Candice Bergen
| Candice Bergen | |
|---|---|
 Candice Bergen in 1993 |
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| Born | Candice Patricia Bergen May 9, 1946 Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Actress, fashion model |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Spouse(s) | Louis Malle (m. 1980–1995) Marshall Rose (m. 2000) |
| Children | Chloé Malle |
| Parents | Frances Bergen Edgar Bergen |
Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress, producer and former fashion model. She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown, for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal, for which she was nominated for two Emmys, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Her first film was The Group (1965), which was based on Mary McCarthy's novel of the same name. She starred in several major films throughout the mid-1960s to early 1980s such as The Sand Pebbles, Carnal Knowledge, The Wind and the Lion, and Gandhi and received an Academy Award nomination for her role in the 1979 film Starting Over. Her later career includes character roles in Miss Congeniality (2000) and Sweet Home Alabama (2002). In her later roles, she could often be seen playing an authority figure or social status symbol.
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Early life [edit]
Bergen was born in Beverly Hills, California. Her mother, Frances Bergen (née Westerman), was a Powers model who was known professionally as Frances Westcott.[1] Her father, Edgar Bergen, was a ventriloquist, comedian, and actor. Her paternal grandparents were Swedish-born immigrants who anglicized their surname, which was originally "Bergren". As a child, Candice was irritated at being described as "Charlie McCarthy's little sister" (referring to her father's star dummy).[2]
Bergen began appearing on her father's radio program at a young age,[3] and in 1958, at age eleven, with her father on Groucho Marx's quiz show You Bet Your Life as Candy Bergen. She said that when she grew up she wanted to design clothes. She later attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she was elected both Homecoming Queen and Miss University, but acknowledges that her failure to take her education seriously resulted in her being asked to leave. She received an honorary doctorate from Penn in May 1992.
She worked as a fashion model before she took up acting.
Career [edit]
Early years [edit]
Bergen made her screen debut playing an aloof university student in The Group (1966), which delicately touched on the then-forbidden subject of lesbianism. Her second film in 1966 was The Sand Pebbles, in which she played Shirley Eckert, an assistant school teacher and missionary opposite Steve McQueen. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards. After starring in the French film Live for Life (1967) and The Magus (1968) with Michael Caine and Anthony Quinn, she was featured in a 1970 political satire, The Adventurers, playing a frustrated socialite who has a lesbian affair. In 1975 she starred with Sean Connery in The Wind and the Lion, as a headstrong American widow kidnapped in Morocco in 1904 along with her two young children.
Despite initial rocky reviews, she appeared in Mike Nichols' provocative Carnal Knowledge (1971) and the Burt Reynolds romantic comedy Starting Over (1979), for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress.
Bergen had roles in Western films including The Hunting Party and Bite the Bullet, both of which starred Gene Hackman. Another Western she starred was the highly controversial Soldier Blue, a worldwide hit, but a failure in its homeland. It led to Bergen being voted by British exhibitors as the seventh most popular star at the British box office in 1971.[4]
She was the love interest of Ryan O'Neal in the Love Story sequel, Oliver's Story, and portrayed a best-selling author in Rich and Famous (1981) with Jacqueline Bisset. In 1982, Bergen appeared in the Oscar-winning film Gandhi in which she portrayed documentary photographer Margaret Bourke-White. Bergen was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[5]
Turning to television, Bergen appeared in the 1985 miniseries Hollywood Wives.
Murphy Brown [edit]
In 1988, she took the lead role in the sitcom Murphy Brown, in which she played a tough television reporter. The series provided her with the opportunity to show her little-seen comic talent, and although primarily a conventional sit-com, the show did tackle important issues. Murphy Brown, a recovering alcoholic, became a single mother and later battled breast cancer. In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle criticized prime-time TV for showing the Murphy Brown character "mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice."[6]
Quayle's remarks became comedic fodder, and were written into the show as if he were talking about the Murphy Brown character, who was depicted watching Quayle's speech. A subsequent episode explored the subject of family values within a diverse set of families. The Brown character arranges for a truckload of potatoes to be dumped in front of Quayle's residence, an allusion to an infamous incident in which Quayle erroneously directed a school child to spell the word "potato" as "potatoe". In reality, Bergen agreed with at least some of Quayle's observations, saying that while the particular remark was "an arrogant and uninformed posture", as a whole, it was "a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable and nobody agreed with that more than I did."[7] Bergen's run on Murphy Brown was extremely successful. The show ran for ten seasons and between 1989 and 1998, Bergen was nominated for an Emmy Award seven times and won five. After her fifth win, she declined future nominations for the role.
