Post by Kaz ~;~ on Mar 12, 2011 14:47:09 GMT -5
Biography for Judy Holliday
Date of Birth
21 June 1921, New York City, New York, USA
Date of Death
7 June 1965, New York City, New York, USA (breast cancer)
Birth Name
Judith Tuvim
Biography::
Judy Holliday was born Judith Tuvim in New York City on June 21, 1921. Her mother, a piano teacher, was attending a play when she went into labor and made it to the hospital just in time. Judy was an only child. By the age of four, her mother had her enrolled in ballet school which fostered a life-long interest in show business. Two years later her parents divorced. In high school, Judy began to develop an interest in theater. She appeared in several high school plays. After graduation, she got a job in the Orson Welles Mercury Theater as a switchboard operator. Judy worked her way on the stage with appearance in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New York City. Judy toured on the nightclub circuit with a group called "The Revuers" founded by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. She went to Hollywood to make her first foray into the film world in Greenwich Village (1944). Most of her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. Disappointed, but not discouraged, Judy earned two more roles that year in Something for the Boys (1944) and Winged Victory (1944). In the latter, Judy had a few lines of dialogue. Judy returned to New York to continue her stage career. She returned to Hollywood after five years to appear in Adam's Rib (1949) as Doris Attinger opposite screen greats Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Tom Ewell. With her success in that role, Judy was signed to play Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1950), a role which she originated on Broadway. She was nominated for and won the best actress Oscar for her performance. After filming The Marrying Kind (1952), Judy was summoned before the Un-American Activities Committee to testify about her political affiliations. Fortunately for her, she was not blacklisted as were many of her counterparts, but damage was done. Her film career was curtailed somewhat, but rebounded. She continued with her stage and musical efforts, but with limited time on the screen. After filming The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), she was off-screen for four years. Her last film was the MGM production of Bells Are Ringing (1960) with Dean Martin and it was one of her best. Judy died three weeks before her 44th birthday in New York City on June 7, 1965.
Spouse
Dave Oppenheim (5 January 1948 - 1 March 1958) (divorced) 1 child
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Trivia::
Despite her image as a "dumb blond", she had an IQ of 172. She often said that it took a lot of smarts to convince people that her characters were stupid.
Listed by Madonna as one of her biggest influences.
According to biographer Gary Carey, in its search for subversives in the film industry, the House Un-American Activities Committee was flummoxed by Holliday. She essentially playing her Billie Dawn character on the witness stand. She ended up being the only person ever called before HUAC who was neither blacklisted nor compelled to name names.
During the Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing, she had a brief fling with co-star Sydney Chaplin, the son of Charles Chaplin.
An only child.
Son, Jonathan Oppenheim was born November 11, 1952 and is now a film editor.
Lived in the building where John Lennon was murdered.
Dated Nicholas Ray in 1944.
Won Broadway's 1957 Tony Award as best actress in a musical for Bells Are Ringing, a role that she recreated in the film version of Bells Are Ringing (1960).
To help build up Holliday's image, particularly in the eyes of Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn, Katharine Hepburn deliberately leaked stories to the gossip columns suggesting that her performance in Adam's Rib (1949) was so good that it had stolen the spotlight from Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. This got Cohn's attention and Holliday won the part in Born Yesterday (1950).
Her performance as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1950) is ranked #96 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
Following her divorce, she became involved with jazz musician Gerry Mulligan. After learning she had breast cancer and stopped filming, she began writing songs with him. He wrote the music and she wrote the lyrics. . Some of these songs appear on the album "Holliday With Mulligan" which they recorded together in 1961. It was not released until 1980.
Co-wrote and performed songs with jazz legend Gerry Mulligan for the album "Holliday with Mulligan".
Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. [1999]
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Personal Quotes::
You have to be smart to play a dumb blonde over and over and keep the audience's attention without extraordinary physical equipment.