Blanche Baker
| Blanche Baker | |
|---|---|
|
Blanche Baker in a 2007 performance of The Vietnamization of New Jersey | |
| Born |
Blanche Garfein December 20, 1956 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Bruce Van Dusen (m. 1983–2002) Mark Magill (m. 2003) |
| Children |
Zane Van Dusen Dara Van Dusen Wynn Van Dusen James Magill |
Blanche Baker (born December 20, 1956) is an American actress.
Early life and education
Born Blanche Garfein in New York City, she is the daughter of actress Carroll Baker and director Jack Garfein. Her father is a Czech Jew, who survived the Holocaust; and her mother converted to Judaism. Baker attended Wellesley College from 1974 to 1976,[1] and later studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio, the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, and the American School in London.[2]
Career
Television
Blanche Baker made her television debut playing the character Anna Weiss in the miniseries Holocaust. (Her father Jack Garfein was a Holocaust survivor who had been imprisoned in Auschwitz. She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series in 1978 for her performance.
She has subsequently appeared in the TV movies Mary and Joseph: A Story of Faith (1979) as Mary, The Day the Bubble Burst (1982), The Awakening of Candra (1983) as Candra Torres, Embassy (1985), Nobody's Child (1986), and Taking Chance (2009). She also has appeared on many TV series.
Theatre
In 1980-81, she originated the lead role in Edward Albee's stage adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. During out-of-town tryouts and in New York, the play was picketed by feminists, including Women Against Pornography, who were outraged by the theme of pedophilia.[3]
The troubled production opened on Broadway on March 19, 1981, after 31 previews and closed after only 12 performances.[4] Frank Rich of the New York Times gave the play a bad review, terming it "the kind of embarrassment that audiences do not quickly forget or forgive." Baker was mentioned by Rich in only one line. "In the title role, here a minor figure, the 24-year-old Miss Baker does a clever job of impersonating the downy nymphet; she deserves a more substantial stage vehicle soon."[5]
People Magazine called Albee's Lolita "Broadway's Bomb of the Year" in an April 16, 1981, story.[6] Baker was the real subject of the article, and People writer Mark Donovan said "the critics were almost unanimous on one point: Blanche Baker was an ingenue whose time had come," citing reviews of critics that had called her "breathtaking" and "beguiling."
Baker originated the role of Shelby in the first production of Steel Magnolias Off-Broadway in 1987.[7]
Film
Baker made her movie debut in the The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979). Other film appearances include Sixteen Candles (1984), Cold Feet (1984) and Taking Chance (2009).
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | French Postcards | Laura | |
| 1979 | Seduction of Joe Tynan, TheThe Seduction of Joe Tynan | Janet | |
| 1982 | The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet | Juliet | |
| 1983 | Cold Feet | Leslie Christo | |
| 1984 | Sixteen Candles | Ginny | |
| 1986 | Raw Deal | Amy Kaminski | |
| 1988 | Shakedown | Gail Feinberger | |
| 1988 | Bum Rap | Lisa DuSoir | |
| 1990 | Handmaid's Tale, TheThe Handmaid's Tale | Ofglen | |
| 1991 | Livin' Large | Kate Penndragin | |
| 1994 | Dead Funny | Barbara | |
| 2006 | Underdogs | Marie | |
| 2006 | Rehearsal, TheThe Rehearsal | Marie | |
| 2007 | Girl Next Door, TheThe Girl Next Door | Ruth Chandler | |
| 2008 | 3rd of July | Mrs. Shaw | |
| 2008 | Jersey Justice | Polly O'Bannon | |
| 2012 | Hypothermia | Hellen Pelletier | |
| 2014 | Wishin' and Hopin' | Sister Filomena | TV Movie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Holocaust | Anna Weiss | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1979 | Mary and Joseph: A Story of Faith | Mary | |
| 1981 | Awakening of Candra, TheThe Awakening of Candra | Candra Torres | |
| 1982 | Day the Bubble Burst, TheThe Day the Bubble Burst | Joan Slezsak | |
| 1985 | Equalizer, TheThe Equalizer | Allison Webster | Episode: "Desperately" |
| 1985 | Embassy | Megan Hillyer | |
| 1986 | Nobody's Child | Shari | |
| 1987 | Spenser: For Hire | Carolyn Tomlinson | Episode: "Personal Demons" |
| 1991 | Trials of Rosie O'Neill, TheThe Trials of Rosie O'Neill | Episode: "Domestic Silence" | |
| 1991 | Davis Rules | Episode: "Everybody Comes to Nick's" | |
| 1992 | In the Heat of the Night | Jenny Sawyer | Episode: "Love, Honor & Obey" |
| 1992 | Law & Order | Lucy Neven | Episode: "Star Struck" |
| 1994 | Clarissa Explains It All | Chelsea Chipley | Episode: "Janet and Clarissa, Inc." |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Miriam Engles | Episode: "Diamond Dogs" |
| 2009 | Taking Chance | Chris Phelps | |
| 2013 | The Chris Gethard Show | Herself | Episode: "#119: Scare the Shit Out of Bethany" |
References
- ↑ Lynch, Jason. "Her Bronze Mettle: Following Her Turn in Sixteen Candles, Blanche Baker Sculpted a Life Beyond Hollywood". People Magazine. March 4, 2002. Retrieved 6 May 2015. "Baker returned to the U.S. and enrolled at Wellesley College in 1974 but got the acting bug and dropped out two years later to study both art and acting in New York City."
- ↑ "'Mary and Joseph' Filming". The Kentucky New Era. July 24, 1979. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ↑ Devries, Hillary. "Protesters to picket 'Lolita'". Christian Science Monitor. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ↑ "Lolita". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ↑ Rich, Frank. "STAGE: ALBEE'S ADAPTATION OF 'LOLITA' OPENS". New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ↑ Donovan, Mark. "Lolita, Broadway's Bomb of the Year, Detonates Edward Albee, Bemuses Donald Sutherland and Illuminates a Lovely Survivor, Blanche Baker". Time-Life. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/27/theater/stage-steel-magnolias-a-louisiana-story.html