Beatrice Straight | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Straight in the period drama seriesBeacon Hill, 1975 | |
| Born | Beatrice Whitney Straight (1914-08-02)August 2, 1914 Old Westbury, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 7, 2001(2001-04-07) (aged 86) Northridge, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Cornish School Actors Studio |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1939–1991 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Willard Dickerman Straight Dorothy Payne Whitney |
| Relatives | Whitney W. Straight (brother) Michael W. Straight (brother) |
Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an Americantheatre, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominentWhitney family. She was both anAcademy Award andTony Award winner, as well as aPrimetime Emmy Award nominee.[1]
Straight made her Broadway debut inThe Possessed (1939). Her other Broadway roles included Viola inTwelfth Night (1941), Catherine Sloper inThe Heiress (1947) and Lady Macduff inMacbeth (1948). For her role as Elizabeth Proctor in the production ofThe Crucible (1953), she won theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. For the satirical filmNetwork (1976), she won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance isthe shortest ever to win an Academy Award for acting (at five minutes and two seconds of screen time). She also received aPrimetime Emmy Award nomination for the miniseriesThe Dain Curse (1978). Straight also appeared as Mother Christophe inThe Nun's Story (1959) and asparanormal investigator Dr. Martha Lesh inPoltergeist (1982).
Beatrice Whitney Straight was born inOld Westbury, New York, the daughter ofDorothy Payne Whitney of theWhitney family, andWillard Dickerman Straight, an investment banker, diplomat, and career U.S. Army officer.[1] Her maternal grandfather was political leader and financierWilliam Collins Whitney. In 1918, when Straight was four years old, her father died in France of influenza during thegreat epidemic while serving with the United States Army duringWorld War I.
Following her mother's remarriage to BritishagronomistLeonard K. Elmhirst in 1925, the family moved toDevon, England. It was there that Straight was educated atDartington Hall and began acting in amateur theater productions. In the 1930s, she attended theCornish School inSeattle where many of her teachers at Dartington Hall were from and to which both she and her mother became major benefactors.[2]
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Straight returned to the United States and made her Broadway debut in the playThe Possessed (1939). Most of her theater work was in the classics, includingTwelfth Night (1941),Macbeth (1948) andThe Crucible (1953), for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
From its inception, Straight was a member of theActors Studio, attending the class conducted three times weekly by founding memberRobert Lewis; her classmates includedMarlon Brando,Montgomery Clift,Jerome Robbins,Sidney Lumet, and about twenty others.[3]
Straight was active in the early days of television, appearing inanthology series such asArmstrong Circle Theatre,Hallmark Hall of Fame,Kraft Television Theatre,Studio One,Suspense,The United States Steel Hour,Playhouse 90, and dramatic series such asDr. Kildare,Ben Casey,The Defenders,Route 66,Mission: Impossible andSt. Elsewhere. Further television performances included the likes of turns inAlfred Hitchcock Presents, as well as her role asHippolyta in theWonder Woman series.
Straight worked infrequently in film and is perhaps remembered best for her role as a devastated wife confronting husbandWilliam Holden's infidelity inNetwork (1976). Despite her character only appearing briefly onscreen, Straight was highly praised for her performance, earning theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[4] Another widely seen film appearance was the role of theparanormal investigator Dr. Martha Lesh in the horror filmPoltergeist (1982).
On February 22, 1942, Straight marriedLouis Dolivet,Free French Leader, inPolk County, Iowa. At the time, Dolivet was a speaker at theNational Farm Institute and Straight was in the middle of themidwest road show ofTwelfth Night.[5] Her motherDorothy Elmhirst and stepfatherLeonard K. Elmhirst attended the wedding with her brotherMichael Straight and his wife Belinda Crompton.
