Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm | |
---|---|
![]() Celeste in 1955 | |
Born |
New York City, New York, U.S. | April 29, 1917
Died |
July 15, 2012 95) New York City, New York, U.S. | (aged
Cause of death | Heart attack |
Alma mater | University of Chicago |
Occupation | Actress, singer |
Years active | 1937–2012 |
Spouse(s) |
Ralph Nelson (m. 1936–1939; divorced) Francis Davies (m. 1940–1945; divorced) A. Schuyler Dunning (m. 1946–1953; divorced) Wesley Addy (m. 1961–1996; his death) Frank Basile (m. 2004–2012; her death) |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) |
Theodor Holm Jean Parke |
Website | Celeste Holm Official Website |
Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress.[1]
Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Gentleman's Agreement (1947), and was Oscar nominated for her roles in Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve (1950). She originated the role of Ado Annie in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! (1943).[1]
Early life
Born and raised in Manhattan, Holm was an only child. Her mother, Jean Parke, was an American portrait artist and author; her father, Theodor Holm, was a Norwegian businessman whose company provided marine adjustment services for Lloyd's of London. Because of her parents' occupations, she traveled often during her youth and attended various schools in the Netherlands, France and the United States. She graduated from University School for Girls in Chicago, where she performed in many school stage productions. She then studied drama at the University of Chicago before becoming a stage actress in the late 1930s.
Career
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Holm's first professional theatrical role was in a production of Hamlet starring Leslie Howard. She first appeared on Broadway in a small part in Gloriana (1938), a comedy which lasted for only five performances, but her first major part on Broadway was in William Saroyan's revival of The Time of Your Life (1940) as Mary L. with fellow newcomer Gene Kelly. The role that got her the most recognition from critics and audiences was as Ado Annie in the premiere production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! in 1943.
After she starred in the Broadway production of Bloomer Girl, 20th Century Fox signed Holm to a movie contract in 1946. She made her film debut that same year in Three Little Girls in Blue, making a startling entrance in a "Technicolor red" dress singing "Always a Lady," a belting Ado Annie-type song, although the character was different—a lady. In 1947 she won an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in Gentleman's Agreement.[2] After another supporting role in All About Eve, however, Holm realized she preferred live theater to movie work, and only accepted a few select film roles over the next decade. The most successful of these were the comedy The Tender Trap (1955) and the musical High Society (1956), both of which co-starred Frank Sinatra. She starred as a professor-turned-reporter in New York City in the CBS television series Honestly, Celeste! (fall 1954) and was thereafter a panelist on Who Pays? (1959). She also appeared several times on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.
In 1958, she starred as a reporter in an unsold television pilot called The Celeste Holm Show, based on the book No Facilities for Women. Holm also starred in the musical The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall. In 1965, she played the Fairy Godmother alongside Lesley Ann Warren in the CBS production of Cinderella. In 1970–71, she was featured on the NBC sitcom Nancy, with Renne Jarrett, John Fink and Robert F. Simon. In the story line, Holm played Abby Townsend, the press secretary of the First Lady of the United States and the chaperone of Jarrett's character, Nancy Smith, the President's daughter. During the 1970s and 1980s, Holm did more screen acting, with roles in films such as Tom Sawyer and Three Men and a Baby, and in television series (often as a guest star) such as Columbo, The Eleventh Hour, Archie Bunker's Place and Falcon Crest. In 1979, she played the role of First Lady Florence Harding in the television mini-series, Backstairs at the White House. She was a regular on the ABC soap opera Loving, appearing first in 1986 in the role of Lydia Woodhouse and again as Isabelle Dwyer Alden #2 from 1991 to 1992. She last appeared on television in the CBS television series Promised Land (1996–99).
Honors
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A life member of The Actors Studio,[3] Holm received numerous honors during her lifetime, including the 1968 Sarah Siddons Award for distinguished achievement in Chicago theatre; she was appointed to the National Arts Council by then-President Ronald Reagan, appointed Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Olav of Norway in 1979,[4] and inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1992. She remained active for social causes as a spokesperson for UNICEF, and for occasional professional engagements. From 1995 she was Chairman of the Board of Arts Horizons, a not-for-profit arts-in-education organization. In 1995, Holm's was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame.[5]
In 2006, Holm was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the SunDeis Film Festival at Brandeis University.[6]
Holm was a guest at the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Aberdeen, Maryland. Some of the movies in which she appeared were screened at the festival, and the un-aired television pilot for Meet Me in St. Louis was shown. She received an honorary award during the dinner banquet at the close of the event.
