Nina Foch
Nina Foch | |
---|---|
![]() Foch in 1949 | |
Born | Nina Consuelo Maud Fock April 20, 1924 |
Died | December 5, 2008 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 84)
Cause of death | Myelodysplastic syndrome |
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale |
Occupation(s) | Actress, drama teacher |
Years active | 1943–2007 |
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] |
Spouse(s) | James Lipton (1954–59; divorced) Dennis Brito (1959–64; divorced) Michael Dewell (1967–93; divorced) |
Children | Dirk De Brito (b. 1964) |
Parent(s) | Dirk Fock (father) Consuelo Flowerton (mother) |
Nina Foch /niːnə.fɑːʃ/ (born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008)[2] was a Dutch-born American actress of film, stage, and television. After signing a contract with Columbia Pictures at age nineteen, the tall, blonde Foch became a regular in the studio's horror pictures and film noirs before establishing herself as a leading lady in the mid-1940s through the 1950s, often playing roles as cool, aloof sophisticates.[3] Her career spanned six decades, consisting of over fifty feature films and over one hundred television appearances.
She is perhaps best known for her roles in An American in Paris (1951), Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960), and Robert Wise's Executive Suite (1954), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Foch also worked prominently in television, starring in a multitude of television series from 1951 until 2007. In addition to acting, Foch taught drama at the American Film Institute and at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where she was a faculty member for over forty years until her death in 2008.[4]
Early life
Nina Foch was born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock[5] in Leiden, Netherlands to American actress and singer Consuelo Flowerton and Dutch classical music conductor Dirk Fock. After her mother and father divorced when Foch was a toddler, she went with her mother to the United States, settling in New York City.[6][7] As Foch grew up in New York, her mother encouraged her artistic talents; Foch learned piano and enjoyed art but was more interested in acting.[1] Foch attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and also studied method acting under Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.[2]
Career
After signing a contract with Columbia Pictures at age nineteen, Foch made her feature film debut in the studio's horror picture The Return of the Vampire (1943) with Bela Lugosi, subsequently appearing in Columbia's Cry of the Werewolf the next year. This was followed with a role in the biopic A Song to Remember (1945), the drama I Love a Mystery (1945); as well as a string of film noirs, including Escape in the Fog, My Name is Julia Ross (1945), Johnny O'Clock (1947), The Dark Past (1948), The Undercover Man (1948), and Johnny Allegro (1949). During this time, she was also a regular in John Houseman's CBS Playhouse 90 television series.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Nina_Foch_in_Johnny_O%27Clock.png/220px-Nina_Foch_in_Johnny_O%27Clock.png)
In 1951, Foch appeared with Gene Kelly in the musical An American in Paris, which was awarded the Best Picture Oscar that year. Foch appeared in Scaramouche (1952) as Marie Antoinette, and in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956) as Bithiah, the Pharaoh's daughter who finds the infant Moses in the bulrushes, adopts him as her son, and joins him and the Hebrews in their Exodus from Egypt.
Foch received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the boardroom drama Executive Suite (1954), starring Holden, Fredric March and Barbara Stanwyck. In Spartacus (1960), starring Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier, she played a woman who chooses gladiators to fight to the death in the ring, simply for her entertainment. In 1961, she guest starred in the NBC series about the family divisions from American Civil War entitled The Americans. In 1963, she appeared on the NBC game show Your First Impression. In 1964, she played the title role in the episode "Maggie, Queen of the Jungle" of Craig Stevens's short-lived CBS drama series, Mr. Broadway.
She was cast as Eva Frazier in the Outer Limits episode "The Borderland". She appeared in an episode of Gunsmoke as the widowed matriarch of a lawless town. She was also cast as the first murder victim of the Columbo mystery series starring Peter Falk, appearing in the pilot movie, Prescription: Murder (1968), with Gene Barry as her husband, a homicidal psychiatrist. In the early 1970s, she guest starred on NBC's The Brian Keith Show. In 1975, she appeared in the film Mahogany, starring Diana Ross. She played in an episode on Combat! titled episode "The Casket".