Dolivet was in theFrench Air Force until June 1940 and was the co-editor ofThe Free World, a magazine published by the International Free World Association, of which he was secretary general. At the time of the wedding, her elder brother,Whitney Straight, had been missing since August 1941, when his plane was shot down on the French coast.[5]
Straight obtained a divorce from Dolivet inReno, Nevada, on May 24, 1949. Together, the couple had one child:[6]
In 1948, while starring in the Broadway production ofThe Heiress,[8] an adaptation ofHenry James'sWashington Square, she metPeter Cookson. They married in 1949 and remained married until Cookson's death in 1990. Peter had two children from his previous marriage,Peter W. Cookson Jr. and Jane Coopland (née Cookson).[1] Together, Straight and Cookson had two children:[1]
In 1952, her seven-year-old son, Willard, from her first marriage, accidentally drowned in a pond on their farm inArmonk, New York, while playing in a small rowboat tied to the dock. The boy was found by Cookson.[7] The boy's father, Dolivet, who was living inParis at the time, was refused a visa and, therefore, unable to fly to the United States to attend the funeral because of his alleged pro-communist activities, which he denied.[9]
Straight reportedly hadAlzheimer's disease in her last years. In 2001, she died frompneumonia inNorthridge, Los Angeles, at the age of 86.[1]
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone Call from a Stranger | 1952 | Claire Fortness | |
| Patterns | 1956 | Nancy Staples | |
| The Silken Affair | 1956 | Theora | |
| The Nun's Story | 1959 | Mother Christophe (Sanatorium) | |
| The Young Lovers | 1964 | Mrs. Burns | |
| The Garden Party | 1973 | Mrs. Sheridan | Short film |
| Network | 1976 | Louise Schumacher | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| The Promise | 1979 | Marion Hillyard | |
| Bloodline | 1979 | Kate Erling | |
| The Formula | 1980 | Kay Neeley | |
| Endless Love | 1981 | Rose Axelrod | |
| Poltergeist | 1982 | Dr. Martha Lesh | |
| Two of a Kind | 1983 | Ruth | |
| Power | 1986 | Claire Hastings | Nominated –Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress |
| Deceived | 1991 | Adrienne's Mother | Final film role |
| From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff | 2002 | Self | |
| They Are Here: The Real World of the Poltergeists | 2007 | Dr. Martha Lesh (uncredited) | Archive footage fromPoltergeist |
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| With This Ring | 1951 | Self | Season 1, Episode 4: "#1.4" ; Season 1, Episode 5: "#1.5" |
| Somerset Maugham TV Theatre | 1951 | Season 1, Episode 12: "The Treasure" | |
| Lights Out | 1951 | Charlotte | Season 3, Episode 36: "Grey Reminder" |
| Cosmopolitan Theatre | 1951 | Season 1, Episode 4: "Reward, One Million" | |
| Hallmark Hall of Fame | 1952 (2) | Elizabeth Barrett /Louisa May Alcott | Season 1, Episode 3: "Love Story"; Season 1, Episode 21: "The Magnificent Failure" |
| The Web | 1952 | Season 2, Episode 24: "Hear Footsteps" | |
| Armstrong Circle Theatre | 1952 (2) | Season 2, Episode 21: "Image"; Season 3, Episode 3: "Betrayal" | |
| Kraft Theatre | 1952 (2), 1953 | Season 5, Episode 42: "Thorn in the Flesh"; Season 6, Episode 10: "The Iron Gate"; Season 7, Episode 13: "Gavin" | |
| Love Story | 1954 (2) | Season 1, Episode 3: "The Matchmaker"; Season 1, Episode 7: "The Yo-Yo People" | |
| Suspense | 1952, 1954 | Claire Trent / Mrs. de Spain | Season 4, Episode 19: "The Red Signal"; Season 6, Episode 47: "Barn Burning" |
| Inner Sanctum | 1954 | Louise | Season 1, Episode 34: "Pattern of Fear" |
| Omnibus | 1953, 1954 | Goneril / ** | Season 2, Episode 3: "King Lear"; Season 3, Episode 6: "Antigone" |
