Ann Blyth today: Light songs and heavy drama on TCM Ann Blyth, a 1940s Universal leading lady best remembered for her Oscar-nominated performance as Joan Crawford’s cute-but-sociopathic teenage daughter in Warner Bros.’ Mildred Pierce, is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" star on Friday, August 16, 2013. Note: Today, Ann Blyth, one of the earliest surviving Oscar nominees in the acting categories, turns 85 years old. (See: “Ann Blyth Movies: TCM Schedule.”) (Photo: Ann Blyth ca. 1955.) First, the good news: Ann Blyth is a likable, talented actress and singer, and it’s great that TCM is dedicating a whole day to her movies. The bad news: As mentioned above, Ann Blyth was mostly (1944-1952) a Universal star; TCM is presenting only one of Blyth’s Universal movies, Brute Force (1947), which has been shown before. In other words, not a chance of finally having the opportunity to catch Ann Blyth in B...
- 8/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ann Blyth is Turner Classic Movies Star of the Evening tonight, as part of TCM's "The Essentials" film series. [Ann Blyth Movie Schedule.] Opera- and Broadway-trained Ann Blyth began her film career in the mid-1940s at Universal, appearing in light B musicals opposite Donald O'Connor and/or Peggy Ryan, among them The Merry Monahans, Chip Off the Old Block, and Babes on Swing Street. Blyth's big break came in 1945, when — following back surgery — she played Joan Crawford's pathologically selfish daughter Veda in Michael Curtiz's classic film noir-cum-melodrama Mildred Pierce. A well-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination followed, and so did leads in darker, bigger-budgeted productions, among them Jules Dassin's Brute Force (1947), with Burt Lancaster; Zoltan Korda's A Woman's Vengeance (1948), opposite Charles Boyer; and Michael Gordon's film version of Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest (1948), a prequel to The Little Foxes. Unfortunately, TCM isn't showing any of Blyth's hard-to-find Universal titles.
- 9/18/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Oscar-winning film star who displayed great courage in her return to the screen
Perhaps the most famous line spoken on screen by the actor Patricia Neal, who has died of lung cancer aged 84, was "Klaatu barada nikto!" in Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). These incomprehensible words, uttered to a robot which carries her into a spaceship, save the world from destruction. Neal won her Oscar for a more down-to-earth performance, as the cynical, world-weary housekeeper Alma Brown in Martin Ritt's contemporary western, Hud (1963). "It was a tough part to cast," Ritt remarked. "This woman had to be believable as a housekeeper and still be sexy. It called for a special combination of warmth and toughness, while still being very feminine. Pat Neal was it."
Perhaps the most telling indication of Neal's gifts was the fact that, although the role was quite a brief one, the...
Perhaps the most famous line spoken on screen by the actor Patricia Neal, who has died of lung cancer aged 84, was "Klaatu barada nikto!" in Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). These incomprehensible words, uttered to a robot which carries her into a spaceship, save the world from destruction. Neal won her Oscar for a more down-to-earth performance, as the cynical, world-weary housekeeper Alma Brown in Martin Ritt's contemporary western, Hud (1963). "It was a tough part to cast," Ritt remarked. "This woman had to be believable as a housekeeper and still be sexy. It called for a special combination of warmth and toughness, while still being very feminine. Pat Neal was it."
Perhaps the most telling indication of Neal's gifts was the fact that, although the role was quite a brief one, the...
- 8/9/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Patricia Neal, the Oscar-winning actress whose life off-screen contained as much drama, tragedy, and inspiration as any of her film or theater roles, died Sunday at her home in Martha's Vineyard of lung cancer; she was 84.
An Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe winner, Neal was just as well-known for the trials, tribulations and triumphs she lived through, including a nervous breakdown, the death of one of her children, and a series of strokes that left her in a three-week coma while pregnant at the age of 39. Her subsequent rehabilitation, with the help of her then-husband, author Roald Dahl, led to yet another chapter of her acting career, as well as her pioneering for the cause of stroke rehabilitation.
Born Patsy Louise Neal in Packard, Kentucky in 1926, Neal grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, and studied acting at Northwestern University before heading to New York, where she began her long and illustrious stage career, winning a Tony Award in 1946 for Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest, which attracted the attention of Hollywood. Though she filmed the comedy John Loves Mary first in 1949 -- a film in which she played the Mary to future President Ronald Reagan's John -- it was the second film she made that year which introduced her to audiences with a huge splash: the highly-anticipated adaptation of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, where she played conflicted, imperious heroine Dominique Francon opposite Gary Cooper's stalwart architect Howard Roark, already a famed character thanks to the success of Rand's novel. Though actress Barbara Stanwyck championed the project to Warner Bros., the studio ultimately cast the unknown 22-year-old Neal opposite the 47-year-old Cooper.
An Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe winner, Neal was just as well-known for the trials, tribulations and triumphs she lived through, including a nervous breakdown, the death of one of her children, and a series of strokes that left her in a three-week coma while pregnant at the age of 39. Her subsequent rehabilitation, with the help of her then-husband, author Roald Dahl, led to yet another chapter of her acting career, as well as her pioneering for the cause of stroke rehabilitation.
Born Patsy Louise Neal in Packard, Kentucky in 1926, Neal grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, and studied acting at Northwestern University before heading to New York, where she began her long and illustrious stage career, winning a Tony Award in 1946 for Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest, which attracted the attention of Hollywood. Though she filmed the comedy John Loves Mary first in 1949 -- a film in which she played the Mary to future President Ronald Reagan's John -- it was the second film she made that year which introduced her to audiences with a huge splash: the highly-anticipated adaptation of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, where she played conflicted, imperious heroine Dominique Francon opposite Gary Cooper's stalwart architect Howard Roark, already a famed character thanks to the success of Rand's novel. Though actress Barbara Stanwyck championed the project to Warner Bros., the studio ultimately cast the unknown 22-year-old Neal opposite the 47-year-old Cooper.
- 8/9/2010
- IMDb News
Academy Award winner Patricia Neal has died of lung cancer at her home in Edgartown, Ma Sunday. She was 84.
Neal was best known for her roles in "The Fountainhead," The Day the Earth Stood Still," "The Breaking Point," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and "Hud," which gave her an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1963.
She suffered three strokes at the age of 39, leaving her in a coma for three weeks and in a semi-paralyzed state. She learned to walk and talk again afterward, and was able to star in the 1968 film "The Subject Was Roses," which earned her another nomination for an Academy Award.
Her debut role in Lillian Hellman's "Another Part of the Forest" earned her a Tony Award, as well as a Donaldson Award and a New York Drama Critics Award.
Neal was best known for her roles in "The Fountainhead," The Day the Earth Stood Still," "The Breaking Point," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and "Hud," which gave her an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1963.
She suffered three strokes at the age of 39, leaving her in a coma for three weeks and in a semi-paralyzed state. She learned to walk and talk again afterward, and was able to star in the 1968 film "The Subject Was Roses," which earned her another nomination for an Academy Award.
Her debut role in Lillian Hellman's "Another Part of the Forest" earned her a Tony Award, as well as a Donaldson Award and a New York Drama Critics Award.
- 8/9/2010
- icelebz.com
The stage and screen and television star who won an Academy Award for 1963's Hud and received three Emmy nominations died today of lung cancer at her home on Martha's Vineyard. She was 84. After winning a Tony award for Another Part of the Forest on Broadway in 1946, she made her film debut in 1949's John Loves Mary. Her movies included The Fountainhead, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Breaking Point, Operation Pacific, A Face in the Crowd, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and In Harm's Way. She suffered a series of strokes in 1965 at age 39, and her inspirational struggle to regain her ability to walk and talk were chronicled in her 1988 autobiography, As I Am. Neal was offered the role of Mrs. Robinson in 1967's The Graduate but turned it down. Instead, she returned to the big screen in 1968's The Subject Was Roses. She continued acting all the way through this decade.
- 8/9/2010
- by Nikki Finke
- Deadline Hollywood
Patricia Neal, the Oscar-winning actress whose life was as dramatic and inspirational as anything she did on stage and screen, died Sunday of lung cancer at her home in Edgartown, Mass. She was 84.
Most identifiable playing characters of strong will and resilience, Neal won her Academy Award for her portrayal of a demoralized housewife in "Hud" (1963), opposite Paul Newman, then earned another nomination for "The Subject Was Roses" (1968), playing the pitiful mother of a returning war victim (Martin Sheen).
In February 1965, after the first day of filming "Seven Women," Neal -- then 39 and three months pregnant -- suffered three strokes caused by a brain hemorrhage as she was bathing to her 8-year-old daughter, Tessa. She was in a coma for three weeks.
She emerged unable to speak, her memory erased and her right side paralyzed. Neal was confined to a wheelchair at first, but her husband, British writer Roald Dahl,...
Most identifiable playing characters of strong will and resilience, Neal won her Academy Award for her portrayal of a demoralized housewife in "Hud" (1963), opposite Paul Newman, then earned another nomination for "The Subject Was Roses" (1968), playing the pitiful mother of a returning war victim (Martin Sheen).