Later in her career, Foch appeared in War and Remembrance (1988) as the seemingly-nice librarian who soon advises Jane Seymour's character that the best place for her and her uncle would be the un-aptly named "Paradise Ghetto". She also appeared as 'Frannie Halcyon' in the TV miniseries Tales of the City (1993). Another notable TV role was as the Overseer Commander (or "Kleezantzun") in the first of the Alien Nation TV movies, Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (1994).
In her final years, she appeared on the television series Just Shoot Me, Bull, Dharma & Greg, and NCIS, the latter portraying Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard's elderly mother.
Foch taught "Directing the Actor" classes at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, classes she had taught since the 1960s up to her death. She also worked as an independent script-breakdown consultant for many prominent Hollywood directors. For her contributions to film and television, Foch has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard, and 7000 Hollywood Boulevard.[8]
Personal life
Foch lived in Beverly Hills, California, for 40 years and married three times. Her first marriage was to James Lipton, future host of Inside the Actors Studio. She married her second husband, Dennis de Brito, in 1959; and the couple had one child before divorcing in 1963. Her third and last marriage was to Michael Dewell in 1967. The couple divorced in 1993.
Death
Foch died on December 5, 2008, of complications from the blood disorder myelodysplasia at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Her only son, Dirk de Brito, told the Los Angeles Times that she had become ill while teaching at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.
Filmography
Feature films
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1943 | Wagon Wheels West | Jan Colburn | Short film |
The Return of the Vampire | Nicki Saunders | ||
1944 | Nine Girls | Alice Blake | |
She's a Soldier Too | Tessie Legruda | ||
Shadows in the Night | Lois Garland | ||
Cry of the Werewolf | Celeste | ||
Strange Affair | Frieda Brenner | ||
She's a Sweetheart | Jeanne | ||
1945 | A Song to Remember | Constantia | |
I Love a Mystery | Ellen Monk | ||
Escape in the Fog | Eileen Carr | ||
My Name Is Julia Ross | Julia Ross | ||
Boston Blackie's Rendezvous | Sally Brown | ||
A Thousand and One Nights | Harem Girl | Uncredited | |
Prison Ship | Anne Graham | ||
1947 | Johnny O'Clock | Harriet Hobson | |
The Guilt of Janet Ames | Susie Pearson | ||
1948 | The Dark Past | Betty | |
1949 | The Undercover Man | Judith Warren | |
Johnny Allegro | Glenda Chapman | ||
1951 | St. Benny the Dip | Linda Kovacs | |
An American in Paris | Milo Roberts | ||
1952 | Young Man With Ideas | Joyce Laramie | |
Scaramouche | Marie Antoinette | ||
1953 | Sombrero | Elena Cantu | |
Fast Company | Mercedes Bellway | ||
1954 | Executive Suite | Erica Martin | National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress Special Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival) Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
Four Guns to the Border | Maggie Flannery | ||
1955 | You're Never Too Young | Gretchen Brendan | |
Illegal | Ellen Miles | ||
1956 | The Ten Commandments | Bithiah | |
Three Brave Men | Lt. Mary Jane McCoy | ||
1959 | Ten Little Indians | Vera Claythorne | Television film |
1960 | Cash McCall | Maude Kennard | |
Spartacus | Helena Glabrus | ||
1962 | Rebecca | Mrs. Danvers | |
1968 | Columbo: Prescription: Murder | Carol Flemming | |
1969 | Gidget Grows Up | Bibi Crosby | Television film |
1971 | Such Good Friends | Julie's mother | |
1972 | The Scarecrow | Goodie Rickby | Television film |
