“Forgotten Hollywood”- Passing of a Broadway Stalwart…
Manny P. here…
Elaine Stritch was considered a First Lady of Broadway. She appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.
Stritch trained at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York City. Other students at this time included Marlon Brando and Bea Arthur. Her romances with Brando, Ben Gazzara and Gig Young were legendary. She made her professional stage debut in 1944, and her Broadway debut in the comedy Loco in 1946. She understudied Ethel Merman for Call Me Madam. Notable Broadway credits include her Tony Award nominated roles in the original production of William Inge’s 1955 play Bus Stop, and musicals by Noël Coward and Stephen Sondheim. In the 1970s, she relocated to London, starring in several West End productions. ELAINE STRITCH ——–>
Her early television work included the Goodyear Television Playhouse, Studio One, and guest stints on the Ed Sullivan Show. Jackie Gleason tapped her as the original Trixie Norton on the first Honeymooners sketch. She won an Emmy Award in 1993 for her guest role on Law & Order, and another in 2004 for the television documentary of her one woman stage show. From 2007 to 2012, she had a recurring role on NBC’s 30 Rock, a role that won her a third Emmy in 2008. In one big oops, she lost the opportunity to star in The Golden Girls because of a bad audition, a part that subsequently went to Bea Arthur.
Stritch had a few motion picture roles in the 1950s and 1960s, opposite Charlton Heston and Anne Baxter in Three Violent People; Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones in the David O. Selznick remake of A Farewell to Arms; and Sal Mineo in Who Killed Teddy Bear. She received amazing reviews in September that was directed by Woody Allen, and she was particularly memorable in Cocoon: The Return, Autumn in New York, Out to Sea, and Monster-In-Law, later in her cinematic career.
The dynamic Elaine Stritch was 89.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2014 at 4:25 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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