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==Early life==
==Early life==
Born '''Judith Tuvim''' ("Tuvim" approximates the Yiddish word [''yontoyvim''] for "Holidays") in [[New York City]], she was the only child of Abe and Helen Tuvim, who was of [[Russian Jewish]] descent. She grew up in [[Sunnyside, Queens]], New York and graduated from [[Julia Richman High School]]. Her first job was as an assistant switchboard operator at the [[Mercury Theatre]] run by [[Orson Welles]] and [[John Houseman]].<ref name=times1>"Judy Holiday, 42, Is Dead of Cancer", ''The New York Times'', June 8, 1965, p. 1</ref><ref name=jwa>[http://jwa.org/discover/infocus/comedy/holliday.html "Judy Holliday (1921–1965) Biography"], Jewish Women's Archive (jwa.org), retrieved February 21, 2010</ref>
Born '''Judith Tuvim''' ("Tuvim" approximates the Yiddish word [''yontoyvim''] for "Holidays") in [[New York City]], she was the only child of Abe and Helen Tuvim, who was of [[Russian Jewish]] descent. She grew up in [[Sunnyside, Queens]], New York and graduated from [[Julia Richman High School]]. Her first job was as an assistant switchboard operator at the [[Mercury Theatre]] run by [[Orson Welles]] and [[John Houseman]].<ref name=times1>"Judy Holiday, 42, Is Dead of Cancer", ''The New York Times'', June 8, 1965, p. 1</ref><ref name=jwa>[http://jwa.org/discover/infocus/comedy/holliday.html "Judy Holliday (1921–1965) Biography"], Jewish Women's Archive (jwa.org), retrieved February 21, 2010</ref>

As a child, Holliday exhibited a profoundly high intelligence, having a measured [[IQ]] score of 172,<ref>[http://www.biography.com/articles/Judy-Holliday-9542418]</ref> placing her above the 99.999th percentile.


==Career==
==Career==
Line 53: Line 55:
Holliday died from [[breast cancer]], on June 7, 1965. She was survived by her young son, Jonathan Oppenheim, and by her ex-husband, clarinetist, conductor and educator David Oppenheim (whom she had married in 1948 and divorced in 1958). She also had a long-term relationship with jazz musician [[Gerry Mulligan]].<ref name=times1/><ref name=tcm/> Holliday was interred in the [[Westchester Hills Cemetery]] in [[Hastings-on-Hudson, New York]].<ref name=jwa/>
Holliday died from [[breast cancer]], on June 7, 1965. She was survived by her young son, Jonathan Oppenheim, and by her ex-husband, clarinetist, conductor and educator David Oppenheim (whom she had married in 1948 and divorced in 1958). She also had a long-term relationship with jazz musician [[Gerry Mulligan]].<ref name=times1/><ref name=tcm/> Holliday was interred in the [[Westchester Hills Cemetery]] in [[Hastings-on-Hudson, New York]].<ref name=jwa/>


Jonathan Oppenheim grew up to become a documentary film editor of note, editing ''[[Paris is Burning (film)|Paris Is Burning]]'', ''[[Children Underground]]'', and ''[[Arguing the World]]''.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0649165/maindetails "Jonathan Oppenheim Internet Movie Database listing"], imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010</ref> As a child, Holliday exhibited a profoundly high intelligence, having a measured [[IQ]] score of 172,<ref>[http://www.biography.com/articles/Judy-Holliday-9542418]</ref> placing her above the 99.999th percentile.
Jonathan Oppenheim grew up to become a documentary film editor of note, editing ''[[Paris is Burning (film)|Paris Is Burning]]'', ''[[Children Underground]]'', and ''[[Arguing the World]]''.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0649165/maindetails "Jonathan Oppenheim Internet Movie Database listing"], imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010</ref>


Holliday has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.
Holliday has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.

Revision as of 02:11, 21 February 2011

Judy Holliday
from the trailer for Adam's Rib (1949)
Born
Judith Tuvim

(1921-06-21)June 21, 1921
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 7, 1965(1965-06-07) (aged 43)
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1938–1963
SpouseDave Oppenheim (1948–1958) 1 son
Holliday in her dressing room, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, 1959

Judy Holliday (June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress.[1]

Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals. Her success in the 1946 stage production of Born Yesterday as "Billie Dawn" led to her being cast in the 1950 film version, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. She appeared regularly in film during the 1950s. She was noted for her performance on Broadway in the musical Bells Are Ringing, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and reprising her role in the 1960 film.

