Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart | |
---|---|
Born | Anna Eileen Herbert March 29, 1919 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | December 31, 2001 Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged 82)
Alma mater | Ohio State University (B.A.) |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1943–2000 |
Spouse(s) |
John Harrison Yankee, Jr.
(m. 1942; died 1997) |
Children | 3 |
Anna Eileen Heckart (née Herbert; March 29, 1919 – December 31, 2001) was an American stage and screen actress whose career spanned nearly 60 years.
Early life
Heckart was born Anna Eileen Herbert in
Career
Stage
Heckart began her Broadway career as the assistant stage manager and an understudy for The Voice of the Turtle in 1943. Her many credits include Picnic, The Bad Seed, A View from the Bridge, A Memory of Two Mondays, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, A Family Affair, And Things That Go Bump in the Night, Barefoot in the Park, Butterflies Are Free, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, and The Cemetery Club.
Heckart won the 1953 Theatre World Award for Picnic. Her nominations include Tony Award nominations for Butterflies Are Free, Invitation to a March, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.
In 2000, at age 81, she appeared off-Broadway in
She was granted three honorary doctorates by Sacred Heart University, Niagara University, and Ohio State University.[4]
Film and television
Heckart won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 1972 movie adaptation of Butterflies Are Free and was nominated in 1956 for her performance as the bereaved, besotted Mrs. Daigle in The Bad Seed (1956), both of which were roles Heckart originated on Broadway. Heckart appeared in The Hiding Place (1976) as nurse, "Katje", working inside "Kamp Vught", the Dutch Concentration Camp. In 1977, Heckart played Bertha Hayden, mother of Sam Hayden in NBC's made for TV Christmas movie, "Sunshine Christmas". 1n 1978, Heckart appeared in the Resorts International Atlantic City New Jersey Christmas production, "Jackie Gleason Presents The Honeymooners", as Alice's mother, Mrs Gibson. She later appeared as a Vietnam War widow in the Clint Eastwood film Heartbreak Ridge (1986). She played Diane Keaton's meddling mother in the 1996 comedy film The First Wives Club.
On television, Heckart had starring roles in The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, Out of the Blue, Partners in Crime, and Backstairs at the White House (Emmy nomination as Eleanor Roosevelt). In 1994, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance as Rose Stein on Love & War. In 1988, she appeared as Ruth in the Tales from the Darkside episode "Do Not Open This Box". Her other guest roles included The Fugitive (where she appeared in three episodes as a nun, "Sister Veronica"), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (two Emmy nominations as journalist Flo Meredith, a role she carried over to a guest appearance on MTM's spinoff Lou Grant), Love Story, Rhoda, Alice, Murder One, Hawaii Five-O, Gunsmoke, Cybill, The Cosby Show (one Emmy nomination as Mrs. Hickson), and many others.[5]
She appeared on two episodes of Gunsmoke. In 1965, Heckart appeared as Hattie Silks on the episode "The Lady." In 1969, Heckart appeared as Athena Partridge Royce on the episode "The Innocent".
Heckart played two unrelated characters on the daytime soap opera
Heckart has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6162 Hollywood Blvd.
Personal life
In 1942, Heckart married insurance broker John Harrison Yankee Jr., her college sweetheart. They had three sons.[2] Her son Luke Yankee is the author of her 2006 biography Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing Up with Eileen Heckart. In February 2024, Luke Yankee's play, “Marilyn, Mom, and Me” debuted at the International City Theater in Long Beach, CA [1]
Heckart was a Democrat. She met President Lyndon B. Johnson at The White House in 1967.[6]
Heckart was a Roman Catholic.[7]
Death
On December 31, 2001, Heckart died of lung cancer at her home in Norwalk, Connecticut, at the age of 82.[8] She was cremated with her ashes scattered outside the Music Box Theatre in Manhattan, New York.[9]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1956 | Miracle in the Rain | Grace Ullman |
1956 | Somebody Up There Likes Me | Ma Barbella |
1956 | Bus Stop | Vera |
1956 | The Bad Seed | Hortense Daigle |
1958 | Hot Spell | Alma's Friend |
1960 | Heller in Pink Tights | Mrs. Lorna Hathaway |
1963 | My Six Loves | Ethel |
1967 | Up the Down Staircase | Henrietta Pastorfield |
1968 | No Way to Treat a Lady | Mrs. Brummel |
1969 | The Tree | Sally Dunning |
1972 | Butterflies Are Free | Mrs. Florence Baker |
1974 | Zandy's Bride | Ma Allan |
1975 | The Hiding Place | Katje |
1976 | Burnt Offerings | Roz Allardyce |
1983 | Trauma Center | Amy Decker R.N. |
1986 | Seize the Day | Funeral Woman No. 1 |
1986 | Heartbreak Ridge | Little Mary Jackson |
1994 | The 5 Mrs. Buchanans | Emma Buchanan |
1994 | Ultimate Betrayal
|
Sarah McNeil |
1996 | The First Wives Club | Catherine MacDuggan |
Selected Television Appearances
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6 Episode 26: "Coming, Mama") as Lucy Baldwin
- Hawaii Five-O (1975) (Season 8 Episode 12: "Honor is an Unmarked Grave") as Agatha Henderson
- Sunshine Christmas (NBC, December 12, 1977) as "Bertha Hayden", Sam Hayden's mother
- Jackie Gleason's Honeymooner's Christmas (December 10, 1978) as "Mrs. Gibson", Alice's mother
- Out of the Blue as The Boss Angel
- Little House On The Prairie as Amanda Cooper (1979)
Awards and nominations
References
- ISBN 978-0823078882. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
On March 29, 1919, Anna Eileen Herbert was born, and her surname was quickly changed to Heckart.
- ^ a b Pogrebin, Robin (January 2, 2002). "Eileen Heckart, Oscar-Winning Actress, Is Dead at 82". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ^ HB Studio Alumni
- ^ "Eileen Heckart Tony Awards Info". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "Awards Search: Eileen Heckart". Emmys.com. Television Academy. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ISBN 9780823078882.
- ^ An Interview with Eileen Heckart, Skip. E. Lowe, 1990
- ^ Costagregni, Susie (June 24, 2006). "Director grabs a coffee before daughter's wedding". The Advocate. p. A2.
- ISBN 9781476625997.
- ^ "The 29th Academy Awards | 1957". Oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 26, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "The 45th Academy Awards | 1973". Oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "'As the World Turns' Leads Daytime Emmy Nominations". Associated Press. May 8, 1987. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Eileen Heckart". Playbill. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "Drama League Goes for Heckart". Backstage. February 21, 2001. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "Eileen Heckart". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "National Board of Review Awards 1996 Winners". National Board of Review. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "Eileen Heckart". Television Academy. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
External links
- Eileen Heckart at IMDb
- Eileen Heckart at the Internet Broadway Database
- Eileen Heckart at the Internet Off-Broadway Database