Throughout the same time frame as Murphy Brown, Bergen also appeared as the main spokesperson for a Sprint telephone ad campaign, known to many in the ads as the "Dime Lady", for advertising Sprint's 10 cents a minute rate.
Later career [edit]
After playing the role of Murphy Brown, Bergen was offered a chance to work as a real-life journalist. After the run of Murphy Brown ended in 1998, CBS approached her to cover stories for 60 Minutes, an offer she declined, with the conviction that she didn't personally want to blur the lines between actor and journalist at the time.
She hosted Exhale with Candice Bergen on the Oxygen network. She also appeared in character roles in films, most notably Miss Congeniality (2000) as a former beauty queen who rivals Sandra Bullock; and as the mayor of New York who disapproves of her son marrying Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama (2002). She also appeared in the comedies View from the Top with Gwyneth Paltrow and The In-Laws with Michael Douglas, both released in 2003.
In January 2005, Bergen joined the cast of the television series Boston Legal as Shirley Schmidt, a founding partner in the law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. She played the role for five seasons. In 2006 and 2008, she received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
A frequent host on NBC's Saturday Night Live, she was the first woman to host the show and the first host to do a second show. She was also the first woman to join the Five-Timers Club, when she hosted for the fifth time in 1990. Bergen guest-starred on The Muppet Show in its first year, appearing in several skits, an episode now available in a DVD collection. She was also featured in a long-running "Dime Lady" ad campaign for the Sprint phone company.
She has also made guest appearances on many other TV shows, including Seinfeld (as herself playing Murphy Brown), Law & Order, Family Guy, Will & Grace (playing herself), and Sex and the City, where she played Enid Frick, Carrie Bradshaw's editor at Vogue. More recently she appeared in the 2009 movie Bride Wars as Marion St. Claire, New York's most sought-after wedding planner, who also serves as the narrator of the story.
Since its launch in 2008, Candice Bergen has been a contributor for wowOwow.com, a website for women to talk culture, politics and gossip.
Bergen had an occasional role on House as Lisa Cuddy's mother, starting in Season 7, including the 2011 episodes "Larger Than Life" and "Family Practice".
In 2010, she appeared in a one-night only concert semi staged reading of Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim.[8]
Personal life [edit]
A political activist, Bergen accepted a date with Henry Kissinger. During her activist days she participated in a Yippie prank when she, Abbie Hoffman, and others threw dollar bills onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1967, leading to its temporary shut-down. In 1972, she served as a fundraiser and organizer for George McGovern's presidential campaign.[9]
In addition to acting, Bergen has written articles, a play, and a memoir, Knock Wood (1984). She has also studied photography and worked as a photojournalist.
Relationships and marriages [edit]
During the 1960s, Bergen dated and lived with Terry Melcher, a music producer and the son of Doris Day. The couple lived at 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles, which was later occupied by Sharon Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski. Tate and four others were murdered in the home in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson.[10] There was some initial speculation that Melcher may have been the intended victim.[11]
On September 27, 1980, she married French film director Louis Malle (Bergen herself has traveled extensively and speaks French fluently). They had one child, a daughter named Chloe, in 1985. The couple were married until Malle's death from cancer on Thanksgiving Day in 1995.
Since June 15, 2000, she has been married to New York real estate magnate and philanthropist Marshall Rose.