In 1952, Holliday was called to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to answer claims that she was associated with communism. Although not blacklisted from films, she was blacklisted from radio and television for almost three years.

Early life

Born Judith Tuvim ("Tuvim" approximates the Yiddish word [yontoyvim] for "Holidays") in New York City, she was the only child of Abe and Helen Tuvim, who was of Russian Jewish descent. She grew up in Sunnyside, Queens, New York and graduated from Julia Richman High School. Her first job was as an assistant switchboard operator at the Mercury Theatre run by Orson Welles and John Houseman.[2][3]

As a child, Holliday exhibited a profoundly high intelligence, having a measured IQ score of 172,[4] placing her above the 99.999th percentile.

Career

Holliday began her show business career in 1938 as part of a night-club act called "The Revuers." The other four members of the group were Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Alvin Hammer and John Frank.[3][5] The Revuers played engagements at various New York night clubs, including the Village Vanguard, Spivy's Roof, the Blue Angel and the Rainbow Room, and also the Trocadero in Hollywood, California. They disbanded in early 1944.[2][6]

Holliday made her Broadway debut on March 20, 1945, at the Belasco Theatre in Kiss Them for Me and was one of the recipients that year of the Clarence Derwent Award.[7]

In 1946, she returned to Broadway as the scatterbrained Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday. Author Garson Kanin had written the play for his friend Jean Arthur. Arthur played the role of Billie out-of-town, but after illnesses she resigned. Kanin chose Holliday as her replacement.[2][6][8]

In his book Tracy and Hepburn (1971), Kanin mentions that, when Columbia bought the rights to film Born Yesterday, studio boss Harry Cohn wouldn't consider casting the unknown (outside of Broadway) Holliday. Kanin, together with George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn, conspired to promote Holliday by offering her a key part in the 1949 film Adam's Rib. She got rave reviews and Cohn offered her the chance to repeat her role for the film version of Born Yesterday,[3] but only after she did a screen test (which at first was used only as a "benchmark against which to evaluate" other actresses being considered for the role).[9] She won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and at the 23rd Academy Awards, Holliday won the Academy Award for Best Actress, over Gloria Swanson, nominated for Sunset Boulevard, Eleanor Parker, for Caged, and Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, both for All About Eve.[5][10]

In 1954, she starred with a new young star Jack Lemmon in the popular comedy It Should Happen to You, and again (in 1954), in Phffft!.[11][12]

Bernard Dick summed up Holliday's acting: "Perhaps the most important aspect of the Judy Holliday persona, both in variations of Billie Dawn and in her roles as housewife, is her vulnerability...Her ability to shift her mood quickly from comic to serious is one of her greatest technical gifts."[13] George Cukor said that she had "in common with the great comedians...that depth of emotion, that unexpectedly touching emotion, that thing which would unexpectedly touch your heart."[14]

Investigated for Communism

In 1950, Holliday was the subject of an FBI investigation looking into allegations that she was a Communist. The investigation "did not reveal positive evidence of membership in the Communist Party" and was concluded after three months. Unlike many others tainted by the Communist scandal, she was not blacklisted from movies, but she was blacklisted from performing on radio and television for almost three years.

In 1952, she was called to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to "explain" why her name had been linked to Communist front organizations. In spite of her high IQ,[15] she was advised to play dumb (like some of her film characters) and did so.[16][17] She acknowledged that she "had been taken advantage of".[2]

Later career

In November 1956 she returned to Broadway starring in the musical Bells Are Ringing with book and lyrics by her Revuers friends, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and directed by Jerome Robbins, for which she won the 1957 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.[18] In 1960 she starred in the film version of Bells Are Ringing.[19] Of her performance in the stage musical, Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times: "Nothing has happened to the shrill little moll whom the town loved in Born Yesterday. The squeaky voice, the embarrassed giggle, the brassy naivete, the dimples, the teeter-totter walk fortunately remain unimpaired...Miss Holliday now adds a trunk-full of song-and-dance routines...Without losing any of that doll-like personality, she is now singing music by Jule Styne and dancing numbers composed by Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse. She has gusto enough to triumph in every kind of music hall antic."[20] In 1956 she starred in the film The Solid Gold Cadillac.[21]

In October 1960 she had started out-of-town tryouts on the play Laurette, based on the life of Laurette Taylor. The show was directed by Jose Quintero, with background music by Elmer Bernstein and produced by Alan Pakula. When Holliday became ill and had to leave the show, it closed in Philadelphia without opening on Broadway. She had throat surgery shortly after leaving the production, in October 1960.[22][23][24][25]