1973 | Female Artillery | Amelia Craig | Television film |
Salty | Mrs. Penninger | ||
1975 | Mahogany | Miss Evans | |
1976 | The Great Houdini | Rev. Le Veyne | Television film |
1978 | Jennifer | Mrs. Calley | |
Child of Glass | Lavinia Culp | Television film | |
1979 | Ebony, Ivory and Jade | Dr. Adela Teba | Television film |
1981 | Rich and Famous | Literary party guest | |
1986 | Nomads | Real estate agent | |
1988 | Dixie Lanes | Hazel Laidlaw | |
Outback Bound | Samantha's Mother | Television film | |
1989 | Skin Deep | Alex's Mother | |
1992 | In the Arms of a Killer | Mrs. Venible | Television film |
The Sands of Time | Ellen Scot | Television film | |
1993 | Sliver | Evelyn McEvoy | |
Morning Glory | Miss Beasly | Television film | |
1994 | Alien Nation: Dark Horizon | Burak | Television film |
1996 | It's My Party | Mrs. Theis | |
1997 | 'Til There Was You | Sophia Monroe | |
1998 | Hush | Alice Baring | |
Family Blessings | Peg Miller | Television film | |
Shadow of a Doubt | Sylvia Saxon | ||
2002 | Pumpkin | Betsy Collander | |
2003 | How to Deal | Grandma Halley | |
2004 | Back When We Were Grownups | Mrs. Holmes | Television film |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1949 | The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse | Elizabeth | Episode: "Three Cornered Moon" |
The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre | Wife | Episodes: "Temporarily Purple", "Half an Hour" | |
1949-54 | Suspense | ||
1950-52 | Lux Video Theatre | Episodes: "The Key", "The Magnolia Touch", "Dames Are Poison", "Mine to Have" | |
1951 | Two Girls Named Smith | ||
The Nash Airflyte Theatre | Episode: "The Case of the Calico Dog" | ||
Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre | Episode: "The Bride from Broadway" | ||
Cameo Theatre | Episode: "Betrayal" | ||
Somerset Maugham TV Theatre | Episode: "In Hiding" | ||
1951-52 | Lights Out | Episodes: "Blood Relation", "The House of Dust" | |
Pulitzer Prize Playhouse | Episodes: "The Jungle", "The Skin of Our Teeth", "The Buccaneer", "Icebound" | ||
1952 | Chesterfield Presents | Episode: "A Moment of Memory" | |
Schlitz Playhouse | Episode: "World So Wide" | ||
Tales of Tomorrow | Episode: "Bound Together" | ||
1952-58 | Studio One in Hollywood | Eight episodes | |
1953 | Hollywood Opening Night | Episode: "Legal Affair" | |
Armstrong Circle Theatre | Episodes: "Ski Story", "Only This Night" | ||
The Philip Morris Playhouse | Episode: "Room 203" | ||
1954 | Justice | Episode: "Ride with Terror" | |
Danger | Episodes: "See No Evil", "Hand Me Down" | ||
Producers' Showcase | Kaye Thorndyke | Episode: "State of the Union" | |
1954-60 | The United States Steel Hour | Julia Walton / Grace Barlow | Four episodes |
1955 | The Colgate Comedy Hour | Sophia Teale | Episode: "Roberta" |
1955-57 | Climax! | Caroline Emmet / Emily Rone | Episodes: "Deadly Climate", "Night of Execution" |
1955-59 | The Loretta Young Show | Joan Rogers / Mrs. Graff | Episodes: "The Red Dress", "Reunion" |
1956 | The 20th Century-Fox Hour | Susan Harland / Joan Byrnes | Episodes: "One Life", "Yacht on the High Sea" |
Playwrights '56 | Belle Thurmond / Mrs. Scott | Episodes: "The Undiscovered Country", "The Answer" | |
1956-58 | Playhouse 90 | Three episodes | |
1957 | The Alcoa Hour | Brita | Episode: "A Double Life" |
Kraft Theatre | Episodes: "Nothing Personal", "A Night of Rain" | ||
Wagon Train | Clara Beauhaump | Episode: "The Clara Beauchamp Story" | |
1958 | Matinee Theatre | Beatrice | Episodes: "Much Ado About Nothing, Pt. 1", "Much Ado About Nothing, Pt.2" |
Pursuit | Mrs. Claire Holden | Episode: "Ticket to Tangier" | |
1959 | The Thin Man | Episode: "Lady Frankenstein" | |
Rawhide | Madrina Wilcox | Episode: "Incident of the Judas Trap" | |
