American actress and theater director
Gretchen Corbett
|
---|
Corbett in 1975
|
Born
| Gretchen Hoyt Corbett
(
1945-08-13
)
August 13, 1945
(age 78)
[a]
|
---|
Occupations
| |
---|
Years active
| 1967?present
|
---|
Partner
| Robin Gammell
|
---|
Children
| Winslow Corbett
|
---|
Relatives
| |
---|
Gretchen Hoyt Corbett
(born August 13, 1945
[a]
[4]
) is an American actress and theater director. She is primarily known for her roles in television, particularly as attorney Beth Davenport on the
NBC
series
The Rockford Files
, but has also had a prolific career as a stage actress on
Broadway
as well as in regional theater.
A native of
Oregon
and the great-great-granddaughter of Oregon
U.S. Senator
Henry W. Corbett
, she spent her early life in
Camp Sherman
and
Portland
, where she graduated from the
Catlin Gabel School
. Corbett studied drama at
Carnegie Mellon University
before making her stage debut in a production of
Othello
at the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
. She subsequently appeared in lead roles on Broadway in
After the Rain
(1967) and
Forty Carats
(1968), opposite
Julie Harris
. She also starred off-Broadway in the title role of
Iphigenia in Aulis
(1968), and as Joan la Pucelle in Shakespeare's
Henry VI
, staged at
Central Park
's
Delacorte Theater
in 1970. She starred as
Jeanne d'Arc
in
The Survival of St. Joan
between 1970 and 1971.
She made her feature film debut in the comedy
Out of It
(1969), followed by a supporting role in the
cult
horror film
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
(1971). In 1972, Corbett signed a contract with
Universal Studios
, and appeared in numerous television films and series for the studio, while simultaneously working in
summer stock
theater on the East Coast. Between 1974 and 1978, she starred as the idealistic attorney Beth Davenport on the
NBC
series
The Rockford Files
, opposite
James Garner
. Corbett subsequently starred in the horror film
Jaws of Satan
(1981), and the drama
Million Dollar Infield
(1982), directed by
Hal Cooper
.
For the majority of the 1980s, Corbett appeared in guest-starring roles on numerous television series, including
Cheers
(1983) and
Magnum, P.I.
(1981?1983), and starred in the short-lived
Otherworld
(1985). In 1988, she starred in the original workshop stage production of
The Heidi Chronicles
for the
Seattle Repertory Theatre
. She later had minor parts in the films
Without Evidence
(1995) and
A Change of Heart
(1998). Since the 2000s, Corbett has served as the artistic director of the Portland-based Haven Project, a theater project serving underprivileged children, and appeared in numerous stage productions at the
Portland Center Stage
as well as the city's Third Rail Repertory. She returned to television with a recurring character on the
IFC
series
Portlandia
in 2013, and had a guest-starring role on the
Hulu
series
Shrill
in 2019.
1945?1965: Early life
[
edit
]
Gretchen Hoyt Corbett was born August 13, 1945. Corbett's year of birth is variously given as 1947
[1]
[2]
and 1945.
[4]
in
Portland, Oregon
[b]
to Henry Ladd Corbett, Jr. and Katherine Minahen (nee Coney) "Kay" Corbett. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Oregon pioneer, businessman, and Senator
Henry Winslow Corbett
,
[8]
and granddaughter of
Henry Ladd Corbett
, a Portland civic leader, businessman, and politician. The community of
Corbett, Oregon
is named for her great-great-grandfather.
[9]
Through her paternal ancestry, she is of
English
descent, with ancestors originating from
Essex
,
Norfolk
, and
Suffolk
.
[10]
Corbett has two brothers and one sister.
[6]
Corbett's father, tired of the city, relocated the family to rural
Camp Sherman, Oregon
,
[11]
where she spent her early life.
[7]
"I rode my horse to school every day, four miles each way," she recalled in a 1985 interview. "I hated it then, but, in retrospect, it was a marvelous life and a great way to grow up."
[7]
The family eventually returned to Portland in her later childhood, where her mother worked as an administrator at the
University of Portland
.
[6]
At age seven, Corbett was inspired to become an actress after attending the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
.
[5]
Corbett attended the
Catlin Gabel School
in Portland, and as a teenager apprenticed with the Carnival Theatre camp at the
University of Oregon
.
[12]
She studied drama at Pittsburgh's
Carnegie Tech
(before its merger with the
Mellon Institute of Industrial Research
to form
Carnegie Mellon University
in 1967), but dropped out after her first year of studies to begin working as a full-time actress.
[5]
Career
[
edit
]
1966?1972: Stage and early films
[
edit
]
Corbett made her stage debut as
Desdemona
in a production of
Othello
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1966.
[13]
She subsequently appeared in productions with the
New Orleans
Repertory Theater in 1967.
[14]
This same year, she was cast as Sonya Banks in the
Broadway
production of
After the Rain
with
Alec McCowen
.
