Eileen Heckart

Infobox Actor
name = Eileen Heckart


caption = Eileen Heckart (left) with Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray in "Bus Stop" (1956)
birthname = Anna Eileen Stark
birthdate = birth date|1919|3|29
location = Columbus, Ohio
deathdate = death date and age|2001|12|31|1919|3|29
deathplace = Norwalk, Connecticut
spouse = John Harrison Yankee, Jr. (1944-1997)
academyawards = Best Supporting Actress
1972 "Butterflies Are Free"
emmyawards = Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
1994 "Love & War"
goldenglobeawards = Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1957 "The Bad Seed"
tonyawards = Special Tony Award
2000 Lifetime Achievement
awards = NBR Award for Best Cast
1996 "The First Wives Club"

Eileen Heckart (March 29, 1919 – December 31, 2001) was an Academy Award- and Tony Award-winning American actress of stage, screen, and television.

Background

Born Anna Eileen Stark in Columbus, Ohio to a family of Irish extraction, she graduated from Ohio State University with a B.A. in drama.

Career

Heckart began her Broadway career as the assistant stage manager and an understudy for "The Voice of the Turtle" in 1943. Her many credits include "Picnic", "The Bad Seed", "A View from the Bridge", "A Memory of Two Mondays", "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs", "A Family Affair", "Barefoot in the Park", "Butterflies Are Free", and "The Cemetery Club". Her awards include a special 2000 Tony Award for Excellence in the Theatre, a 2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for the off-Broadway "The Waverly Gallery", and the 1953 Theatre World Award for "Picnic". Her nominations include a 1996 Drama Desk Award for "Northeast Local" and Tony nods for "Butterflies Are Free", "Invitation to a March", and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs".

Heckart won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 1972 movie adaptation of "Butterflies Are Free" and was nominated in 1956 for her performance as the bereaved, besotted Mrs. Daigle in "The Bad Seed". She also appeared as a Vietnam War widow with Clint Eastwood in "Heartbreak Ridge".

Heckart was familiar to TV audiences with starring roles in "The Five Mrs. Buchanans", "Annie McGuire", "Out of the Blue", "Trauma Center", "Partners in Crime", "Backstairs at the White House" (as Eleanor Roosevelt), and guest spots on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (as journalist Flo Meredith, a role she carried over to a guest appearance on MTM's spinoff "Lou Grant"), "Rhoda", "Murder One", "Cybill", "The Cosby Show", and many other shows.

Personal life

Heckart was married to John Harrison Yankee Jr. from 1944 until his death in 1997. Her son Luke Yankee is the author of "Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing Up with Eileen Heckart" (ISBN 0-8230-7888-4), published by Back Stage Books in 2006.

Heckart died of lung cancer at her home in Norwalk, Connecticut at the age of 82. She also had lived in Stamford, Connecticut. [Costagregni, Susie, "Director grabs a coffee before daughter's wedding" the June 24, 2006 "The Dish with Susie" column in "The Advocate" of Stamford, page A2] She was survived by 3 children and 2 stepsisters.

Partial filmography

* "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956)
* "Bus Stop" (1956)
* "The Bad Seed" (1956)
* "Heller in Pink Tights" (1960)
* "Up the Down Staircase" (1967)
* "Butterflies are Free" (1972)
* "Burnt Offerings" (1976)
* "Seize the Day" (1986)
* "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986)
* "The First Wives Club" (1996)

References

ources

* [http://www.classicimages.com/articles/2008/08/28/past_articles/heckart%20eileen.txt "Classic Images"]

External links

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###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
years=1957
for "The Bad Seed"
before=Marisa Pavan
for "The Rose Tattoo"
after=Elsa Lanchester
for "Witness for the Prosecution"succession box
title=Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
years=1972
for "Butterflies Are Free"
before=Cloris Leachman
for "The Last Picture Show"
after=Tatum O'Neal
for "Paper Moon"succession box
title=Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
years=1999-2000
for "The Waverly Gallery"
before=Kathleen Chalfant
for " Wit"
after=Mary-Louise Parker
for " Proof"

Persondata
NAME= Heckart, Eileen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Heckart, Anna Eileen
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress
DATE OF BIRTH= March 29, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH= Columbus, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH= December 31, 2001
PLACE OF DEATH= Norwalk, Connecticut