| You Are There | 1954, 1955 | Anne Boleyn / ** | Season 2, Episode 42: "The Crisis of Anne Boleyn"; Season 3, Episode 19: "The Torment of Beethoven" |
| Danger | 1955 | Season 5, Episode 22: "The Dark Curtain" | |
| Lamp Unto My Feet | 1956 | Episode aired Oct 28: "Page From a Family Album" | |
| Studio One in Hollywood | 1951 (2), 1957 | Kay / ** / Pamela Baxter / Deborah | Season 3, Episode 24: "The Target"; Season 3, Episode 29: "A Chill on the Wind"; Season 10, Episode 6: "Act of Mercy"; Season 10, Episode 8; "Bend in the Road" |
| The United States Steel Hour | 1955, 1958 | Daisy Jackson / Katherine Grant | Season 2, Episode 17: "The Roads to Home"; Season 5, Episode 15: "Top Secret Mission" |
| Look Up and Live | 1957 | Self / Narrator | Episode aired April 21: "The Way of the Cross" |
| The Investigator | 1958 | The Widow | Season 1, Episode 7: "#1.7" |
| Playhouse 90 | 1958 | Grace | Season 3, Episode 5: "Shadows Tremble" |
| Play of the Week | 1959 | Mlle. de St. Euverte | Season 1, Episode 6: "The Waltz of the Toreadors" |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | 1959, 1960 | Cynthia Fortnam / Ida Blythe | Season 5, Episode 10: "Special Delivery"; Season 5, Episode 27: "The Cuckoo Clock" |
| Diagnosis: Unknown | 1960 | Rhoda Clarence | Season 1, Episode 4: "Final Performance" |
| Route 66 | 1961, 1962, 1963 | Kitty Chamberlain / Mother Teresa / Elena De Amundo | Season, 1 Episode 24: "Most Vanquished, Most Victorious"; Season 2, Episode 26: "Kiss the Maiden All Forlorn"; Season 3, Episode 22; "The Cage Around Maria" |
| Dr. Kildare | 1961 | Pamela Rainey | Season 1, Episode 10: "For the Living" |
| Naked City | 1962 | Ann Johns | Season 3, Episode 32: "Memory of a Trolley Car" |
| The Doctors and the Nurses | 1962 | Ruth Martin | Season 1, Episode 10: "The Lady Made of Stone" |
| The Eleventh Hour | 1963 | Veronica Filmore | Season 1, Episode 14: "Where Have You Been, Lord Randall, My Son?" |
| Ben Casey | 1963 | Edith Bauer | Season 2, Episode 2: "Rigadoon for Three Pianos" |
| The Defenders | 1965 | Mrs. Campbell | Season 4, Episode 15: "Eyewitness" |
| Mission: Impossible | 1966 | Dr. Martha Richards Zubrovnik | Season 1, Episode 11: "Zubrovnik's Ghost" |
| Felony Squad | 1967 | Victoria Cahill | Season 2, Episode 10: "Who'll Take Care of Joey?" |
| Love of Life | 1970 | Vinnie Phillips | Season 13, various episodes |
| Matt Lincoln | 1970 | Barbara Miller | Season 1, Episode 8: "Doc" |
| The Wide World of Mystery | 1973 | Mother | Season 1, Episode 12: "The Haunting of Rosalind" |
| The Borrowers | 1973 | Mrs. Crampfurl | TV film |
| Beacon Hill | 1975 | Mrs. Hacker | Season 1, Episode 1: "The Pilot"; Season 1, Episode 2: "The Colonel and the Fawn"; Season 1, Episode 3: "The Marblehead Club"; Season 1, Episode 4: "The Poor Little Thing"; Season 1, Episode 5: "The Soldiers"; Season 1, Episode 6: "The Shining Example"; Season 1, Episode 7: "The Speakeasy"; Season 1, Episode:8 "The Million Dollar Gate"; Season 1, Episode 9: "The Suitors"; Season 1, Episode 10 "The Test"; Season 1, Episode 11: "The Pretenders" |
| Bicentennial Minutes | 1976 | Self / Narrator | Season 1, Episode 575: "Episode #1.575" |
| Straight Talk | 1977 | Self / Guest | Episode aired March 1: "Episode dated 1 March 1977" |
| The Andros Targets | 1977 | Mrs. Bendeson | Season 1, Episode 6: "Requiem for a Stolen Child, Part I" |
| The 49th Annual Academy Awards | 1977 | Self / Winner | TV special |
| The World of Darkness | 1977 | Joanna Sanford | TV film |
| Wonder Woman | 1977 | Hippolyta | Season 2, Episode 1: "The Return of Wonder Woman"; Season 2, Episode 4: "The Bermuda Triangle Crisis" |