[15]
In 1968, she appeared in
The Bench
at the
Gramercy Arts Theatre
, and in the title role in
Iphigenia in Aulis
at the
Circle in the Square Theatre
, opposite
Irene Papas
.
[16]
She subsequently co-starred with
Julie Harris
in the Broadway production of
Forty Carats
, staged at the
Morosco Theatre
.
[17]
One of Corbett's first television roles was on ABC's short-lived police detective show,
N.Y.P.D.
, in 1968; in the episode, "The Case of the Shady Lady", Corbett played a dancer who tries to make her husband's suicide into a murder for the insurance money.
[18]
Corbett made her feature film debut in the comedy
Out of It
(1969), co-starring with
Jon Voight
.
[19]
She then appeared in the cult horror film
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
(1971).
[20]
Meanwhile, between 1970 and 1971, Corbett starred as
Jeanne d'Arc
in a New York production of
The Survival of St. Joan
.
[15]
She also appeared in
The Government Inspector
with
David Dukes
and
John Glover
at The Phoenix Theatre.
1973?1980:
The Rockford Files
; television
[
edit
]
Corbett moved to
Los Angeles
under contract to
Universal Studios
, as one of the last
contract players
. Her first role under contract was in (Conspiracy of Fear) the ninth episode of
Kojak
(1973).
[2]
The same year, she appeared in stage productions of
Tennessee Williams
's
Summer and Smoke
, and Shakespeare's
As You Like It
(portraying
Rosalind
), held at
Drew University
in New Jersey.
[21]
[22]
Under her Universal contract, Corbett guest-starred in numerous network series in 1974, including
Columbo
,
Gunsmoke
, and
Banacek
.
[23]
In 1974, Corbett joined the cast of NBC's
The Rockford Files
where she played Beth Davenport,
[24]
the beleaguered lawyer and sometimes lover of series lead
Jim Rockford
, a private investigator portrayed by
James Garner
. She appears in 33 episodes (including one uncredited voice-over).
[
citation needed
]
During Christmas 1974, Corbett survived a house fire at her residence in
Hollywood, California
, which destroyed nearly all of her belongings and left her with minor injuries.
[25]
[26]
[27]
After completing the first season of
The Rockford Files
, Corbett starred in a televised production of the play
Knuckle
(1975), part of
PBS
's
Hollywood Television Theater
, as well as guest-starring on the series
Hawaii Five-O
and
McMillan & Wife
.
[23]
On September 13, 1975 she appeared in the television series
Emergency!
as flight stewardess Sue Hickman who started a relationship with Gage after an in flight emergency brought the two together. She also appeared in
Marcus Welby, M.D.
, playing the stepmother of a young boy molested by his teacher.
Corbett appeared as Penny in another PBS televised play,
George Kelly
's
The Fatal Weakness
, opposite
Eva Marie Saint
and
Dennis Dugan
.
[29]
Corbett left
The Rockford Files
at the end of the fourth season over a dispute between the show's producers and Universal, who owned Corbett's contract as a contract player.
1981?present: Film, television and theater
[
edit
]
Corbett starred in the horror film
Jaws of Satan
(1981), playing a doctor implicated in a preacher's battle with a snake which is
Satan
incarnate.
[2]
In 1982, she starred as Roxane in a production of
The Carome Brothers' Italian Food Products Corp.'s Annual Pasta Pageant
at the
Long Wharf Theatre
in
New Haven, Connecticut
.
[30]
In 1985, she starred in the science fiction series
Otherworld
.
[31]
In 1988, Corbett starred in the original workshop production of
Wendy Wasserstein
's
The Heidi Chronicles
at the
Seattle Repertory Theatre
.
[32]
Corbett reprised her role of Beth Davenport in the
Rockford Files
television films of the 1990s, including
Friends and Foul Play
,
If the Frame Fits...
(both 1996) and
If It Bleeds... It Leads
(1999).
[2]
Between 2013 and 2014, Corbett appeared in a recurring guest role on the
IFC
series
Portlandia
. In 2014, she directed a production of the play
Bo-Nita
at
Portland Center Stage
.
[33]
In 2019, she appeared in the
Hulu
series
Shrill
, opposite
Luka Jones
and
Aidy Bryant
.
[34]
In late 2019, Corbett began filming the independent drama
Pig
, starring
Nicolas Cage
,
Adam Arkin
, and
Alex Wolff
. She also appeared in
Lorelei
, starring
Pablo Schreiber
and
Jena Malone
, which was released in 2021.
The Haven Project
[
edit
]
In the 2000s, Corbett served as Artistic Director of the Haven Project, a theatre project for underprivileged children in
Portland, Oregon
, a replication of New York's 52nd St. Project.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Corbett had a relationship with
Robin Gammell
. They had one child,
Winslow Corbett
.
[
citation needed
]
Filmography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Corbett's year of birth is variously given as 1947
[1]
[2]
and 1945.
