Bel Geddes, Barbara (1922–2005)

views updated

Bel Geddes, Barbara (1922–2005)

American actress. Born in New York, NY, Oct 31, 1922; died Aug 8, 2005, at her home in Northeast Harbor, Maine; dau. of Norman Bel Geddes (stage designer, producer, and theater architect) and Helen Belle (Sneider) Bel Geddes; m. Carl Schreuer (engineer), Jan 1944 (div. 1951); m. Windsor Lewis (producer and director); children: (1st m.) daughter; (2nd m.) daughter.

Made acting debut as a walk-on in School for Scandal at Clinton Playhouse in Connecticut (1940); made NY debut in Out of the Frying Pan (1941); won New York Drama Critics Award for performance as Genevra Langdon in Deep Are the Roots (1945); made film debut in The Long Night (1947); nominated for Best Supporting Actress for film I Remember Mama (1948); career stalled when she was made to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings (1950s); turned to live tv, appearing in dramas for "Studio One," "Schlitz Playhouse" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"; had Broadway success as Patty O'Neill in The Moon is Blue (1951), created role of Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and triumphed in Jean Kerr's Mary, Mary (1961); sidelined with cancer (1971–73), returned to the stage in Finishing Touches (1973); appeared as Miss Ellie Ewing on tv series "Dallas" (1978–90); other films include Panic in the Streets (1950), Vertigo (1958), The Five Pennies (1959), Five Branded Women (1959), By Love Possessed (1961) and Summertree (1971).

See also Women in World History.

More From encyclopedia.com