In February 1965, after the first day of filming "Seven Women," Neal -- then 39 and three months pregnant -- suffered three strokes caused by a brain hemorrhage as she was bathing to her 8-year-old daughter, Tessa. She was in a coma for three weeks.
She emerged unable to speak, her memory erased and her right side paralyzed. Neal was confined to a wheelchair at first, but her husband, British writer Roald Dahl,...
- 8/8/2010
- by By Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ann Blyth, who received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for the film noir Mildred Pierce (1945), is pictured above during a discussion following a screening of the Joan Crawford classic at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Monday, June 14, 2010. Mildred Pierce was shown as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ "Oscar Noir" series. In the movie, Blyth plays Mildred Pierce’s conniving, selfish daughter. Crawford plays Mildred. A Universal contract player in the 1940s and an MGM contractee in the ’50s, Blyth appeared in about three dozen movies from 1944 to 1957. In addition to Mildred Pierce, Blyth’s other important movies include A Woman’s Vengeance (1947), Brute Force (1947), Another Part of the Forest (1948), The Great Caruso (1951), All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953), The Student Prince (1954), and The Helen Morgan Story [...]...
- 6/16/2010
- by Zhea D.
- Alt Film Guide
Ann Blyth is pictured in the photo above with Academy director of special projects Randy Haberkamp during a chat following a screening of Michael Curtiz’s film noir classic Mildred Pierce. Starring Blyth, Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott, Jack Carson, Eve Arden, and Bruce Bennett, Mildred Pierce was shown as the part of the "Oscar Noir" series at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Monday, June 14, 2010. Blyth starred or was featured in about three dozen movies from 1944 to 1957. She was cast opposite numerous major Hollywood stars, among them Charles Boyer in A Woman’s Vengeance (1947), Burt Lancaster in Brute Force (1947), Fredric March in Another Part of the Forest (1948), William Powell in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), Claudette Colbert in Thunder on the Hill (1950), Mario Lanza in The Great [...]...
- 6/16/2010
- by Zhea D.
- Alt Film Guide
Award-winning actress Betsy Blair has died at the age of 85.
Blair died on Friday in London after suffering from a long illness, according to her daughter Kerry Kelly Novick.
The redheaded actress climbed to international fame playing Clara Snyder in the 1955 film adaptation of television play Marty, which earned her a BAFTA award for Best Foreign Actress in 1956 and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.
At 17 years old, Blair married legendary actor Gene Kelly, Kerry's father. Details of their 16-year marriage were resurrected nearly five decades after their split, for the actress' 2003 memoir The Memory of All That.
In 1940, Blair made her Broadway debut dancing in the Cole Porter musical Panama Hattie. She later took the lead in Willliam Saroyan's play The Beautiful People and understudied the role of Laura in the Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie.
Blair also appeared in a handful of American films including 1948 movies Another Part of the Forest and The Snake Pit, and Kind Lady, in 1951, before she was banned from work for her political affiliations and placed on the infamous Hollywood blacklist.
She then moved to Paris and finally settled in London when roles dried up in the U.S., starring in European films including Calle Mayor, in 1956, Il Grido, in 1957 and All Night Long, in 1962.
One year later, Blair married director Karel Reisz, who died in 2002.
In addition to her daughter, she is survived by eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Blair died on Friday in London after suffering from a long illness, according to her daughter Kerry Kelly Novick.
The redheaded actress climbed to international fame playing Clara Snyder in the 1955 film adaptation of television play Marty, which earned her a BAFTA award for Best Foreign Actress in 1956 and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.
At 17 years old, Blair married legendary actor Gene Kelly, Kerry's father. Details of their 16-year marriage were resurrected nearly five decades after their split, for the actress' 2003 memoir The Memory of All That.
In 1940, Blair made her Broadway debut dancing in the Cole Porter musical Panama Hattie. She later took the lead in Willliam Saroyan's play The Beautiful People and understudied the role of Laura in the Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie.
Blair also appeared in a handful of American films including 1948 movies Another Part of the Forest and The Snake Pit, and Kind Lady, in 1951, before she was banned from work for her political affiliations and placed on the infamous Hollywood blacklist.
She then moved to Paris and finally settled in London when roles dried up in the U.S., starring in European films including Calle Mayor, in 1956, Il Grido, in 1957 and All Night Long, in 1962.
One year later, Blair married director Karel Reisz, who died in 2002.
In addition to her daughter, she is survived by eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
- 3/19/2009
- WENN
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