Irish actress (1913?2005)
Geraldine Fitzgerald
|
---|
Fitzgerald in 1956
|
Born
| Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald
(
1913-11-24
)
November 24, 1913
|
---|
Died
| July 17, 2005
(2005-07-17)
(aged 91)
|
---|
Resting place
| Woodlawn Cemetery
in
The Bronx
, New York, U.S.
|
---|
Occupation
| Actress
|
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Years active
| 1932?1991
|
---|
Spouses
|
Edward Lindsay-Hogg
(
m.
1936;
div.
1946)
(
m.
1946; died 1994)
|
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Children
| 2, including
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
|
---|
Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald
(November 24, 1913 ? July 17, 2005)
[1]
was an Irish stage, film, and television actress. She was an
Academy Award
and
Tony Award
nominee, and an
Emmy Award
winner. She was a member of the
American Theater Hall of Fame
[2]
and, in 2020, was listed at number 30 on
The Irish Times
list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Fitzgerald was born in
Greystones
,
County Wicklow
,
[4]
south of
Dublin
, the daughter of Edith Catherine (
nee
Richards) and Edward Martin FitzGerald, who was a lawyer.
[5]
[6]
Her father was
Roman Catholic
and her mother was
Protestant
, but converted to Catholicism.
[
citation needed
]
She studied painting at the Dublin School of Art. Inspired by her aunt, actress
Shelah Richards
, Fitzgerald began her acting career in 1932 at Dublin's
Gate Theatre
. After two seasons in Dublin, she moved to
London
,
[7]
: 12
where she found success in British films including
The Mill on the Floss
,
Turn of the Tide
, and
Cafe Mascot
.
[5]
Career
[
edit
]
Fitzgerald's success led her to New York and the
Broadway stage
in 1938. She made her American debut opposite
Orson Welles
in the
Mercury Theatre
production of
Heartbreak House
.
Hollywood
producer
Hal B. Wallis
saw her in this production and subsequently signed her to a contract with
Warner Bros.
[8]
She had two significant successes in 1939: a role in the
Bette Davis
film
Dark Victory
,
[9]
and an
Academy Award
nomination
for her supporting performance as
Isabella Linton
in
William Wyler
's
Wuthering Heights
.
[5]
She then appeared in
Shining Victory
(1941),
The Gay Sisters
(1942), and
Watch on the Rhine
(1943) for Warner Bros., and
Wilson
(1944) for
20th Century Fox
, but her career was hampered by her frequent clashes with studio management. She lost the role of Brigid O'Shaughnessy, villainess in
The Maltese Falcon
(1941), after clashes with executive
Jack L. Warner
. Although she continued to work throughout the 1940s, co-starring with
John Garfield
in the Warner Bros. crime drama
Nobody Lives Forever
(1946), the quality of her roles began to diminish and her career lost momentum.
[
citation needed
]
In 1946, shortly after completing work on
Three Strangers
, she left Hollywood to return to
New York City
, where she married her second husband,
Stuart Scheftel
, a grandson of
Isidor Straus
. She returned to Britain to film
So Evil My Love
(1948), receiving strong reviews for her performance as an
alcoholic
adultress
, and
The Late Edwina Black
(1951), before returning to the United States. She became a
naturalized United States citizen
on April 18, 1955.
[10]
The 1950s provided her with few opportunities in film, but during the 1960s she asserted herself as a
character actor
and her career enjoyed a revival. Among her successful films of this period were
Ten North Frederick
(1958),
The Pawnbroker
(1964), and
Rachel, Rachel
(1968). Her later films included
The Mango Tree
(1977), for which she received an
Australian Film Institute
Best Actress nomination, and
Harry and Tonto
(1974), in a scene opposite
Art Carney
. In the comedy
Arthur
(1981), she portrayed
Dudley Moore
's wealthy and eccentric grandmother, even though she was only 22 years older than Moore. In 1983, she portrayed
Rose Kennedy
in the
miniseries
Kennedy
with
Martin Sheen
, and co-starred as
Joanne Woodward
's mother in the 1985 drama
Do You Remember Love
. Fitzgerald appeared in the 1983
Rodney Dangerfield
comedy
Easy Money
, the horror film
Poltergeist II: The Other Side
(1986), and the comedy
Arthur 2: On the Rocks
(1988). In 1986, she starred alongside
Tuesday Weld
and
River Phoenix
in
Circle of Violence
, a
television film
about
elder abuse
.
