Post by teleadm on Jun 24, 2021 20:00:59 GMT
Veni, vidi, vici, she came, she conquered, she won, even it it only lasted for a for a few years. Her legacy was only 7 movies as a star.
A squeaky voice was her trademark, not her real voice, but came in handy when she was called to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to answer if claims she was associated with communism.
Judy Holiday (1921 - 1965)
The little girl came from Sunnydale in Queens in New York, same place as Perry Como and James Caan.
Her first job was as an assistant switchboard operator at the Mercury Theatre, which was administered by Orson Welles and John Houseman.
She began her show business career in 1938 as part of a nightclub act called "The Revuers". Among The other members of the group were Betty Comden and Adolph Green, they played engagements in New York night clubs including the Village Vanguard, Spivy's Roof, the Blue Angel, and the Rainbow Room, and the Trocadero in Hollywood, California. "The Revuers" filmed a scene for the 1944 Carmen Miranda film Greenwich Village. Although its scene was cut, she was an unbilled extra in another scene, and that's her film debut.
She is there somewhere, maybe...
Her first credited acting role came with Winged Victory 1944, seen here in profile with Jeanne Crain.
She made her Broadway debut on March 20, 1945 at the Belasco Theatre in Kiss Them for Me, later filmed rather unsuccessfully in 1957.
In 1946, she returned to Broadway as the scatterbrained Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday. Author Garson Kanin wrote the play for Jean Arthur, who played the role of Billie but left out-of-town for personal reasons. Kanin then selected Holliday, two decades Arthur's junior, as her replacement. In his book "Tracy and Hepburn" (1971), Kanin mentions that when Columbia bought the rights to the film Born Yesterday, studio boss Harry Cohn would not consider casting the Hollywood-unknown. Kanin, along with George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn conspired to promote Holliday by offering her a key part in the film Adam's Rib 1949.
She received rave reviews for her performance in Born Yesterday on Broadway, and Cohn offered her the chance to repeat her role for the film version, 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). She won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and at the 23rd Academy Awards, She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, defeating Gloria Swanson, nominated for Sunset Boulevard, Eleanor Parker, for Caged, and Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, both for All About Eve. At our old site there was a lot of conspiracy theories about that.
The Marrying Kind 1952 with Aldo Ray, a light comedy that dared to make a sour turn.
It Should Happen to You 1953, with Jack Lemmon. Put your name on giant billboards. Harry Cohn hoped for Danny Kaye.
They were young and they danced, Phfft 1954. Later in life Lemmon had great memories working Judy in the two movies they made together.
The Solid Gold Cadillac 1956, reunited with her theatrical Born Yesterday star, (Paul Douglas) and every scene they are in sparkles (my opinion).
She ended her Columbia contract with Full of Life 1956, with Richard Conte and Baccaloni.
In November 1956, Holliday returned to Broadway starring in the musical Bells Are Ringing with book and lyrics by her old Revuers friends, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and directed by Jerome Robbins. In 1957, she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Judy with Dean Martin in Bells Are Ringing 1960, this was her screen farewell. A one movie deal repeating Broadway success.
Read some harsh criticism that movies never let her persona to develop beyond squeaky voice, sadly there is some truth in that.
She had surgery for a throat tumor shortly after leaving Bells Are Ringing in October 1960.
Her last role was in the stage musical Hot Spot, co-starring newcomers such as Joseph Campanella and Mary Louise Wilson, which closed after 43 performances on May 25, 1963, sadly one of Broadway's most well-known flops, it had 58 "preview" performances, setting a record by cancelling its official opening four times, and then running for only 43 "official" performances.
Throat cancer in the end sadly killed her.
She had a long term relationship with jazz musician Gerry Mulligan, and that was her real voice singing.
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Thanks for watching!
Opinions of all kinds are welcome!
A squeaky voice was her trademark, not her real voice, but came in handy when she was called to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to answer if claims she was associated with communism.
Judy Holiday (1921 - 1965)
The little girl came from Sunnydale in Queens in New York, same place as Perry Como and James Caan.
Her first job was as an assistant switchboard operator at the Mercury Theatre, which was administered by Orson Welles and John Houseman.
She began her show business career in 1938 as part of a nightclub act called "The Revuers". Among The other members of the group were Betty Comden and Adolph Green, they played engagements in New York night clubs including the Village Vanguard, Spivy's Roof, the Blue Angel, and the Rainbow Room, and the Trocadero in Hollywood, California. "The Revuers" filmed a scene for the 1944 Carmen Miranda film Greenwich Village. Although its scene was cut, she was an unbilled extra in another scene, and that's her film debut.
She is there somewhere, maybe...
Her first credited acting role came with Winged Victory 1944, seen here in profile with Jeanne Crain.
She made her Broadway debut on March 20, 1945 at the Belasco Theatre in Kiss Them for Me, later filmed rather unsuccessfully in 1957.
In 1946, she returned to Broadway as the scatterbrained Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday. Author Garson Kanin wrote the play for Jean Arthur, who played the role of Billie but left out-of-town for personal reasons. Kanin then selected Holliday, two decades Arthur's junior, as her replacement. In his book "Tracy and Hepburn" (1971), Kanin mentions that when Columbia bought the rights to the film Born Yesterday, studio boss Harry Cohn would not consider casting the Hollywood-unknown. Kanin, along with George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn conspired to promote Holliday by offering her a key part in the film Adam's Rib 1949.She received rave reviews for her performance in Born Yesterday on Broadway, and Cohn offered her the chance to repeat her role for the film version, 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). She won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and at the 23rd Academy Awards, She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, defeating Gloria Swanson, nominated for Sunset Boulevard, Eleanor Parker, for Caged, and Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, both for All About Eve. At our old site there was a lot of conspiracy theories about that.
The Marrying Kind 1952 with Aldo Ray, a light comedy that dared to make a sour turn.
It Should Happen to You 1953, with Jack Lemmon. Put your name on giant billboards. Harry Cohn hoped for Danny Kaye.
They were young and they danced, Phfft 1954. Later in life Lemmon had great memories working Judy in the two movies they made together.
The Solid Gold Cadillac 1956, reunited with her theatrical Born Yesterday star, (Paul Douglas) and every scene they are in sparkles (my opinion).
She ended her Columbia contract with Full of Life 1956, with Richard Conte and Baccaloni.
In November 1956, Holliday returned to Broadway starring in the musical Bells Are Ringing with book and lyrics by her old Revuers friends, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and directed by Jerome Robbins. In 1957, she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Judy with Dean Martin in Bells Are Ringing 1960, this was her screen farewell. A one movie deal repeating Broadway success.
Read some harsh criticism that movies never let her persona to develop beyond squeaky voice, sadly there is some truth in that.
She had surgery for a throat tumor shortly after leaving Bells Are Ringing in October 1960.
Her last role was in the stage musical Hot Spot, co-starring newcomers such as Joseph Campanella and Mary Louise Wilson, which closed after 43 performances on May 25, 1963, sadly one of Broadway's most well-known flops, it had 58 "preview" performances, setting a record by cancelling its official opening four times, and then running for only 43 "official" performances.
Throat cancer in the end sadly killed her.
She had a long term relationship with jazz musician Gerry Mulligan, and that was her real voice singing.
Thanks for watching!
Opinions of all kinds are welcome!