Personal life
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- Holm's first marriage was to Ralph Nelson in 1936.[7] Their son, Internet pioneer and sociologist Ted Nelson (born 1937), was raised by his maternal grandparents. The marriage ended in 1939. In his 2010 memoir, Possiplex, her son, credited with coining the term "hypertext," described this and other choices as "entirely the right decisions." He reportedly did not name his mother in the book.[8]
- Holm married Francis Emerson Harding Davies, an English auditor, on January 7, 1940. Davies was a Roman Catholic, and she was received into the Roman Catholic Church for the purposes of their 1940 wedding; the marriage was dissolved on May 8, 1945.[9]
- From 1946 to 1952, Holm was married to airline public relations executive A. Schuyler Dunning, with whom she had a second son, businessman Daniel Dunning.[10]
- From 1961 to 1996, she was married to actor Wesley Addy (1913–1996), until his death at age 83 in 1996. The couple lived together on her family farm in the Schooley's Mountain section of Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey.[11][12]
- On April 29, 2004, her 87th birthday, Holm married opera singer Frank Basile, age 41.[13] The couple met in October 1999 at a fundraiser at which Basile was hired to sing. Soon after their marriage, Holm and Basile sued to overturn the irrevocable trust that was created in 2002 by Daniel Dunning, Holm's younger son. The trust was ostensibly set up to shelter Holm's financial assets from taxes though Basile contended the real purpose of the trust was to keep him away from her money. The lawsuit began a five-year battle with her sons, which cost millions of dollars, and according to an article in The New York Times, left Holm and her husband with a fragile hold on their apartment, which Holm purchased for $10,000 cash in 1953 from her film earnings, and which is now believed to be worth at least $10,000,000.[8]
Health and death
According to her husband, Holm had been treated for memory loss since 2002, suffered skin cancer, bleeding ulcers and a collapsed lung, and had hip replacements and pacemakers.[8]
In June 2012, Holm was admitted to New York's Roosevelt Hospital with dehydration. She suffered a heart attack on July 13, 2012 in the facility. She died at her Central Park West apartment on July 15, 2012.[1]
She was survived by husband Frank Basile and her sons and grandchildren.[14][15][16]
Work
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1946 | Three Little Girls in Blue | Miriam Harrington | |
1947 | Carnival in Costa Rica | Celeste | |
Gentleman's Agreement | Anne Dettrey | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (2nd place) | |
1948 | Road House | Susie Smith | |
Snake Pit, TheThe Snake Pit | Grace | ||
1949 | Chicken Every Sunday | Emily Hefferan | |
A Letter to Three Wives | Addie Ross (voice, uncredited) | ||
Come to the Stable | Sister Scholastica | Nominated-Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress | |
Everybody Does It | Doris Blair Borland | ||
1950 | Champagne for Caesar | Flame O'Neill | |
All About Eve | Karen | Nominated-Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress | |
1955 | Tender Trap, TheThe Tender Trap | Sylvia Crewes | |
1956 | High Society | Liz Imbrie | |
1962 | Bachelor Flat | Helen Bushmill | |
1963 | Hailstones and Halibut Bones | Narrator (voice) | short film |
1967 | Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! | Louise Halloran | |
1973 | Tom Sawyer | Aunt Polly | |
1976 | Bittersweet Love | Marian | |
1977 | Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover, TheThe Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover | Florence Hollister | |
1987 | Three Men and a Baby | Mrs. Holden | |
1989 | Nora's Christmas Gift | Nora Richards | video |
1997 | Still Breathing | Ida | |
2005 | Alchemy | Iris | |
2012 | Driving Me Crazy | Mrs. Ginsberg | |