Fitzgerald returned to stage acting, and won acclaim for her performance in the 1971 revival of
Long Day's Journey Into Night
. In 1976, she performed as a
cabaret
singer with the show
Streetsongs,
which played three successful runs on Broadway and was the subject of a
PBS
television special
. She recorded an album of the show for Harbinger Records, produced by Bill Rudman and
Ken Bloom
and distributed by
Ben Bagley
's
Painted Smiles
label.
[11]
She also achieved success as a theatre director; in 1982, she became one of the first women to receive a
Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play
for a production of
Mass Appeal
.
[12]
While in New York, Fitzgerald collaborated with
playwright
and
Franciscan brother
Jonathan Ringkamp
to found the Everyman Theater of
Brooklyn
, a
street theater
company. The company performed throughout the city, including at
Ethical Culture
and
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
, both in
Manhattan
. The company first performed at La MaMa in September 1972, with a production called
Everyman at La MaMa.
[13]
They then performed
The Francis-Day
, a
musical
about
Francis of Assisi
, at La MaMa in July 1973.
[14]
She appeared on television, in such series as
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
,
Robert Montgomery Presents
,
Naked City
,
St. Elsewhere
,
The Golden Girls
, and
Cagney and Lacey
. She had a regular role in the short-lived 1965
CBS
serial
Our Private World
. In 1987, she played a title role in the
television pilot
Mabel and Max
, produced by
Barbra Streisand
. She received an
Emmy Award
nomination for a guest role playing Anna in
The Golden Girls
Mother's Day episode in 1988, and played a different character in the episode "Not Another Monday". She won a
Daytime Emmy Award
as best actress for her appearance in the
NBC Special Treat
episode "Rodeo Red and the Runaways".
On February 8, 1960, Fitzgerald was recognized with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
, at 6353 Hollywood Boulevard, for her contributions to motion pictures.
[15]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Fitzgerald married
Sir Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 4th Bt.
, in London on November 18, 1936. She was granted a divorce in
Reno
on August 30, 1946, after three years of separation.
[16]
She had one son, director
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
, by her first marriage, and a daughter, Susan Scheftel, by her second marriage
[5]
to American businessman Stuart Straus Scheftel,
[5]
grandson of
Ida
and
Isidor Straus
.
[17]
Her son's resemblance to
Orson Welles
, with whom she worked and was linked romantically in the late 1930s, led to rumors that Welles was his
biological father
. Fitzgerald never confirmed this to her son, but in his 2011 autobiography Lindsay-Hogg wrote that this question was resolved by his mother's close friend
Gloria Vanderbilt
, who had written that Fitzgerald told her that Welles was his father.
[18]
[19]
A 2015 biography of Welles by
Patrick McGilligan
argues that Welles's paternity is unlikely; Fitzgerald left the United States for Ireland in late May 1939, and her son, born early May 1940, was conceived before her return to the U.S. in late October. Welles did not travel overseas during that period.
[20]
English actress
Tara Fitzgerald
is Fitzgerald's great-niece.
[8]
[21]
Death
[
edit
]
Fitzgerald died at age 91 in New York City, following a long battle with
Alzheimer's disease
.
[9]
She is buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery
, in
The Bronx
, next to her husband, Stuart Straus Scheftel.
[22]
[23]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1951?1955
|
Robert Montgomery Presents
|
Elizabeth
|
Season 3 Episode 3: "To Walk the Night" (1951)
Season 3 Episode 36: "Sheppey" (1952)
Season 4 Episode 35: "Summer Tempest" (1953)
Season 5 Episode 35: "No Need of Favor" (1954)
Season 6 Episode 28: "The Iron Cobweb" (1955) as Elizabeth
Season 7 Episode 11: "Isobel" (1955)
|
1960
|
Shirley Temple's Storybook
|
Aunt Rosa
|
Season 2 Episode 13: "The Black Sheep"
|
1961
|
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
|
Elizabeth Burton
|
Season 6 Episode 24: "A Woman's Help"
|
1964
|
The Nurses
|
Nurse Carrie Bruno
|
Season 2 Episode 23: "For the Mice and the Rabbits"
|
1965
|
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
|
Agatha Tomlin
|
Season 3 Episode 24: "Power of Attorney"
|
1970
|
The Best of Everything
|
Violet Jordan
|
114 episodes
|
1973
|
Me
|
Ma
|
TV movie (aka
Untold Damage
)
|
1975
|
NBC Special Treat
|
Ella McCune
|
Daytime Emmy Awards
for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming
|
1977
|
The Quinns
|
Peggy Quinn
|
TV movie
|
Yesterday's Child
|
Emma Talbot
|
TV movie
|
1983
|
Kennedy
|
Rose Kennedy
|
TV Miniseries
|
1985
|
Do You Remember Love
|
Lorraine Wyatt
|
TV movie
|
1986
|
Circle of Violence: A Family Drama
|
Charlotte Kessling
|
TV movie
|
1988?1989
|
The Golden Girls
|
Anna / Martha
|
Season 3 Episode 25: "Mothers' Day" (1988) (
Nominated
?