| The Mike Douglas Show | 1977 | Self / Guest | Season 16, Episode 157: "Episode #16.157" |
| Killer on Board | 1977 | Beatrice Richmond | TV film |
| The 50th Annual Academy Awards | 1978 | Self / Past Winner | TV special |
| The Dain Curse | 1978 | Alice Dain Leggett | miniseries; Nominated –Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series |
| King's Crossing | 1982 | Louisa Beauchamp | Season 1, Episode 1: "Keepers of the Ring"; Season 1, Episode 2: "Friday's Child"; Season 1, Episode 3: "Ghosts"; Season 1, Episode 4: "Triangle"; Season 1, Episode 5: "Long Ago Tomorrow"; Season 1, Episode 6: "Confusion by Cupid"; Season 1, Episode 7: "The Home Front"; Season 1, Episode 8: "Family Reunion"; Season 1, Episode 9: "One Afternoon"; Season 1, Episode 10: "Strangers" |
| All-Star Family Feud Special: Heroes vs. Villains | 1982 | Self / Celebrity Contestant | TV special |
| Night of 100 Stars | 1982 | Self | TV special |
| The Making of "Poltergeist" | 1982 | Self (uncredited) | TV short film |
| Faerie Tale Theatre | 1984 | Queen Veronica / Woman in Museum | Season 3, Episode 2: "The Princess and the Pea" |
| Robert Kennedy and His Times | 1985 | Rose Kennedy | miniseries |
| Chiller | 1985 | Marion Creighton | TV film |
| Under Siege | 1986 | Margaret Sloan | TV film |
| Jack and Mike | 1987 | Mike's Mother | Season 1, Episode 18: "Spirits in the Night" |
| St. Elsewhere | 1988 | Marjorie Andrews | Season 6, Episode 18: "The Naked Civil Surgeon"; Season 6, Episode 19: "Requiem for a Heavyweight"; Season 6, Episode 20: "Split Decision" |
| Run Til You Fall | 1988 | Margaret | TV film |
| People Like Us | 1990 | Maisie Verdurin | TV film |
| 8th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2002 | Self • In Memoriam (archive footage) | TV special |
| The 74th Annual Academy Awards | 2002 | Self • Memorial Tribute (archive footage) | TV special |
| Shakespeare Uncovered | 2015 | Goneril (uncredited - archive footage fromKing Lear) | Season 2, Episode 2: "King Lear with Christopher Plummer" |
| Title | Date of Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitter Oleander | Feb. 11, 1935 – Mar. 02, 1935 | Spinning Girl | Lyceum Theatre |
| The Possessed | Oct. 24, 1939 – Nov. 4, 1939 | Lisa | Lyceum Theatre |
| Twelfth Night | Dec. 2, 1941 – Dec. 13, 1941 | Viola | Little Theatre |
| A Happy Ending | c. 1942 | -/- | Barbizon-Plaza Concert Hall |
| Land of Fame | Sep. 21, 1943 – Sep. 25, 1943 | Angela | Belasco Theatre |
| Pygmalion | c. 1945 | as producer | Ethel Barrymore Theatre |
| Playboy of the Western World | c. 1946 | as producer | Booth Theatre |
| The Wanhope Building | Feb. 9, 1947 – Feb. 16, 1947 | Felina | Princess Theatre |
| The Heiress | Sep. 29, 1947 – Sep. 18, 1948 | Catherine Sloper | Biltmore Theatre; Casting replacement |
| Eastward in Eden | Nov. 18, 1947 – Nov. 29, 1947 | Emily Dickinson | Royale Theatre |
| Macbeth | Mar. 31, 1948 – Apr. 24, 1948 | Lady Macduff | National Theatre |
| The Innocents | Feb. 1, 1950 – Jun. 3, 1950 | Miss Giddens | Playhouse Theatre |
| The Grand Tour | Dec. 10, 1951 – Dec. 15, 1951 | Nell Valentine | Martin Beck Theatre |
| The Crucible | Jan. 22, 1953 – Jul. 11, 1953 | Elizabeth Proctor | Martin Beck Theatre; Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play |
| Everything in the Garden | Nov. 29, 1967 – Feb. 10, 1968 | Mrs. Toothe | Plymouth Theatre |
| Who Am I? | 1971-1973 | as director | Young World Foundation Theatre Company |
| Title | Date of Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry IV, Part I | c. 1946 | as producer | Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) |
| Henry IV, Part II | c. 1946 | as producer | Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) |