2013 | College Debts | Grandma GG | Completed |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1950 | All Star Revue | Guest Actress | Episode "1.6" |
1951 | Lux Video Theatre | Eliza Margaret Best |
Episode: "The Pacing Goose" Episode: "Second Sight" |
1952 | Schlitz Playhouse | Episode: "Four's a Family" | |
Lux Video Theatre | Katherine Case | Episode: "The Bargain" | |
1953 | Lux Video Theatre | Miss Prynne | Episode: "Lost Sunday" |
Hollywood Opening Night | Episode: "Mrs. Genius" | ||
Your Jeweler's Showcase | Episode: "Heart's Desire" | ||
1954 | Honestly, Celeste! | Celeste Anders | TV series |
1955 | United States Steel Hour, TheThe United States Steel Hour | Madge Collins | Episode: "The Bogey Man" |
1956 | Climax! | Mary Miller | Episode: "The Empty Room Blues" |
Sneak Preview | TV series | ||
Carolyn | Carolyn Daniels | TV movie | |
Steve Allen Show, TheThe Steve Allen Show | Mad Meggie | Episode: "2.8" | |
Producers' Showcase | Mad Meggie | Episode: "Jack and the Beanstalk" | |
1957 | Schlitz Playhouse | Lettie Morgan | Episode: "The Wedding Present" |
Goodyear Playhouse | Maggie Travis | Episode: "The Princess Back Home" | |
Zane Grey Theater | Sarah Kimball | Episode: "Fugitive" | |
Yeoman of the Guard, TheThe Yeoman of the Guard | Phoebe Meryll | TV movie | |
1960 | Art Carney Special | Episode: "The Man in the Dog Suit" | |
Christophers, TheThe Christophers | Episode: "Women of the Bible" | ||
1961 | Play of the Week | Virginia | Episode: "A Clearing in the Woods" |
1962 | Follow the Sun | Miss Bullfinch | Episode: "The Irresistible Miss Bullfinch" |
Checkmate | Laraine Whitman | Episode: "So Beats My Plastic Heart" | |
Alcoa Premiere | Laura Bennett | Episode: "Cry Out in Silence" | |
1963 | Dr. Kildare | Nurse Jane Munson | Episode: "The Pack Rat and Prima Donna" |
Burke's Law | Helen Forsythe | Episode: "Who Killed the Kind Doctor?" | |
1964 | Eleventh Hour, TheThe Eleventh Hour | Billie Hamilton | Episode "How Do I Say I Love You?" |
1965 | Mr. Novak | Rose Herrod | Episode: "An Elephant Is Like a Tree" |
Cinderella | Fairy Godmother | TV movie | |
Run for Your Life | Margot Horst | Episode: "The Cold, Cold War of Paul Bryan" | |
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Mrs. Fuller | 4 episodes | |
Fugitive, TheThe Fugitive | Flo Hagerman | Episode: "The Old Man Picked a Lemon" | |
1966 | Long Hot Summer, TheThe Long Hot Summer | Libby Rankin | Episode: "Face of Fear" |
Meet Me in St. Louis | Mrs. Smith | TV movie | |
1967 | Fugitive, TheThe Fugitive | Pearl Patton | Episode: "Concrete Evidence" |
F.B.I., TheThe F.B.I. | Flo Clementi | Episode: "The Executioners: Part 1" Episode: "The Executioners: Part 2" | |
Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI | Flo Clementi | TV movie | |
Insight | Mrs. Berns | Episode: "Fat Hands and a Diamond Ring" | |
1970 | Name of the Game, TheThe Name of the Game | Irene Comdon | Episode: "The Brass Ring" |
Swing Out, Sweet Land | Nancy Lincoln | TV movie | |
1970–1971 | Nancy | Abigail | 17 episodes |
1972 | Delphi Bureau, TheThe Delphi Bureau | Sybil Van Loween | Episode: "Pilot" |
1973 | Medical Center | Dr. Linda Wilson | Episode: "No Margin for Error" |
1974 | Medical Center | Geraldine Stern | Episode: "Web of Intrigue" |
Streets of San Francisco, TheThe Streets of San Francisco | Mrs. Shaninger | Episode: "Crossfire" | |
Underground Man, TheThe Underground Man | Beatrice Broadhurst | TV movie | |
Death Cruise | Elizabeth Mason | TV movie | |
Manhunter, TheThe Manhunter | Episode: "The Truck Murders" | ||
1976 | American Woman: Portraits of Courage, TheThe American Woman: Portraits of Courage | Elizabeth Cady Stanton | TV movie |
Captains and the Kings | Sister Angela | TV miniseries | |
Columbo | Mrs. Brandt | Episode: Old Fashioned Murder | |
1977 | Love Boat II, TheThe Love Boat II | Eva McFarland | TV movie |
The Wonderful World of Disney | Episode: "The Bluegrass Special" | ||
Wonder Woman | Dolly Tucker | Episode: "I Do, I Do" | |
1978 | Lucan | Episode: "You Can't Have My Baby" | |