Primetime Emmy Awards
for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy Series)
Season 5 Episode 7: "Not Another Monday"
|
1991
|
Bump in the Night
|
Mrs. Beauchamps
|
TV movie, (final film role)
|
Radio appearances
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Geraldine Fitzgerald - Gifted actor who re-emerged as a stage director when her film fame faded"
.
The Guardian
. July 20, 2005.
- ^
"Members"
.
Theater Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
August 15,
2015
.
- ^
Clarke, Donald; Brady, Tara (June 13, 2020).
"The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time ?in order"
.
The Irish Times
.
Dublin
. Retrieved
January 3,
2021
.
- ^
"Geraldine Fitzgerald"
.
Biography
. Archived from
the original
on May 22, 2013
. Retrieved
August 15,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Adams, Bernard (July 19, 2005).
"Geraldine Fitzgerald: Independent-minded actress"
.
The Independent
.
London
. Retrieved
August 15,
2015
.
- ^
"Geraldine Fitzgerald"
.
The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal
.
99
. J. Falconer: 89. May 29, 1966 – via Google Books.
- ^
"Heartbreak House"
.
Playbill
. May 2, 1938
. Retrieved
September 2,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Lyman, Rick (July 19, 2005).
"Geraldine Fitzgerald, 91, Star of Stage and Film, Dies"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 26,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Geraldine Fitzgerald"
.
The Daily Telegraph
.
London
. Retrieved
August 15,
2015
.
- ^
"Grealdine Fitzgerald Scheftel naturalization papers"
.
Ancestry.com
. Retrieved
November 9,
2015
.
- ^
"Streetsongs: Geraldine Fitzgerald"
.
CastAlbums
. Retrieved
January 3,
2021
.
- ^
"Geraldine Fitzgerald"
.
Tony Awards
. Archived from
the original
on August 31, 2016
. Retrieved
August 15,
2015
.
- ^
La MaMa Archives Digital Collections.
"Production:
Everyman at La MaMa
(1972)". Accessed May 14, 2018.
- ^
La MaMa Archives Digital Collections.
"Production:
Francis-Day, The
(1973)". Accessed May 14, 2018.
- ^
"Geraldine Fitzgerald"
.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
. Retrieved
August 15,
2015
.
- ^
"Geraldine Fitzgerald Divorced"
.
The New York Times
. August 31, 1946
. Retrieved
September 2,
2015
.
- ^
Lyons, Richard D. (January 21, 1994).
"Stuart Scheftel, 83; Executive Took Part In Many Civic Posts"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Witchel, Alex (September 30, 2011).
"Are You My Father, Orson Welles?"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Lindsay-Hogg, Michael
(2011).
Luck and Circumstance: A Coming of Age in Hollywood, New York and Points Beyond
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp.
265?267
.
ISBN
978-0-307-59468-6
.
- ^
McGilligan, Patrick
(2015).
Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane
. New York:
Harper
. p. 602.
ISBN
978-0-06-211248-4
.
- ^
"Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish Actress and Director Who Acted in O'Neill and Directed Mass Appeal, Dead at 91"
.
Playbill
. July 19, 2005
. Retrieved
August 15,
2015
.
- ^
Wilson, Scott (2016).
Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed
. McFarland. pp. 244?245.
ISBN
978-0-7864-7992-4
. Retrieved
September 15,
2023
.
- ^
Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016).
Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons
(3rd ed.). McFarland.
ISBN
978-1-4766-2599-7
– via Google Books.
- ^
"Johnny Presents"
.
Harrisburg Telegraph
. December 5, 1941. p. 19
. Retrieved
July 26,
2015
– via
Newspapers.com
.
External links
[
edit
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1970s
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1980s
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