1960 | Play of the Week | Andromache | Episode: "Tiger at the Gates" |
Moment of Fear | Sally Mellanby | Episode: "The Golden Deed" | |
1961 | The Americans | Rose Greenbow | Episode: "The Rebellious Rose" |
Shirley Temple's Storybook | Merwitch | Episode: "The Little Mermaid" | |
Checkmate | Anne Elliot | Episode: "State of Shock" | |
1961-64 | Route 66 | Samantha / Autumn Ely / Lillian Aldrich | Four episodes |
1962 | Bus Stop | Kitty Blaine | Episode: "Cry to Heaven" |
The Dick Powell Theatre | Ginny Thatcher | Episode: "The Seeds of April" | |
Theatre '62 | Episode: "Rebecca" | ||
Naked City | Kitty Lamson / Maude Hutchinson | Episodes: "The Sweetly Smiling Face of Truth", "The Fingers of Henri Tourelle" | |
1963 | The Virginian | Frances Graham | Episode: "Vengeance is the Spur" |
Sam Benedict | Nora Hildon | Episode: "Of Rusted Cannons and Fallen Sparrows" | |
Arrest and Trial | Ellen Burnham | Episode: "My Name is Martin Burnham" | |
Kraft Suspense Theatre | Sarah Middleton | Episode: "The End of the World, Baby" | |
The Greatest Show on Earth | Angelica Cellini | Episode: "Leaves in the Wind" | |
The Outer Limits | Eva Fraser | Episode: "The Borderland" | |
1964 | Burke's Law | Anjanette Delacroix | Episode: "Who Killed 1/2 of Glory Lee?" |
Mr. Broadway | Maggie | Episode: "Maggie, Queen of the Jungle" | |
1965 | Dr. Kildare | Georgia Pettigrew | Episode: "My Name is Lisa, and I Am Lost" |
Combat! | Madame Carmaux | Episode: "The Casket" | |
1966 | A Man Called Shenandoah | Marlee Cole | Episode: "Marlee" |
The Long, Hot Summer | Carlotta | Episode: "Carlotta, Come Home" | |
1967 | I Spy | Gerta | Episode: "Child Out of Time" |
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Vera Stannard / Dee | Episodes: "A Time to Love", "And Baby Makes Five" | |
Bonanza | Clarissa | Episode: "Clarissa" | |
1968-70 | The Name of the Game | Mrs. Fredericks / Angela Morgan | Three episodes |
1968-73 | The Mod Squad | Mrs. Dykstra / Virginia Westphal | Episodes: "Don't Kill My Child", "Love" |
1969 | The Wild Wild West | Duchess Sophia | Episode: "The Night of the Cossacks" |
Gunsmoke | Agatha Corey | Episode: "Coreyville" | |
1970 | Paris 7000 | Episode: "No Place to Hide" | |
The F.B.I. | Terry Simms | Episode: "The Dealer" | |
To Rome with Love | Diana Masterson | Episode: "Beautiful People" | |
McCloud | Police Sergeant F.J. Dameron | Episode: "Walk in the Dark" | |
1971 | That Girl | Frances Nelson | Episode: "That Script" |
Men at Law | Episode: "Marathon" | ||
1973 | Hawaii Five-O | Marian Scott | Episode: "Little Girl Blue" |
The Brian Keith Show | Mrs. Peterson | Episode: "Sean's Midas Touch" | |
The Wide World of Mystery | Nellie | Episode: "A Little Bit Like Murder" | |
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | Sylvia Mitchell | Episode: "A Lesson in Loving" | |
1973-76 | Barnaby Jones | Myra Westmore / Eleanor DeRoche | Episodes: "The Stalking Horse", "Divorce - Murderer's Style" |
1974 | The Magician | Irene Denore | Episode: "The Illusion of the Stainless Steel Lady" |
The ABC Afternoon Playbreak | Ceil | Episode: "Oh Baby, Baby, Baby" | |
1975 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Madame Trevi | Episode: "The Trevi Collection" |
1977 | "McMillan" (formally McMillan and Wife | Marietta Galway |
Episode: "Phillip's Game" |
1979 | Lou Grant | Mrs. Polk | Episode: "Hollywood" |
1985-86 | Shadow Chasers | Dr. Juliana Moorhouse | Three episodes |
1986 | Trapper John, M.D. | Julie Luden | Episode: "Play Your Hunch" |
Comedy Factory | Hannah Kingsley | Episode: "Chameleon" | |
The New Mike Hammer | Mildred Hoftsteder | Episode: "The Golden Lady" | |
1988 | War and Remembrance | Comtesse de Chambrun | Mini-series |