Fantasy Island | Mabel Jarvis | Episode: "The Beachcomber/The Last Whodunnit" | |
1979 | Fantasy Island | Sister Veronica | Episode: "The Look Alikes/Winemaker" |
Backstairs at the White House | Mrs. Florence Harding | TV miniseries Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special | |
Trapper John, M.D. | Claudia | Episode: "The Shattered Image" | |
Love Boat, TheThe Love Boat | Estelle Castlewood | Episode: "A Good and Faithful Servant/The Secret Life of Burl Smith/Tug of War/Designated Lover" | |
1981 | Midnight Lace | Sylvia Randall | TV movie |
As the World Turns | Lauren Roberts | TV series | |
Archie Bunker's Place | Estelle Harris | Episode: "Growing Up is Hard to Do" Episode: "Custody" | |
1982 | American Playhouse | Celebrity | Episode: "The Shady Hill Kidnapping" |
Trapper John, M.D. | Lillie Townsend | Episode: "Don't Rain on My Charade" | |
1983 | Archie Bunker's Place | Estelle Harris | Episode: "Three Women" |
This Girl for Hire | Zandra Stoneham | TV movie | |
1984 | Jessie | Molly Hayden | TV movie |
Jessie | Molly Hayden | ||
Love Boat, TheThe Love Boat | Florence Flanders | Episode: "Buck Stops Here, The/For Better or Worse/Bet on It" | |
1985 | Matt Houston | Katherine Hershey | Episode: "Company Secrets" |
Falcon Crest | Anna Rossini | 6 episodes | |
1987 | Murder by the Book | Claire | TV movie |
Magnum, P.I. | Abigail Baldwin | Episode: "The Love That Lies" | |
1988 | Spenser: For Hire | Rose | Episode: "Haunting" |
1989 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Samantha Orbison | Episode: "Road Show" |
Polly | Miss Snow | TV movie | |
1989–1990 | Christine Cromwell | Samantha Cromwell | 4 episodes |
1990 | Polly: Comin' Home! | Miss Snow | TV movie |
1991–1992 | Loving | Isabella Alden | TV series |
1992 | Cheers | Grandmother Gaines | Episode: "No Rest for the Woody" |
1995 | Great Performances | Episode: "Talking With" | |
1996 | Home of the Brave | Hattie Greene | TV movie |
Once You Meet a Stranger | Clara | TV movie | |
Touched by an Angel | Hattie Greene | Episode: "Promised Land" | |
1996–1999 | Promised Land | Hattie Greene | 67 episodes |
1997 | Touched by an Angel | Hattie Greene | Episode: "The Road Home: Part 1" Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 2" |
1998 | Touched by an Angel | Hattie Greene | Episode: "Vengeance Is Mine: Part 1" |
2000 | Beat, TheThe Beat | Frances Robinson | 13 episodes |
2002 | Third Watch | Florence | Episode: "Transformed" |
2004 | Whoopi | Diana | Episode: "The Squatters" |
Theatre
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1938 | Gloriana | Lady Mary | |
1940 | Time of Your Life, TheThe Time of Your Life | Mary L | |
1940 | Another Sun | Maria | |
1940 | Return of the Vagabond, TheThe Return of the Vagabond | His Daughter | |
1941 | Eight O'Clock Tuesday | Marcia Godden | |
1941 | My Fair Ladies | Lady Keith-Odlyn | |
1942 | Papa Is All | Emma | |
1942 | All the Comforts of Home | Fifi Oritanski | |
1942 | Damask Cheek, TheThe Damask Cheek | Calla Longstreth | |
1943 | Oklahoma! | Ado Annie Carnes | |
1944 | Bloomer Girl | Evalina | |
1950 | Affairs of State | Irene Elliott | |
1951 | King and I, TheThe King and I | Anna Leonowens | Replacement |
1952 | Anna Christie | Anna Christopherson | |
1954 | His and Hers | Maggie Palmer | |
1958 | Interlock | Mrs. Price | |
1958 | Third Best Sport | Helen Sayre | |
1960 | Invitation to a March | Camilla Jablonski | |
1967 | Mame | Mame Dennis | Replacement |
1970 | Candida | Candida | |
1974 | Habeas Corpus | Lady Rumpers | |
1979 | Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall, TheThe Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall | Julia Faysle | |
1991 | I Hate Hamlet | Lilian Troy | |
1994 | Allegro | Grandma Taylor |
Radio
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1946 | Guest on Bob Crosby Show[17] | ||
1950 | Everybody Does It | Episode of Screen Guild Theater[18] | |
1952 | Up in Central Park | Episode of Music In the Air[19] | |