- ^
a
b
Some sources state Corbett was born in
Camp Sherman, Oregon
,
[5]
though a 1985 article notes her birthplace as Portland;
[6]
another article published the same year notes that Corbett spent her early life in Camp Sherman, but was not born there.
[7]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Gretchen Corbett"
.
British Film Institute
. London. Archived from
the original
on July 12, 2019.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Gretchen Corbett Filmography"
.
AllMovie
.
Archived
from the original on July 11, 2019.
- ^
a
b
"Gretchen Corbett: Movies, TV, and Bio"
.
www.amazon.com
. Retrieved
11 September
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
Martin, Bob (June 1, 1975).
"Gretchen Corbett keeps busy, busy, busy in Hollywood"
.
Independent Press-Telegram
. Long Beach, California. p. 79 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
a
b
c
Blinn, Johna (February 27, 1985).
"Celebrity cookbook"
.
Philadelphia Daily News
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p. 96 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
a
b
c
Kleiner, Dick (March 11, 1985).
"Gretchen Corbett Tries Sci-Fi Series Star Spot"
.
The Daily Herald
. Provo, Utah. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
The Oregonian
, Friday, February 2, 2001 (Katherine C. Corbett obituary).
- ^
McArthur, Lewis A.
;
McArthur, Lewis L.
(2003) [1928].
Oregon Geographic Names
(7th ed.). Portland, Oregon:
Oregon Historical Society
Press.
ISBN
978-0875952772
.
- ^
Sherman, Thomas Townsend (1920).
Sherman Genealogy Including Families of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, England
. London: T. A. Wright. p.
394
.
- ^
Kleiner, Dick (March 3, 1985).
"Stepfanie Kramer drives"
.
Manitowoc Herald-Times
. Manitowoc, Wisconsin. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Five Summer Shows Announced"
.
The Register-Guard
. Eugene, Oregon. April 22, 1962. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
English, Jeryme (July 26, 1966).
"Around Town..."
Statesman Journal
. Salem, Oregon. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Fain, Nathan (February 15, 1967).
"Intermission"
.
The Times
. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
a
b
"Gretchen Corbett"
.
Broadway World
. Archived from
the original
on July 11, 2019.
- ^
"
'Lives' Delayed, Nype Joins Cast"
.
New York Daily News
. May 7, 1968. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"
Forty Carats
"
.
Broadway World
. Archived from
the original
on October 27, 2018.
- ^
"NYPD, 9:30p.m."
Los Angeles Times
. November 19, 1968. p. 77 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Gretchen Corbett Filmography"
.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
.
American Film Institute
.
Archived
from the original on July 11, 2019
. Retrieved
July 11,
2019
.
- ^
Greenspun, Roger (August 28, 1971).
"Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) Screen: Hippie Vampire:' Let's Scare Jessica to Death' Arrives"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Lambert, Virginia (July 6, 1973).
"A tearfully good show"
.
The Record
. Hackensack, New Jersey – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Berthold, Walt (July 19, 1973).
"Shakespeare As We Like It"
.
Madison-Florham Park Eagle
. Madison, New Jersey. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
a
b
"PBS Theatre Cracks a 'Knuckle'
"
.
The News
. Paterson, New Jersey. May 31, 1975. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Hal Erickson
(2013).
"Gretchen Corbett"
. Movies & TV Dept.
The New York Times
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-10-03.
- ^
Scott, Vernon (July 9, 1975).
"Gretchen Corbett: A new home"
.
The Santa Fe New Mexican
. Santa Fe, New Mexico. p. A11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Gretchen Corbett survived Christmas 1974 house fire"
.
The Buffalo News
. 19 July 1975. p. 68.
- ^
"Gretchen Corbett was a bachelorette"
.
The Indianapolis Star
. 3 August 1975. p. 195.
- ^
Smith, Cecil (September 30, 1976).
"
'The Fatal Weakness' on PBS"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Los Angeles, California. p. 78 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Johnson, Malcolm L. (April 23, 1982).
"
'Pasta' Has Smell of Sweet Success"
.
Hartford Courant
. Hartford, Connecticut. p. 67 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Gretchen Corbett Credits"
.
TV Guide
. Retrieved
July 12,
2019
.
- ^
Wasserstein, Wendy
(1990).
The Heidi Chronicles
. New Haven, Connecticut: Dramatists Play Service, Inc. p.
4
.
ISBN
978-0-822-20510-4
.
- ^
Hodde, R.J. (January 24, 2014).
"Spotlight: "Bo-Nita" Director Gretchen Corbett"
.
Portland Center Stage
. Archived from
the original
on March 30, 2017.
- ^
Turnquist, Kristi (April 16, 2019).
"What Hulu's 'Shrill' says about Portland: We have savvy strippers, podcasting man-babies and sex-minded singles"
.
The Oregonian
.
Archived
from the original on July 11, 2019
. Retrieved
July 11,
2019
.
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|