding Light | Alice Holden | Unknown episodes |
| 1962 | Naked City | Eleanor Ann Hubber | Episode: "Idylls of a Running Back" |
| 1963 | Naked City | Lorraine | Episode: "Carrier" |
| The Fugitive | Cassie Bolin | Episode: "The Other Side of the Mountain" | |
| 1964 | Arrest and Trial | Molly White | Episode: "Somewhat Lower Than the Angels" |
| Mr. Broadway | Patricia Kelsey | Episode: "Don't Mention My Name in Sheboygan" | |
| 1968 | A Hatful of Rain | Celia Pope | Television film |
| 1970 | Only Way Out Is Dead | Dr. Enid Bingham | Television film |
| 1972 | Something Evil | Marjorie Worden | Television film |
| 1978 | Police Story | Sharon Bristol | Episode: "Day of Terror... Night of Fear" |
| Perfect Gentlemen | Sophie Rosenman | Television film | |
| 1980 | Wilson's Reward | Martha James | Television film |
| 1985 | The Execution | Elsa Spahn | Television film |
| The Love Boat | Gina Caldwell | Episode: "Roommates/Heartbreakers/Out of the Blue" | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Helen | Episode: "Arthur, or the Gigolo" | |
| Young People's Specials | Patricia Benson | Episode: "The Trouble with Mother" | |
| 1986 | The Equalizer | Kay Wesley | Episode: "Out of the Past" |
| Run | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 5, 1957 – Jan 17, 1959 | The Dark at the Top of the Stairs | Reenie Flood / Flirt Conroy | Understudy |
| Oct 20, 1960 – Nov 19, 1960 | Face of a Hero | Millicent Bishop | Theatre World Award |
| Nov 1, 1961 – Jan 27, 1962 | The Complaisant Lover | Ann Howard | |
| Apr 5, 1962 – Apr 13, 1963 | A Thousand Clowns | Sandra Markowitz | Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play |
| Feb 18, 1964 – Jun 26, 1966 | Any Wednesday | Ellen Gordon | Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play |
| Oct 15, 1967 – Nov 18, 1967 | Daphne in Cottage D | Daphne | |
| Mar 29, 1971 – Jun 26, 1971 | How the Other Half Loves | Teresa Phillips | |
| Jan 16, 1973 | Let Me Hear You Smile | Hannah Heywood | |
| Oct 8, 1974 – Mar 6, 1976 | Absurd Person Singular | Eva | |
| Mar 14, 1975 – Sep 3, 1978 | Same Time, Next Year | Doris | Replacement |
| Aug 6, 1981 – Sep 5, 1981 | The Supporting Cast | Sally | |
| Feb 18, 1982 – Apr 4, 1982 | Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean | Mona |
