“Forgotten Hollywood”- Remembering Madeleine Sherwood…
Madeleine Sherwood was a Canadian actress of stage, cinema, and television. She was known for her portrayals of Sister Woman and Miss Lucy in the Broadway and film versions of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on the Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth. She’s best remembered as Reverend Mother Placido in The Flying Nun from 1967–1970. MADELEINE SHERWOOD / JACK CARSON —>
She started her professional career in Montreal when cast in CBC dramas and soap operas. In 1953, she originated the role of Abigail in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. She became a member of the Actors Studio in 1957 working with Lee Strasberg, and was a life member. Sherwood succeeded Bette Davis on stage in The Night of the Iguana. During the 1980s, she received a grant from AFI as one of the first women to direct short films (along with Cicely Tyson, Joanne Woodward). Sherwood (below) wrote, directed, and acted in Good Night Sweet Prince, which received excellent notices.
In motion pictures, she had small parts in Hurry Sundown and The Changeling. On the small screen, she had recurring roles in the daytime dramas, Guiding Light and The Secret Storm. Other soap operas she appeared in include All My Children, Another World, and Capitol. In prime time, she guest-starred in Naked City, The Fugitive, Bonanza, Ben Casey, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Name of the Game, Love American Style, Columbo, Hotel, Cagney & Lacey, and Dynasty.
Sherwood was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. During the Civil Rights Movement, she met and worked with Martin Luther King Jr., in the late 1950s; and went to join the Congress on Racial Equality. She was arrested during a Freedom Walk, jailed and sentenced to six months hard labor for endangering the customs and mores of the people of Alabama. Her lawyer, Fred Grey, was the first African-American lawyer to represent a white woman, south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In the 1970s, she met with Gloria Steinem, Betty Dodson, and other activists at the First Women’s Sexual Conference at Barnard College in New York. She started consciousness raising groups and counseling workshops for Women and Incest.
Madeleine Sherwood was 93.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2016 at 12:07 am 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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