Polly Bergen

Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 - September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, and entrepreneur.

She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan inThe Helen Morgan Story. For her stage work she was nominated for theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical her performance as Carlotta Campion in Follies in 2001. Her film work included 1962's Cape Fear and 1963's The Caretakers, for which she was nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She also hosted her own variety show for one season (The Polly Bergen Show), and as an author wrote three books on beauty, fashion, and charm.

Early life

Bergen was born in Knoxville in eastern Tennessee, the daughter of Lucy (née Lawhorn) and William Hugh Burgin, a construction engineer.[1] "Bill Bergen," as he was later known, had singing talent and appeared with his daughter in several episodes of her 18-episode NBC comedy/variety show,The Polly Bergen Show, which aired during the 1957-1958 television season.

Career

Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear(1962) opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. She had roles in threeDean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy films in the early 1950s: At War with the Army, That's My Boy and The Stooge. bergen's later roles included Mrs. Vernon-Williams in Cry-Baby, a John Waters film.

Bergen received an Emmy award for her portrayal of singer Helen Morgan in the episode The Helen Morgan Story of the 1950s television series Playhouse 90. Signed to Columbia Records, she enjoyed a successful recording career during this era, as well. In the 1950s she also was known as "The Pepsi Cola Girl," having done a series of commercials for that product.

She was a regular panelist on the CBS game show To Tell the Truth, during its original run. She also appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood.

In 1963 Bergen co-starred with Doris Day and James Garner in the film comedy, Move Over, Darling. Garner's character marries hers when he believes his long-lost wife (Day) to be deceased, only to have her turn up.

Bergen earned an Emmy nomination for her role as Rhoda Henry, wife of Capt. "Pug" Henry (played by Mitchum), in twoABC miniseries, The Winds of War and its sequel, War and Remembrance.

She starred in a 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Awardnomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

She also appeared as Fran Felstein on HBO's The Sopranos, the former mistress of Tony Soprano's father, and former mistress of John F. Kennedy.

From 2007 to 2011 Bergen had a guest role in Desperate Housewives as Lynette Scavo's mother, Stella Wingfield, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination.

Bergen became a semi-regular cast member of 2006's Commander-in-Chief as the mother of Mackenzie Allen, thePresident of the United States, played by Geena Davis. Bergen herself had once played the first female President of the United States, as President Leslie McCloud in the 1964 film, Kisses for My President.

Another of her later appearances came in CBS's Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, Candles on Bay Street (2006), in which she played the assistant to a husband-and-wife team of veterinarians.

She died on September 20 2014

Personal life

In 1965, Bergen created the Polly Bergen Company cosmetics line. She has also created lines of jewelry and shoe brands, and has authored three books on beauty.

Bergen converted to Judaism after having married Hollywood talent agent Freddie Fields, with whom she had two adopted children, Pamela Kerry Fields and Peter William Fields. She had previously been a Southern Baptist.

When not working, Bergen lived at her home in Connecticut.

Bergen's niece is television producer Wendy Riche.

Death

Bergen died on September 20, 2014, at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, surrounded by family and close friends. She had battled emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s, a result of 50 years of smoking.

Discography

Albums list adapted from Allmusic and Discogs.

Albums

• 1955 Little Girl Blue
• 1957 Bergen Sings Morgan — The Billboard 200 — 10
• 1957 The Party's Over — The Billboard 200 — 20
• 1958 Polly and Her Pop
• 1959 My Heart Sings — Columbia #CS 8018 — orchestra conducted by Luther Henderson
• 1959 All Alone by the Telephone
• 1959 First Impressions — with Farley Granger and Hermione Gingold
• 1960 Four Seasons of Love
• 1961 Sings the Hit Songs from Do-Re-Mi and Annie Get Your Gun
• 1963 Act One, Sing Too
• 1996 My Heart Sings — re-release

Singles

• 1958 "Come Prima" — Billboard Hot 100 — 67