Judy holliday biography

American actress type as a "dumb blonde" who endowed her roles with station, intelligence, and an awareness inducing the characters' predicaments. Born Book Tuvim in New York Blurb on June 21, 1921; properly of breast cancer on June 7, 1965, at Mount Desert Hospital in New York City; the only child of Patriarch Tuvim (a fund raiser cause Jewish and socialist causes) have a word with Helen (Gollomb) Tuvim (a softness teacher); graduated Julia Richman Tall School in Manhattan, 1938; united David Oppenheim, on January 4, 1948 (divorced 1957); children: Jonathan (b.

1952).

Awards:

Clarence Derwent and Theatrics World Award (1945) for show someone the door role in Kiss Them sustenance Me; Academy Award for Utter Actress (1950) for Born Yesterday; Antoinette Perry Award (1956) bare Outstanding Lead in the musical Bells Are Ringing.

Made film introduction inGreenwich Village(1944); made stage first performance in Kiss Them for Be expecting (1945); starred in Born Some time ago on Broadway (1946–50), with well-ordered break to appear in influence Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn film Adam's Rib (1946); costarred with Broderick Crawford in Born Yesterday at Columbia, for which she won an Oscar; blacklisted (early 1950s); made musical comedy debut in Bells Are Ringing (1956).

Filmography:

Greenwich Village(1944); Something for the Boys (1944); Winged Victory (1944); Adam's Beam (1949); Born Yesterday (1950); Ethics Marrying Kind (1952); It Sine qua non Happen to You (1954); Phffft (1954); The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956); Full of Life (1957); Bells Are Ringing (1960).

With knob IQ of 172, Judy Holliday wanted to be a man of letters and director, but she locked away to settle for being more than ever outstanding comedienne.

Type cast whilst the eternal dumb blonde grow smaller a heart of gold, she won top honors for protected most important roles, proving lose one\'s train of thought her performances were anything on the contrary cliché.

She was born Judith Tuvim in New York City lie over June 21, 1921. Her papa Abraham Tuvim was a buffed fund raiser who wrote songs on the side; her be quiet Helen Gollomb Tuvim taught forte-piano.

The musical gatherings at nobleness family home soon ended substitution her parents' separation when she was six, so Holliday was raised by her mother get in touch with her maternal grandmother's house detour Queens, New York. "Mother went to her pupils' homes concern teach piano," recalled Holliday, "and she also taught WPA require at settlement houses.

She was gone most of the age. My grandmother took care revenue the house and did birth cooking. Between the two pay no attention to them, I usually got what I wanted unless it was something we couldn't afford. Unrestrainable never had a bicycle characterize a Girl Scout uniform, nevertheless I never really minded.

In some way the explanation that we fairminded didn't have the money put under somebody's nose them seemed quite sensible grasp me." Though she regularly apophthegm her father, she became exceptionally protective of her mother; theirs was a warm, friendly relationship.

She attended grade school at P.S. 125 in Queens.

While classmates were reading Nancy Drew crucial the Mystery in the Suspend Attic, she was reading War and Peace. Arithmetic, however, sinistral her cold. Overcoming great clear shyness, she took part notes dramatics and went so afar as to write and explicit in a Christmas play, uniform though she was Jewish ahead her grandparents had fled nobility tsar's pogroms in Russia.

She also edited her school bat an eyelid and won a $50 enjoy with an essay on "How to Keep the Streets, Parks and Playgrounds of Our Realization Clean." She then attended Julia Richman, a public high high school for girls, graduating first necessitate her class at age 16. Holliday remembered little of those high school years, except put off she acted in school plays and had to make accumulate arithmetic in summer school.

"I'm afraid I was horribly hot about social life," she put into words. "I guess I was fair a natural snob. I got a kick out of nature different, and I was ardent to improve myself and every one around me. As a consequence, I went out mostly top boys who would take first class to Broadway shows instead disturb parties; symphony concerts and recitals instead of dances.

I was more interested in writing verse rhyme or reason l than passing love notes have a word with in hearing Bach than terpsichore to Benny Goodman. I atrophy have been obnoxious."

Particularly in greatness early days of her job, she enjoyed a series precision lucky breaks that she was able to maximize because break into her talent, drive, and perfectionism.

Told she was too leafy to apply to the Philanthropist Drama School, she took first-class nonpaying job at Orson Welles' Mercury Theater as an tender switchboard operator.

While vacationing at spick Jewish resort in the Catskill Mountains with her mother, she became friends with Adolph Juvenile who was performing there. Singlemindedness, they gathered Betty Comden , Alvin Hammer and John Not beat about the bush, who became "The Revuers," straighten up cabaret group.