| Uncle Vanya | c. 1946 | as producer | Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) |
| Oedipus | c. 1946 | as producer | Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) |
| The Critic | c. 1946 | as producer | Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) |
| Sing Me No Lullaby | c. 1954 | -/- | Phoenix Theatre |
| The River Line | Jan. 2, 1957 - Jan. 13, 1957 | Marie Chassaigne | Carnegie Hall Playhouse |
| Phedre | Feb. 10, 1966 - May 8, 1966 | Phedre | Greenwich Mews Theatre |
| Ghosts | Mar. 13, 1973 - May 27, 1973 | Mrs. Helene Alving | Roundabout Stage II |
| All My Sons | Sep. 27, 1974 - Nov. 17, 1974 | Kate Keller | Roundabout Stage (23rd Street Theatre) |
| Hamlet | Dec. 12, 1979 - Feb. 10, 1980 | Gertrude | Circle Theatre |
| Title | Date of Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry IV, Part I | c. 1946 | as producer | The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) |
| Henry IV, Part II | c. 1946 | as producer | The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) |
| Uncle Vanya | c. 1946 | as producer | The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) |
| Oedipus | c. 1946 | as producer | The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) |
| The Critic | c. 1946 | as producer | The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) |
| A Streetcar Named Desire | c. 1967, 1969-1970 | Blanche du Bois | Berkshire Theatre Festival - Stockbridge, MA; various other U.S. cities during the production's tour |
| The Right Honorable Gentleman | c. 1971 | Mrs. Lila Rossiter | The Cape Playhouse - Dennis, MA; Ogunquit Playhouse - Ogunquit, ME; various other U.S. cities during the production's tour |
| The Palace at 4 A.M. | c. 1972 | The Mother | John Drew Theatre - Easthampton, NY |
| Old Times | c. 1977 | Kate | Academy Festival Theatre - Lake Forest, IL |
| Title | Date of Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Scenes from Great Plays | October 15, 1948 | Elizabeth Barrett | Program #3: "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" |
| Lights Out | April 30, 1951 | Charlotte | Season 3, Episode 36: "Grey Reminder" |
| Suspense | January 22, 1952 | Claire Trent | Season 4, Episode 19: "The Red Signal" |
| CBS Radio Mystery Theater | March 20, 1974 | Alice Emery | Season 1, Episode 60: "#60 — Ghost at the Gate" |
| CBS Radio Mystery Theater | July 25, 1974 | Sybil Carter | Season 1, Episode 123: "#123 — My Sister, Death" |
| CBS Radio Mystery Theater | January 20, 1975 | Mrs. Vortic | Season 2, Episode 15: "#208 — The Precious Killer" |
| CBS Radio Mystery Theater | May 12, 1975 | Jesse Craig | Season 2, Episode 79: "#272 — For Tomorrow We Die" |
| CBS Radio Mystery Theater | February 26, 1976 | Ellen Gardner | Season 3, Episode 33: "#438 — The Providential Ghost" |
Beatrice Straight, a graceful and versatile actress who won both an Oscar and a Tony Award, died on Saturday in North Ridge, Calif. She was 86 and lived in Beverly Hills, Calif., for most of the last 10 years. ...
At the end of the summer, on Gadget's return from Hollywood, we settled the roster of actors for our two classes in what we called the Actors Studio – using the word 'studio' as we had when we named our workshop in the Group, the Group Theatre Studio... My group, meeting three times a week, consisted of Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift,Maureen Stapleton,Eli Wallach,Mildred Dunnock, Jerome Robbins,Herbert Berghof,Tom Ewell,John Forsythe,Anne Jackson, Sidney Lumet,Kevin McCarthy,Karl Malden,E.G. Marshall,Patricia Neal, Beatrice Straight,David Wayne, and – well, I don't want to drop names, so I'll stop there. In all, there were about fifty.
