Ladies Of Character Character Actresses
Eileen Heckart
The Bad Seed/ Hortense Daigle
Bus Stop/ Vera
Butterflies Are Free/ Mrs. Baker
Heartbreak Ridge/ Little Mary
Per Quinlan's Character Stars:
Thin faced American actress with dark, tautly curly hair. When she arrived in Hollywood in 1956, after success on Broadway, Heckart set off to become a regular part of the cinema scene. But soon she returned to stage work., reappearing in 1970's films, only long enough to snatch an Oscar for Butterflies Are Free, having already bagged an Emmy in 1967 for Win Me A Place At Forest Lawn. Most of her characters were only happy when haranguing their fellows. Also nominated for an Academy Award for The Bad Seed.
She was born Anna Eileen Herbert at Columbus, OH in 1919. She was born out of wedlock and her mother married Leo Herbert who was not her father but it did away with the stain of illegitimacy.
However, she received her last name when she was adopted by her maternal grandmothers wealthy second husband and was raised by the grandparents. She also had two stepsisters.
Ms. Heckart graduated from Ohio State University with a B A in Drama.
She began her career on Broadway as an assistant stage manager and an understudy for the play The Voice Of The Turtle. She continued as a Broadway actress and appeared in such performances as Picnic, A View From The Bridge, Butterflies Are Free, The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs, A Family Affair and Barefoot In The Park among others.
Her nominations for Broadway's Tony Award came in the plays Butterflies Are Free, Invitation To A March, and The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs.
In 2000, at age 81, Ms. Heckart appeared in the off Broadway production of The Waverly Gallery, receiving more awards for a single performance in a single season than any actress in theater history. The awards included The Drama Desk Award, The Lucille Lortel Award, The Drama League Award and The Outer Critics Circle Award.
Ms. Heckart made her film debut in 1956 in the film Miracle In The Rain.
She won an Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress in 1972 for her performance in the film Butterflies Are Free. She was also nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress in 1956 for her performance of Mrs. Daigle in The Bad Seed.
Some of the film roles of Eileen Heckart were:
Miracle In The Rain (1956) as Grace Ullman
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) as Ma Barbella
Bus Stop (1956) as Vera
The Bad Seed (1956) as Hortense Daigle
The Little Foxes (1956-TV) as Birdie
Hot Spell (1958) as Alma's Friend
A Doll's House (1959-TV) as Kristine Lind
Heller In Pink Tights (1960) as Mrs. Lorna Hathaway
My Six Loves (1963) as Ethel
Up The Down Staircase (1967) as Henrietta Pastorfield
No Way To Treat A Lady (1968) as Mrs. Brummel
The Tree (1969) as Sally Dunning
All The Way Home (1971-TV) as Aunt Hannah Lynch
Butterflies Are Free (1972) as Mrs. Baker
The Victim (1972-TV) as Mrs. Harkes
Wedding Band (1974) as Herman's Mother
Zandy's Bride (1974) as Ma Allan
The Hiding Place (1975) as Katje
Burnt Offerings (1976) as Roz Allerdyce
Sunshine Christmas (1977-TV) as Bertha Hayden
Suddenly, Love (1978) as Mrs. Malloy
The Honeymooners (1978) as Mrs. Gibson - Alice's Mother
3 By Cheever (1979-TV Miniseries) as Rosemary
Backstairs At The White House (1979-TV Miniseries) as Eleanor Roosevelt
White Mama (1980-TV) as Three Bag Lady
F D R: The Last Year (1980-TV) as Eleanor Roosevelt
The Big Black Pill (1981-TV) as Sister Clara
Games Mother Never Taught You (1982-TV) as Martha Brewster
The Recovery Room (1985-TV) as Mrs. Griffin
Seize The Day (1986) as Funeral Woman #1
Hearttbreak Ridge (1986) as Little Mary
Morning Maggie (1987-TV) as Aunt Esther Handlesman
Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story (1993-TV) as Shelley
Breathing Lessons (1994-TV) as Mabel
Ultimate Betrayal (1994-TV) as Sarah McNeil
The First Wives Club (1996) as Catherine McDuggan
Ms. Heckart was active on television as well as films and stage appearing in such programs as The Ford Television Hour, Robert Montgomery Presents, Lux Video Theater, The Web, The Big Story,,Out There, Suspense, Justice, Campbell Summer Sound Stage, The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Goodyear Playhouse, The Alcoa Hour, Studio One In Hollywood, Kraft Theater, Playhouse 90, Play Of The Week, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dr. Kildare, Naked City, Ben Casey, The Defenders, The FBI, Felony Squad, The Fugitive, CBS Playhouse, Gunsmoke, The Streets Of San Francisco, Banyon, Love Story, Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-O, Rhoda, Switch, Mary Tyler Moore, Alice, Little House On The Prairie, Out Of The Blue, Trauma Center, Trapper John MD, Partners In Crime, Highway To Heaven, Nine To Five, Tales From The Darkside, Annie McGuire, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, Murder One, Home Improvement and Cybill among others.
Ms. Heckart was married for 55 years to John Harrison Yankee, Jr until his death in 1997. The couple had a son named Luke.
Eileen Heckart passed away in 2001 from lung cancer.
I enjoyed this actress in the films Butterflies Are Free, The Bad Seed, Heartbreak Ridge, Somebody Up There Likes Me, No Way To Treat A Lady, Burnt Offerings and The First Wives Club.
Louie The Movie Buff
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