Awards won [edit]
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for: Murphy Brown (1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995) 5 wins
- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical for: Murphy Brown (1989, 1992) 2 wins
Television Academy Hall of Fame:
- Inducted in 2010
Filmography [edit]
Film [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Unusual Occupations: Film Tot Holiday | Herself | Uncredited |
| 1966 | The Group | Lakey | |
| 1966 | The Sand Pebbles | Shirley Eckert | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female |
| 1967 | The Day the Fish Came Out | Electra Brown | |
| 1967 | Vivre pour vivre | Candice | aka Live for Life (US) |
| 1967 | Flash 02 | Herself | |
| 1968 | The Magus | Lily | |
| 1968 | Wedding of the Doll | Herself | |
| 1970 | The Adventurers | Sue Ann Daley | |
| 1970 | Getting Straight | Jan | |
| 1970 | Soldier Blue | Kathy Maribel Lee, 'Cresta' | |
| 1971 | Carnal Knowledge | Susan | |
| 1971 | The Hunting Party | Melissa Ruger | |
| 1971 | T.R. Baskin | T. R. Baskin | aka A Date with a Lonely Girl (UK) |
| 1974 | 11 Harrowhouse | Maren Shirell | |
| 1975 | The Lion Roars Again | Herself | Uncredited |
| 1975 | The Wind and the Lion | Eden Pedecaris | |
| 1975 | Bite the Bullet | Miss Jones | |
| 1977 | The Domino Principle | Ellie Tucker | aka The Domino Killings (UK) |
| 1978 | A Night Full of Rain | Lizzy | |
| 1978 | Oliver's Story | Marcie Bonwit | |
| 1979 | Starting Over | Jessica Potter | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
| 1981 | Rich and Famous | Merry Noel Blake | |
| 1982 | Gandhi | Margaret Bourke-White | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
| 1984 | 2010 | SAL 9000 | voice only (credited as Olga Mallsnerd) |
| 1985 | Stick | Kyle McClaren | |
| 1989 | Frames from the Edge | Herself | |
| 1996 | Belly Talkers | Herself | |
| 1997 | Who Is Henry Jaglom? | Herself | |
| 2000 | Miss Congeniality | Kathy Morningside | Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy |
| 2002 | Sweet Home Alabama | Mayor Kate Hennings | |
| 2003 | View from the Top | Sally Weston | |
| 2003 | The In-Laws | Judy Tobias | |
| 2008 | Sex and the City | Enid Frick | |
| 2008 | The Women | Catherine Frazier | |
| 2009 | Bride Wars | Marion St. Claire | Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress |
| 2010 | The Romantics | Augusta | |
| 2013 | A Friggin' Christmas Miracle | Donna Mitchler |
Television [edit]
Awards and nominations [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Candice Bergen Biography (1946–)
- ^ "So when I was born, it was only natural that I was known in the press not as Candice Bergen, but as "Charlie's sister."" (Bergen, "My Dad, Charlie and Me' in Jack Canfield, et al., A Second Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul 1998:36
- ^ "Bergen & McCarthy 55-12-25 Christmas (Guest Candice Bergen)", listed on Golden Age OTR's playlist on Live365.com
- ^ Peter Waymark. "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas." Times [London, England] 30 Dec. 1971: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.
- ^ BAFTA (1983). "BAFTA Awards Database (Supporting Actress 1982)". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ "Then & Now: Dan Quayle". CNN. 2005-08-08.
- ^ "Candice Bergen agrees with Quayle". CNN. 2002-07-11.[dead link]
- ^ Portantiere, Michael (2011). "Back into the light". The Sondheim Review (Sondheim Review, Inc.) XVII (3): 44. ISSN 1076-450X.
- ^ McGovern, George S., Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern, New York: Random House, 1977, pp. 173, 247
- ^ "Obituary Terry Melcher". telegraph.co.uk. 2004-11-23. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ "Doris Day's son, musician, writer, record producer". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2004-11-23. pp. A–15. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Candice Bergen |
- Candice Bergen at the Internet Movie Database
- Candice Bergen at the Internet Broadway Database
- Candice Bergen at AllRovi
- Candice Bergen at wowOwow
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- 1946 births
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Actresses from California
- American female models
- American film actresses
- American people of Swedish descent
- American radio actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- American television producers
- Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Living people
- People from Beverly Hills, California
- University of Pennsylvania alumni
