Colleen dewhurst autobiography

Canadian-American actress (–)

Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Dewhurst in The Trial of Susan B. Anthony ()
Born	Colleen Rose Dewhurst ()June 3, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	August 22, () (aged&#;67) South Salem, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years&#;active	–
Spouses	James Vickery &#; &#; (m.&#;; div.&#;)&#; George C. Scott &#; &#; (m.&#;; div.&#;)&#; &#; &#; (m.&#;; div.&#;)&#;
Partner	Ken Marsolais (–; her death)
Children	2, including Campbell Scott
Awards
In office &#;– (died in the office)
Preceded by	Ellen Burstyn
Succeeded by	Ron Silver

Colleen Rose Dewhurst (June 3, – August 22, ) was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles.

She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early dramas on live television, and performances in Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. One of her last roles was playing Marilla Cuthbert in the Kevin Sullivan television adaptations of the Anne of Green Gables series and her reprisal of the role in the subsequent TV series Road to Avonlea.

In the United States, Dewhurst won two Tony Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards for her stage and television work. In addition to other Canadian honors over the years, Dewhurst won two Gemini Awards (the former Canadian equivalent of an Emmy Award) for her portrayal of Marilla Cuthbert; once in and again in It is arguably her best known role because of the Sullivan-produced series' continuing popularity and also the initial co-production by the CBC; allowing for rebroadcasts over the years on it, and also on PBS in the United States.

The initial broadcast alone was seen by millions of viewers.^[1]

Early life

Dewhurst was born June 3, , in Montreal, Quebec, the only child of Frances Marie (nee Woods) and Ferdinand Augustus "Fred" Dewhurst. Fred Dewhurst was the owner of a chain of confectionery stores and had been a celebrated athlete in Canada, where he had played football with the Ottawa Rough Riders.^[2] The family became naturalized as U.S.

citizens before Colleen Dewhurst's mother was a Christian Scientist, a faith Colleen also embraced.^[3]

The Dewhursts moved to Massachusetts in or , staying in the Boston area neighborhoods of Dorchester, Auburndale, and West Newton. Later they moved to New York City and then to Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.

Dewhurst attended Whitefish Bay High School for her first two years of high school, moved to Shorewood High School for her junior year, and graduated from Riverside High School in Milwaukee in About this time her parents separated. Dewhurst attended Milwaukee-Downer College for two years, then moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.^[4]

Career

One of her more significant stage roles was in the Broadway revival of O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten as Josie Hogan, for which she won a Tony Award.

She previously won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in for All the Way Home. She later played Katharina in a production of Taming of the Shrew for Joseph Papp.

Campbell scott She couldn't stop herself from taking care of people, which she then did with more care than she took care of herself. Filmography [ edit ]. Scott twice. Throughout the s and early s, Dewhurst became a frequent contender at the Tony Awards ceremonies.

She (as recounted in her posthumous obituary in collaboration with Tom Viola) wrote:

With Brooks Atkinson's blessing, our world changed overnight. Suddenly in our audience of neighbors in T-shirts and jeans appeared men in white shirts, jackets and ties and ladies in summer dresses. We were in a hit that would have a positive effect on my career, as well as Joe's, but I missed the shouting.^[5]

She played Shakespeare's Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth for Papp and years later, Gertrude in a production of Hamlet at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.

She appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode Night Fever in and with Ingrid Bergman in More Stately Mansions on Broadway in José Quintero directed her in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Mourning Becomes Electra. She appeared in Edward Albee's adaptation of Carson McCullers' Ballad of the Sad Cafe and as Martha in a Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, with Ben Gazzara which Albee directed.

She appeared in as Joanne Novak in the episode "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted House" in the medical drama The Eleventh Hour, starring Wendell Corey and Jack Ging. Dewhurst appeared opposite her then husband, Scott, in a television adaptation of Arthur Miller's The Price, on Hallmark Hall of Fame, and an anthology series.

There is another television recording of them together when she played Elizabeth Proctor to the unfaithful John in Miller's The Crucible (with Tuesday Weld). In , Woody Allen cast her in his film Annie Hall as Annie's mother.

In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'.

This title was not due to my brilliance, but, rather, because most of the plays I was in closed after a run of anywhere from one night to two weeks. I would then move immediately into another."^[5]

In she played a madam, Mrs. Kate Collingwood, in The Cowboys (), which starred John Wayne. Dewhurst also appeared with Wayne in the film McQ.

She was the first actress to share a love scene with Wayne in bed. In , she played the role of Marilla Cuthbert in Kevin Sullivan's adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables and reprised the role in 's Anne of Avonlea (also known as Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel) and in several episodes of Kevin Sullivan's Road to Avonlea.

Dewhurst was on hiatus from Road to Avonlea when she died in Sullivan Productions was unaware she was terminally ill, so her portrayal of Marilla ended posthumously. This was accomplished by shooting new scenes with actress Patricia Hamilton acting as a body double for Dewhurst and by recycling parts of scenes from Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea, and using Dewhurst's death scene as Hepzibah in Sullivan's production of Lantern Hill.

The latter was a television film based on L.M. Montgomery's Jane of Lantern Hill.

During and , she appeared in a supporting role on the television series Murphy Brown playing Avery Brown, the feisty mother of Candice Bergen's title character; this role earned her two Emmy Awards, the second being awarded posthumously.

Dewhurst won a total of two Tony Awards and four Emmy Awards for her stage and television work. Season 4, Episode 6 entitled "Full Circle" was the Murphy Brown episode filmed shortly after her death and dedicated to her memory.

In a review of Dewhurst's final film role as Ruth in Bed and Breakfast (), Emanuel Levy wrote “Bed and Breakfast is the kind of small, intimate picture that actors revere.

The stunningly sensual Dewhurst, in one of her last screen roles, dominates every scene she is in, making the lusty and down-to-earth Ruth at once credible and enchanting.“

Dewhurst was president of the Actors' Equity Association from until her death. She was the first national president to die in the office.

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Personal life and final years

Colleen Dewhurst was married to James Vickery from to She married and divorced George C. Scott twice. They had two sons, Alexander Scott and actor Campbell Scott; she co-starred with Campbell in Dying Young (), one of her last film roles as she died in August ^{[citation needed]}

During the last years of her life she lived on a farm in South Salem, New York, with her partner Ken Marsolais.

They also had a summer home on Prince Edward Island, Canada.^{[citation needed]}

Maureen Stapleton wrote about Dewhurst:

Colleen looked like a warrior, so people assumed she was the earth mother. But in real life Colleen was not to be let out without a keeper. She couldn't stop herself from taking care of people, which she then did with more care than she took care of herself.

Her generosity of spirit was overwhelming and her smile so dazzling that you couldn't pull the&#; reins in on her even if you desperately wanted to and knew damn well that somebody should.^[5]

Dewhurst's Christian Science beliefs^[6] led to her refusal to accept any kind of surgical treatment.

She died of cervical cancer at the age 67 at her South Salem home in She was cremated and her ashes were given to family and friends; no public service was planned.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Films and television films

Television work (excluding television films)

Theatre

Awards and nominations

American Theater Hall of Fame

CableACE Awards

Drama Desk Awards

Gemini Awards

Genie Awards

Obie Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

Sarah Siddons Awards

Stinkers Bad Movie Awards

Theatre World Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
	—	Children of Darkness	Won	[20]

Tony Awards

Viewers for Quality Television Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
	Specialty Player	Murphy Brown	Nominated

Western Heritage Awards

Bibliography

References

External links