Holliday's last role was in the stage musical Hot Spot, which closed after 43 performances on May 25, 1963.[26]

Personal

The grave of Holliday in Westchester Hills Cemetery
The foot stone at Judy Holliday's grave

Holliday died from breast cancer, on June 7, 1965. She was survived by her young son, Jonathan Oppenheim, and by her ex-husband, clarinetist, conductor and educator David Oppenheim (whom she had married in 1948 and divorced in 1958). She also had a long-term relationship with jazz musician Gerry Mulligan.[2][5] Holliday was interred in the Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.[3]

Jonathan Oppenheim grew up to become a documentary film editor of note, editing Paris Is Burning, Children Underground, and Arguing the World.[27]

Holliday has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.

Filmography

Source:[28]

Year Film Role Other notes
1938 Too Much Johnson Extra short subject
1944 Greenwich Village Revuer uncredited
Something for the Boys Defense plant welder uncredited
Winged Victory Ruth Miller
1949 Adam's Rib Doris Attinger Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
On the Town Daisy (Simpkins' MGM date) uncredited, voice only
1950 Born Yesterday Emma 'Billie' Dawn Academy Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1952 The Marrying Kind 'Florrie' Keefer Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress
1954 It Should Happen to You Gladys Glover
1954 Phffft! Nina Tracey née Chapman Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress
1956 The Solid Gold Cadillac Laura Partridge Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1957 Full of Life
1960 Bells Are Ringing Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

Stage

Source:[29]

Year Production Role Other notes
1942 My Dear Public with The Revuers
1945 Kiss Them for Me Alice Tony Award - Theatre World Award
1946 Born Yesterday Billie Dawn
1951 Dream Girl
1956 Bells Are Ringing Ella Peterson Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
1960 Laurette Laurette Taylor Closed out-of-town
1963 Hot Spot Sally Hopwinder

References

  1. ^ Obituary Variety, June 9, 1965, page 71.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Judy Holiday, 42, Is Dead of Cancer", The New York Times, June 8, 1965, p. 1
  3. ^ a b c d "Judy Holliday (1921–1965) Biography", Jewish Women's Archive (jwa.org), retrieved February 21, 2010
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ a b c "Judy Holliday Biography", Turner Classic Movies (tcm.com), retrieved February 21, 2010
  6. ^ a b Sargeant, Winthrop."Judy Holliday",Life Magazine, April 2, 1951
  7. ^ "Kiss Them For Me Internet Broadway Database listing" ibdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  8. ^ "Born Yesterday Internet Broadway Database listing", ibdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  9. ^ Bill Crow. From Birdland to Broadway: Scenes from a Jazz Life (Oxford University Press, 1992), p185.
  10. ^ "Top winners from 1950",Chicago Tribune, retrieved February 21, 2010
  11. ^ "It Should Happen to You Internet Movie Database listing", imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  12. ^ "Phffft! Internet Movie Database listing", imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  13. ^ Dick, Bernard F. Columbia Pictures: Portrait of A Studio (1992). University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 0-8131-1769-0, pp.135-136
  14. ^ Sicherman, Barbara and Green, Carol Hurd. Notable American Women: The Modern Period (1980). Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-62733-4, p. 349
  15. ^ What Ever Became of "Geniuses"?Time, December 19, 1977
  16. ^ "Article", thesmartset.com
  17. ^ Article from the Encyclopedia Britannica
  18. ^ "Bells Are Ringing Internet Broadway Database listing", ibdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  19. ^ "Bells Are Ringing Internet Movie Database listing", imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  20. ^ Atkinson, Brooks. "Theater:'Bells Are Ringing' for Judy Holliday", The New York Times, November 30, 1956, p. 18
  21. ^ "The Solid Gold Cadillac Internet Movie Database listing", imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  22. ^ (no author). "Star in Hospital, 'Laurette' is Off", The New York Times, October 8, 1960, p.14
  23. ^ (no author)."Judy Holliday Faces Surgery", The New York Times, October 12, 1960, p. 44
  24. ^ (no author). "Judy Holliday Resting", The New York Times, October 19, 1960, p. 53
  25. ^ "LAURETTE Music from the play", kritzerland.com, retrieved February 22, 2010
  26. ^ "'Hot Spot' Internet Broadway Database listing" ibdb.com, retrieved February 22, 2010
  27. ^ "Jonathan Oppenheim Internet Movie Database listing", imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  28. ^ "Judy Holliday credits", imdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
  29. ^ "Judy Holliday Broadway credits", ibdb.com, retrieved February 21, 2010
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