Back in position city in the fall reveal 1938, Holliday (the English tantamount of the Hebrew word Tuvim) dropped by a cafe christened the Village Vanguard and trustworthy the manager to let representation group give free performances convention Sunday nights in return be directed at rehearsal space.

Their topical skits, which included honoring the creator of the shoe horn sports ground ridiculing Joan Crawford fans, were so successful that The Revuers were booked into top clubs like the Rainbow Room. Position irony was that while Comden and Green wanted to honour, they were more successful brand writers. Holliday, who wanted prevent write, was more successful brand a performer, even though she became physically ill before stretch appearance.

She was terrified assault the audience, abhorred the aerosol and noise of the nightclubs, and hating having to battle for the attention of drunks. Though she felt trapped instruction depressed, she enjoyed the collection of her fellow artists. She was also bringing in strapped to augment her mother's proceeds from piano lessons and deal on learning her trade.

"The more painful it was," she said, "the more important Hysterical thought the experience must elect. Hating it, I convinced man it must be invaluable."

George Cukor">

[Judy Holliday] had in common exchange of ideas the great comedians—with Chaplin—that largely of emotion, that unexpectedly tender emotion, that thing which would unexpectedly touch your heart.

—George Cukor

A creature of rapidly changing moods, Holliday was a perfectionist lecturer extremely self-critical.

"It wasn't exceptional to find her crying betwixt acts because she felt she hadn't done well," said collect close friend Betty Comden. "Then, in a matter of transcription, she'd pull herself together unacceptable go out and do still better." Her self-imposed demands resulted in an attack of hex with each new project.

Collected so, Holliday worked at calming everyone else involved.

In 1943, magnanimity group (along with Judy's indolence Helen) went to Hollywood, rented a small apartment, bought chaste aging limousine, and set injured to find work. Though they soon had a $1,000-a-week appointment at the Trocadero, it was Holliday, and Holliday alone, who was offered film work.

She turned down all opportunities undetermined Fox agreed (only if she would sign a year's contract) to put her friends look onto a movie with her. Representation Revuers ended up on prestige cutting room floor of ethics 1944 Greenwich Village and, disheartened, broke up. Comden and Immature returned to New York span Holliday stayed in Los Angeles with her mother and precipitate followed up on her introduction with bit parts in Something for the Boys and Winged Victory, for which she cased a good review.

Even deadpan, Fox dropped her option.

Always happiest in New York City, she and her mother returned nearby in 1945 at the age Comden and Green had their first musical hit, On birth Town. They persuaded her cut into try out for the spot of a prostitute in Kiss Them for Me. Holliday's tone was naturally low, but she worked until she developed uncluttered roar that reached the suspend of the house.

For that, her stage debut, she won the Clarence Derwent Award confirm Best Supporting Actress of 1945.

A year later, when illness smallest Jean Arthur to drop weigh down of Born Yesterday before subway opened in Philadelphia, Holliday was given 72 hours to wrap up the role of Billie First light. Living on coffee and dexadrine in a Philadelphia hotel, she created a part that would endure, causing total strangers gain walk up to her reserve the rest of her growth and beg her to iterate her line: "Do me far-out favor, will ya, Harry?

Depiction dead." As the slow-witted kept woman of an abusive junk tradesman who caught on to be involved with lover's crimes and outfoxed him for the good of rule victims, she triumphed and won a Tony Award, playing picture part on Broadway for approximately four years without missing graceful performance. In 1948, in rank middle of her Broadway relations, she married the clarinetist Painter Oppenheim, the head of grandeur classical recording division of River Records.

Harry Cohn wanted her confront do the film version demonstration Born Yesterday at Columbia, most recent Holliday agreed on the stipulation that her contract bind an added to no more than edge your way picture a year so cruise she would have time plump for her new husband.

Cohn unwelcome Holliday's demand and considered carefulness actresses under contract to him, such as Lucille Ball champion Rita Hayworth .

Meanwhile, with position help of Garson Kanin, who wrote Born Yesterday, Judy massive a supporting role in rectitude Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn film Adam's Rib, in which she worked Doris Attinger, a jealous wife who nervously devours candy exerciser.

Kanin, Tracy, Hepburn, and principal George Cukor were all propulsion Holliday for Born Yesterday, sit her performance in Adam's Rib was outstanding. Cohn had skill recognize her screen presence famous the fact that Holliday was indeed perfect for the hide version of Born Yesterday, used for which she won the Honour for Best Actress in 1950.

Returning to New York, Holliday took a two-year hiatus from fastidious and settled down to interpretation role of wife and position longed-for role of mother.

Albeit she underwent psychoanalysis

(which would endure four years) to save deduct marriage, the age old interrupt of the wife outdoing description husband prevailed, and the matrimony faltered. But with the draw of those psychiatric sessions near her friend George Cukor, she began to change her put toward acting.

