Eleanor Parker

Eleanor Jean Parker (June 26, 1922 – December 9, 2013) was an American actress who starred in some 80 movies and television series  An actor of notable versatility, she was called Woman of a Thousand Faces, the title of her biography by Doug McClelland.

Spouses

Fred Losee (1943–1944; divorced)
Bert E. Friedlob (1946–1953; divorced; 3 children)
Paul Clemens (1954–1965; divorced; 1 child)
Raymond N. Hirsch (1966–2001; his death)

Early life

Eleanor Jean Parker was born in Cedarville, Ohio. While she was still a child, she moved with her family to East Cleveland, Ohio, and attended public schools. She was a graduate of Shaw High School. After high school, at the age of 18, she was signed by Warner Brothers in 1941. She was cast that year in the film They Died with Their Boots On, but her scenes were cut. Her actual film debut was as Nurse Ryan in Soldiers in White in 1942.

Career

 By 1946, Parker had starred in Between Two Worlds, Hollywood Canteen, Pride of the Marines, Never Say Goodbye, and played the key role of Mildred Rogers in the remake of Of Human Bondage. She broke the champagne bottle on the nose of the California Zephyr train, to mark its inaugural journey from San Franciscoon March 19, 1949.

Parker was nominated three times as Best Actress for the Academy Award. In 1950, she was nominated for Caged,[5] in which she played a prison inmate. For this role, she won the 1950 Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. She was then nominated for the Oscarin 1951 for her performance as Mary McLeod, the woman who doesn't understand the position of her unstable detective husband (played by Kirk Douglas) in Detective Story and again in 1955 for her portrayal of opera singer Marjorie Lawrence in the Oscar-winning biopic Interrupted Melody. She followedDetective Story with her portrayal of an actress in love with a swashbuckling nobleman (played by Stewart Granger) inScaramouche. Parker then starred with Charlton Heston as a 1900s mail-order bride in The Naked Jungle, directed by George Pal.

Also in 1952, Parker appeared in the film adaptation of the National Book Award-winner The Man with the Golden Arm, directed by Otto Preminger. She played Zosch, the supposedly wheelchair-bound wife of heroin-addicted, would-be jazz drummer Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra). In 1956, she was billed above the title with Clark Gable for the Raoul Walsh-directed Western comedyThe King and Four Queens. A year later, she starred in another W. Somerset Maugham novel, a remake of The Painted Veil in the role originated by Greta Garbo, released as The Seventh Sin. She also appeared in Home from the Hill, A Hole in the Head with Frank Sinatra, and Return to Peyton Place.

She was an adept comedienne. In the 1951 Millionaire for Christy, she played a secretary sent to notify a man of his inheritance, co-starring with Fred MacMurray.

Parker's best-known screen role came when she co-starred with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer as Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the 1965 Oscar-winning musical The Sound Of Music.

In 1966, she played an alcoholic in Warning Shot, a talent scout in The Oscar, and a rich alcoholic in An American Dream. From the late '60s, television would occupy more of her energies.

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6340 Hollywood Blvd.

In 1963, Parker appeared in the NBC medical drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour in the episode "Why Am I Grown So Cold?", for which she was nominated for anEmmy Award as Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. In 1964, she appeared in the episode "A Land More Cruel" on the ABC drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point. In 1968, she portrayed a spy in How to Steal the World—a film originally shown as a two-part episode on NBC's The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

In 1969-70, Parker starred in the television series Bracken's World, for which she was nominated for a 1970 Golden Globe Award as Best TV Actress - Drama. She also appeared in the Ghost Story episode "Half a Death" (1973), a suspense-thriller about a wealthy woman reconciling the lives of her two daughters.

Parker starred in a number of theatrical productions, including the role of Margo Channing in the Broadway musical version of the film All About Eve, Applause. The role was originally played in the musical by Lauren Bacall and in All About Eve byBette Davis. In 1976, she played Maxine in the Ahmanson Theater revival of The Night of the Iguana. She quit the Circle in the Square Theatre revival of Pal Joey during previews. She wrote the preface to the bookHow Your Mind Can Keep You Well, a meditation technique developed by Roy Masters. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6340 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Parker was married four times:

• Lord Fred Losee: married in 1943, divorced in 1944.
• Bert E. Friedlob: married in 1946, divorced in 1953. Three children.
• Paul Clemens, American portrait painter: married in 1954, divorced in 1965. One son, actor Paul Clemens.
• Raymond Hirsch: married in 1966, widowed on September 14, 2001 when Hirsch died of esophageal cancer.

Parker died on December 9, 2013 in Palm Springs, California of complications of pneumonia. She was 91.

She was the grandmother of one-time child actor Chase Parker.

Religion

Parker was raised a Protestant and later converted to Judaism, telling New York Daily News columnist Kay Gardella in August 1969, "I think we're all Jews at heart... I wanted to convert for a long time."

Academy Award nominations

• 1950 – Caged
• 1951 – Detective Story
• 1955 – Interrupted Melody[8]

Filmography

Year Title Character Notes

1941 They Died with Their Boots On Bit Part (scenes deleted)

1942 The Big Shot Telephone Operator   Busses Roar (1942) Norma   Soldiers in White Nurse Ryan short subject Men of the Sky (1942) Mrs. Frank Bickley short subject Vaudeville Days (1942) Colleen uncredited short subject

1943 The Mysterious Doctor Letty Carstairs   Mission to Moscow Emlen Davies   Destination Tokyo Mike's Wife on Record (voice) uncredited

1944 Between Two Worlds Ann Bergner   Atlantic City Bathing Beauty uncredited Crime by Night Irene Carr   The Last Ride (1944) Kitty Kelly   The Very Thought of You Janet Wheeler   Hollywood Canteen Herself cameo

1945 Pride of the Marines Ruth Hartley  

1946 Of Human Bondage Mildred Rogers   Never Say Goodbye Ellen Gayley  

1947 Escape Me Never Fenella MacLean   Always Together Herself cameo The Voice of the Turtle Sally Middleton  

1948 The Woman in White Laurie Fairlie Ann Catherick  

1949 It's a Great Feeling (1949) Herself cameo

1950 Chain Lightning Joan "Jo" Holloway   Caged Marie Allen Volpi Cup Nominated-Academy Award for Best Actress Three Secrets Susan Adele Connors Chase  

1951 Valentino Joan Carlisle Sarah Gray   A Millionaire for Christy Christabel "Christy" Sloane   Detective Story Mary McLeod Nominated-Academy Award for Best Actress

1952 Scaramouche Lenore   Above and Beyond Lucey Tibbets  

953 Escape from Fort Bravo Carla Forester  

1954 The Naked Jungle Joanna Leiningen   Valley of the Kings Ann Barclay Mercedes  

1955 Many Rivers to Cross Mary Stuart Cherne   Interrupted Melody Marjorie Lawrence Nominated-Academy Award for Best Actress The Man with the Golden Arm Zosch Machine  

1956 The King and Four Queens Sabina McDade  

1957 Lizzie Elizabeth Lizzie Beth Richmond   The Seventh Sin Carol Carwin  

1959 A Hole in the Head Eloise Rogers  

1960 Home from the Hill Hannah Hunnicutt   The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio Sister Cecelia  

1961 Return to Peyton Place Connie Rossi  

1962 Madison Avenue Anne Tremaine   Checkmate (TV series) Marion Bannion Gussie Hill episode: The Renaissance of Gussie Hill

1963 The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series) Connie Folsom episode: Why Am I Grown So Cold? Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Fern Selman episode: Seven Miles of Bad Road

1964 Panic Button Louise Harris   Kraft Suspense Theatre Dorian Smith episode: Knight's Gambit

1965 The Sound of Music Elsa Schrader/The Baroness   Convoy (TV series) Kate Fowler episode: Lady on the Rock

1966 The Oscar Sophie Cantaro   An American Dream Deborah Kelly Rojack  

1967 Warning Shot Mrs. Doris Ruston   The Tiger and the Pussycat Esperia Vincenzini  

1968 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Margitta Kingsley episode: The Seven Wonders of the World Affair

1969 Eye of the Cat Aunt Danny   Hans Brinker Dame Brinker   Bracken's World Sylvia Caldwell episodes 1-16 Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama

1971 Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring Claire Miller Vanished (TV movie) Sue Greer  

1972 Circle of Fear Paula Burgess episode: Half a Death Home for the Holidays (TV movie) Alex Morgan  

1973 The Great American Beauty Contest (TV movie) Peggy Lowery  

1975 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (TV movie) Christine Drayton  

1978 Hawaii Five-O Mrs. Kincaid episode: The Big Aloha The Bastard (TV movie) Lady Amberly  

1979 Sunburn Mrs. Thoren She's Dressed to Kill (TV movie) Regine Danton   1980 Once Upon a Spy (TV movie) The Lady   Vega$ Laurie Bishop episode: A Deadly Victim

1981 Madame X (1981 film) Katherine Richardson  

1979-1982 The Love Boat Alicia Bradbury Rosie Strickland episode: A Dress to Remember episode: Buddy and Portia's Story/Julie's Story/Carol and Doug's Story/Peter and Alicia's Story 1

977-1983 Fantasy Island Peggy Atwood Eunice Hollander Baines episode: Nurses Night Out episode: Yesterday's Love/Fountain of Youth episode: Pilot

1983 Hotel (TV series) Leslie episode: The Offer

1984 Finder of Lost Loves Nora Spencer episode: The Gift

1986 Murder, She Wrote Maggie Tarrow episode: Stage Struck 1991 Dead on the Money (TV movie) Catherine Blake  

Source: "Eleanor Parker". IMDb. Retrieved 25 September 2013.