1952 | Foreign Affairs | Episode of Screen Guild Theater[20] | |
1953 | Cluny Brown | Episode of Star Playhouse[21] | |
1976 | Afterward | Episode of CBS Radio Mystery Theater[22] | |
References
- 1 2 3 Anita Gates (July 15, 2012). "Celeste Holm, Witty Character Actress, Is Dead at 95". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
Celeste Holm, the New York-born actress who made an indelible Broadway impression as an amorous country girl in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!," earned an Academy Award as the knowing voice of tolerance in "Gentleman's Agreement" and went on to a six-decade screen and stage career, frequently cast as the wistful or brittle sophisticate, died early Sunday at her apartment in Manhattan. She was 95. Her death was announced by Amy Phillips, a great-niece. Ms. Holm had a heart attack at Roosevelt Hospital in New York last week while being treated there for dehydration, but she was taken home on Friday.
- ↑ Obituary: Celeste Holm, Daily Telegraph, 15 July 2012
- ↑ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 278. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
- ↑ "Ridder av St. Olav", Aftenposten, morning edition 21. May 1979, p. 10.
- ↑ "SAHF Inductees". hostfest.com. Norsk Høstfest. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- ↑ "SunDeis 2006". SunDeis Film Festival web site. Archived from the original on 2006-09-10. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ↑ Celeste Holm profile at www.superiorpics.com
- 1 2 3 John Leland (July 2, 2011). "Love and Inheritance: A Family Feud". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ↑ Holm profile at www.superiorpics.com
- ↑ Staff writers (1952-05-12). "Births, deaths, marriages, divorces". Time. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ↑ via Associated Press. "Celeste Holm, Oscar-winning actress, dies at 95", Express-Times, July 15, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2015. "Celeste Holm married her fourth husband, actor Robert Wesley Addy, in 1966. The couple lived in Washington Township., Morris County, N.J."
- ↑ Summary of Preserved Farms - EG Jewett / Holm Farm, Morris County Agriculture Development Board, October 12, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2015. "Owned since 1922 by the family of actress Celeste Holm, this large farm atop Schooley's Mountain is in wheat and tree fruit production."
- ↑ Jones, Kenneth (2004-04-30). "December Bride: Shocking Guests, Celeste Holm Marries Beau at 85th Birthday Party". Playbill.
- ↑ "Oscar-Winning Actress Celeste Holm Dies At 95". Huffington Post. July 15, 2012.
- ↑ http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/15/12752807-oscar-winning-actress-celeste-holm-dies-at-95?lite
- ↑ "Fire At Robert De Niro's NYC Apartment; No Injuries". Huffington Post. June 9, 2012.
- ↑ "Celeste Holm on Bob Crosby Show". Harrisburg Telegraph. January 26, 1946. p. 15. Retrieved May 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "On The Air". The Gazette and Daily. March 2, 1950. p. 20. Retrieved May 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Dial Chatter". The La Crosse Tribune. May 11, 1952. p. 18. Retrieved May 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "(radio listing)". The Decatur Daily Review. May 4, 1952. p. 50. Retrieved May 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Kirby, Walter (November 15, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 50. Retrieved July 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "CBS Radio Mystery Theater". Santa Ana Register. February 26, 1976. p. 19. Retrieved May 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Celeste Holm. |
- Celeste Holm at the Internet Broadway Database
- Celeste Holm at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Celeste Holm at the Internet Movie Database
- Celeste Holm at Find a Grave
- Celeste Holm at the TCM Movie Database
- Portrait of Celeste Holm and Wesley Addy by Margaret Holland Sargent
- Obituary at We Love Soaps