1990 | Room for Romance | Episode: "A Midsummer Night's Reality" | |
L.A. Law | Camille Carlton | Episode: "Smoke Gets in Your Thighs" | |
Hunter | Gloria Morrell | Episode: "Acapulco Holiday" | |
Dear John | Mrs. Lacey | Episode: "Homeward Bound" | |
1991-94 | Murder, She Wrote | Rebecca Kinkaid / Katie Emhardt | Episodes: "Death in Hawaii", "Tainted Lady" |
1992 | Reasonable Doubts | Carmela Kaufman | Episodes: "Lifelines, Pt. 1", "Lifelines, Pt. 2" |
1993 | Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City | Frannie Halcyon | Five episodes |
1994 | Missing Persons | Bernice | Episode: "If You Could Pick Your Own Parents..." |
1999 | Dharma & Greg | Beatrice | Episode: "Death & Violins" |
2000 | Bull | Madeleine | Eight episodes |
Just Shoot Me! | Catherine DuChamp | Episode: "Dial 'N' for Murder" | |
2005-06 | NCIS | Mrs. Victoria Mallard | Episodes: "Untouchable", "The Meat Puzzle" |
2007 | The Closer | Doris Donnelly | Episode: "The Round File" |
Stage credits
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1947 | John Loves Mary | Lilly Herbish | Broadway; 423 performances[9] |
1949 | Twelfth Night | Olivia | Broadway |
1950 | King Lear | Cordelia | |
A Phoenix Too Frequent | |||
1955 | Measure for Measure | Isabella | American Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford[10] |
The Taming of the Shrew | Katharine |
Radio appearances
Year | Program | Episode/source |
---|---|---|
1952 | Cavalcade of America | "The Nurse Who Forgot Fear"[11] |
1952 | Philip Morris Playhouse | "The Room Beyond"[11] |
1952 | Theatre Guild on the Air | The Unguarded Hour[12] |
1953 | Theatre Guild on the Air | Cass Timberlane[13] |
1953 | Broadway Playhouse | Plan for Escape[14] |
References
- ^ a b LoBianco, Lorraine. "Starring Nina Foch: 10-22". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
- ^ a b Woo, Elaine (2008-12-06). "Nina Foch, actress and influential coach and teacher, dies at 84". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ Gates, Anita (2008-12-08). "Nina Foch, Actress in Sophisticated Roles, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
- ^ Bergan, Ronald (2008-12-05). "Obituary: Nina Foch". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
- ^ Obituary in Washington Post
- ^ Biography at FilmReference.com
- ^ Obituary in London Telegraph
- ^ Woo, Elaine. "Nina Foch". The Los Angeles Times. Hollywood Star Walk. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
- ^ Simonson, Robert (2008-12-08). "Nina Foch, Cultured Blonde of Stage and Screen, Dies at 84". Playbill. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
- ^ Cooper, Roberta Krensky. The American Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford 1955-1985. p. 36. ISBN 978-0918016881.
- ^ a b Kirby, Walter (April 6, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 52. Retrieved May 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kirby, Walter (December 28, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 36. Retrieved June 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kirby, Walter (February 15, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Retrieved June 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kirby, Walter (March 1, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 46. Retrieved June 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1924 births
- 2008 deaths
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
- 20th Century Fox contract players
- American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- Deaths from kidney disease
- Dutch emigrants to the United States
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
- People from Leiden
- Actresses from Los Angeles, California
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses