Judy Holliday

Information about Judy Holliday

Judy Holliday

Birth nameJudith Tuvim
Born21 May 1921(1921--)
New York, U.S.
Died7 May 1965 (aged 45)
New York, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)Dave Oppenheim


Judy Holliday (June 21, 1921–June 7, 1965) was an Academy- and Tony Award-winning American actress.

Biography

Early life

Born Judith Tuvim ("Tuvim" is Yiddish for "Holiday") in New York City, she was the only child of Abe and Helen Tuvim, Jewish immigrants from Russia. Her first job was as an assistant switchboard operator at the Mercury Theatre run by Orson Welles and John Houseman.

Education

For elementary school she went to PS 150, a school in Sunnyside, Queens, New York.

Career

She began her show business career in December, 1938, as part of a nightclub act called "The Revuers". The other four members of the group were Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Alvin Hammer and John Frank. The Revuers were a staple of the New York nightlife scene until they disbanded in early 1944.

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. In 1946, she was back on Broadway, as the scatterbrained Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday. Author Garson Kanin had written the play specifically for his friend, the brilliant but difficult Jean Arthur. Arthur played the role of Billie out-of-town, but after many complaints and illnesses, resigned. Kanin chose Holliday as her replacement.

It has been widely reported 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, as well as 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 part for the film version of Born Yesterday. She won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actress, beating out such formidable competitors as Gloria Swanson, who was nominated for Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis for All About Eve.

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 172 IQ,[1] she was advised to play dumb (like some of her film characters) and did so. She used this technique to avoid giving up names of people she knew to be Communists.

In 1954, she starred with a then-rising young star Jack Lemmon for the popular comedy, It Should Happen to You. Holliday and Lemmon next starred together (in that same year) in Phffft!. Their amazing comedic chemistry on screen made the two films into big hits.

Later life and death

Enlarge picture
The grave of Judy Holliday in Westchester Hills Cemetery
Enlarge picture
The foot stone at Judy Holliday's grave
In 1956 she starred in The Solid Gold Cadillac, and, in 1960 in Bells Are Ringing, in the role she had originated on Broadway in 1956, and for which she had won the 1957 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

In 1965 she died from breast cancer at the age of 43, survived by her young son, Jonathan Oppenheim, by her ex-husband, clarinetist and conductor David Oppenheim. She was interred in the Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Jonathan Oppenheim grew up to become a documentary film editor of note, editing Paris is Burning, Children Underground, and Arguing the World.

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

Filmography

Awards
Preceded by
Olivia de Havilland
for The Heiress		Academy Award for Best Actress
1950
for Born Yesterday 		Succeeded by
Vivien Leigh
for A Streetcar Named Desire

Stage Work

Awards
Preceded by
Gwen Verdon
for Damn Yankees		Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
1957
for Bells Are Ringing 		Succeeded by
(tie)
Gwen Verdon
and
Thelma Ritter
for
New Girl in Town

External links

Footnotes

1. ^ What Ever Became of "Geniuses"?, Time, 19 Dec 1977
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State of New York

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Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior!

Official language(s) None

Capital Albany
Largest city New York City

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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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May 7 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses.

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City of New York
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"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
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Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry.
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All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
  • For the 1993 remake, see Born Yesterday (1993 film)
Born Yesterday is a 1950 film directed by George Cukor, which tells the story of a corrupt tycoon who brings his showgirl mistress with him
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Tony Award

Designed by Herman Rosse, 1949
Awarded for Excellence in theatre
Presented by American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers
Country  United States
First awarded 1947
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The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is the Tony Awards award given to the actress who was voted as the best actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival.
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Bells Are Ringing
'

Original Cast Recording
Music Jule Styne
Lyrics Betty Comden
Adolph Green
Book Betty Comden
Adolph Green

Productions 1956 Broadway
1957 West End
1960 Film
2001 Broadway revival

Bells Are Ringing
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June 21 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

In common years it is always in ISO week 25.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s  1900s  1910s  - 1920s -  1930s  1940s  1950s
1918 1919 1920 - 1921 - 1922 1923 1924

Year 1921 (MCMXXI
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June 7 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

In common years it is always in ISO week 23.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1962 1963 1964 - 1965 - 1966 1967 1968

Year 1965 (MCMLXV
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Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
..... Click the link for more information.
Tony Award

Designed by Herman Rosse, 1949
Awarded for Excellence in theatre
Presented by American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers
Country  United States
First awarded 1947
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
actor, actress, or player (see terminology) is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity.
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City of New York
New York City at sunset

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Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps
Location in the state of New York
Coordinates:
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Historical Jewish languages
Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, others
Liturgical languages:
Hebrew and Aramaic
Predominant spoken languages:
The vernacular language of the home nation in the Diaspora, significantly including English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and
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Anthem
Hymn of the Russian Federation


Capital
(and largest city) Moscow

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The Mercury Theatre was a theatre company founded in New York City by Orson Welles and John Houseman. They had initial success in the theatre, then went to radio in 1938 as The Mercury Theatre on the Air
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Orson Welles

Orson Welles in 1937 photograph by Carl Van Vechten.
Birth name George Orson Welles
Born May 6 1915(1915--)
Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.
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John Houseman

Birth name Jacques Haussmann
Born September 22 1902(1902--)
Bucharest, Romania
Died September 31 1988 (aged 86)
Malibu, California

Spouse(s)
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Betty Comden (May 3 1917 - November 23 2006) was born Basya Cohen in New York City (see [1] , [2] , [3] ). She died of heart failure following an undisclosed illness of several months at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan on
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Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at
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