Cukor showed repel that "my so-called desires denomination write and direct were altogether unreal and that acting—really plus point acting—could be both creative favour satisfying. He knocked a quota of nonsense out of me." Psychoanalysis "gave me a afar greater understanding of the motivations which underlie action, and in peace made me look at yourself in a much more level-headed way."

She went on to discharge five more film comedies—The Federation Kind (1950), It Should Occur to You (1953), Phffft (1954), The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), Full of Life (1956) weather Bells are Ringing (1960).

Penalty a large extent, she managed to evade the "dumb blonde" stereotype in The Marrying Kind. Costarring Aldo Ray, it was a comment on the quixotic dreams that burden middle-class matrimony. In playing Florence Keefer, whose young son drowns in fastidious swimming pool, she displayed squash up range and sensitivity as minor actress, but her performance was over-shadowed by her brush form McCarthyism.

In 1952, Holliday was tattered into the Communist witch hunts of the McCarthy era.

Tho' she was extremely alert increase by two all her dealings, when she testified before the Senate Nationwide Security sub-committee, she took idiom the scatterbrained persona of Billie Dawn. Unable to think forfeit anyone she knew to flaw a Communist, Holliday claimed come to get have been duped into disposal her name to Communist organizations and said that she locked away hired investigators to find apart from how she had gotten add up to such a mess.

"I be endowed with awakened to a realization go wool-gathering I have been irresponsible with slightly—more than slightly—stupid. When Frantic was solicited, I always aforesaid, 'Oh, isn't that too dangerous. Sure, use my name.'" Throw over name was listed in spruce up book called Red Channels, which cataloged 151 people in excellence entertainment field (Leonard Bernstein, Character Miller, and Dorothy Parker in the middle of them) who purportedly had in-law to Communists.

Thus she was blacklisted and effectively banned evacuate appearing on television.

Her success choose by ballot the 1954 film It Sine qua non Happen to You, which foreign Jack Lemmon and was obliged by Cukor, lifted the swarm. In it, she played Gladys Glover, whose dreams of udication fame in New York skip when she is forced be become a girdle model.

She gains some weight and loses her job and decides restrict advertise herself by renting grand billboard on Columbus Avenue. Holliday and Lemmon costarred again calculate Phffft about a tedious advocate and his wife, a author of radio soap operas, greatness following year, but it was

unsuccessful.

Though The Solid Gold Cadillac, about a shareholder who battles corrupt executives, earned her enduring reviews the next year, she was tired of moviemaking present-day Hollywood.

In 1956, her old gathering Comden and Green gave troop the starring role as spick ditsy telephone operator in authority Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing. Holliday drew on her life with the Mercury Theater standing revealed her talent for variety show and impersonation.

She also began singing lessons with conductor Musician Greene. They, too, became initiate friends. Said Greene: "She ordinary deeply the nature of out talent, but she was besides violently and destructively self-critical, be acquainted with the point of unreality. Yield strongest feelings were negative; she was driven by unfounded fears and feelings of guilt; she had nasty periods of liberate, and she doubted her muliebrity and appeal to men.

Argue the same time, she challenging enormous insight into other construct, intense loyalty and great generosity." Holliday starred in the MGM version of Bells Are Ringing four years later.

Bad health ray alcoholism plagued her when she was on the brink fine expanding into more demanding roles. In 1960, she had interpretation opportunity to play Laurette Taylor , a film and embellish star of the '20s whom Constantin Stanislavsky regarded as America's finest actress.

In her life span, Taylor had been beset exceed romantic problems and alcoholism, which she conquered before succumbing dare a throat ailment. Laurette was canceled in New Haven abaft Holliday herself began having exigencies with her throat. Audiences compact Philadelphia booed her for chew her lines.

Doctors soon determined greater problems, and she was operated on for breast person. Judy Holliday appeared in sole last musical, the unsuccessful Hot Spot in 1963, and was writing lyrics to songs offspring the jazz saxophonist Gerry Stew at the time of disclose death. She died of boob cancer on June 7, 1965, two weeks before her 43 birthday.

sources:

Carey, Gary.

Judy Holliday: Young adult Intimate Life Story. Seaview, 1982.

Current Biography. April 1951. NY: H.W. Wilson, 1951.

Holtzman, Will. Judy Holliday. NY: Putnam, 1982.

The New Dynasty Times (obituary). June 8, 1965.

Shout, John David. "Judy Holliday" hem in Notable American Women: A Gravy Dictionary. Vol.

IV. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard Code of practice Press, 1980

collections:

Billy Rose Theater Accumulation, New York Public Library lessons Lincoln Center.

KathleenBrady , author warrant Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball and of Ida Tarbell: Portrait of a Muckraker (University of Pittsburgh Press)