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Barbara O'Neil

 
Actor: Barbara O'Neil
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jul 10, 1909 in St. Louis, Missouri
  • Died: Sep 03, 1980 in Cos Cob, Connecticut
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '30s-'50s
  • Major Genres: Drama
  • Career Highlights: Stella Dallas, All This and Heaven Too, Whirlpool
  • First Major Screen Credit: Stella Dallas (1937)

Biography

Descended from a well-established New England family, St. Louis-born Barbara O'Neil was educated at Sarah Lawrence College and launched her acting career with the Cape Cod-based University Players. The co-founder of this prestigious group was Joshua Logan, who became O'Neil's husband (they were later divorced). She made her Broadway debut in 1930's Saint's Parade and came to Hollywood in 1937 to appear in Samuel Goldwyn's Stella Dallas. Signed to a Universal contract, O'Neil was rather wasted in antiseptic roles in Tower of London (1939) and The Sun Never Sets (1939), although she was given ample opportunity to shine as Charles Boyer's self-destructive wife in When Tomorrow Comes (1939). Her best 1939 assignment, however, was while on loan-out to David O. Selznick. The 29-year-old O'Neil played Eileen O'Hara, the strong-willed mother of Scarlett O'Hara, in Gone With the Wind. The following year, she was re-teamed with Charles Boyer as the maniacally possessive Duchess de Praslin in All This and Heaven Too, a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination. While she continued making films until 1959, the actress seemed happiest and most fulfilled as a Broadway actress. She retired in 1960 after appearing in the original New York production of Little Moon of Alban. O'Neil died in 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Barbara O'Neil

in All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
Born July 17, 1910(1910-07-17)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died September 3, 1980 (aged 70)
Cos Cob, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1937–1959; 1970
Spouse(s) Joshua Logan (1939–1940) (divorced)

Barbara O'Neil (July 17, 1910 – September 3, 1980) was an American actress.

Contents

Career

O'Neil was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She began her acting career in summer stock. In July 1931 Bretaigne Windust, Charles Leatherbee (the grandson of Charles Richard Crane), and Joshua Logan, the three directors of the University Players, a three-year old summer stock company at West Falmouth on Cape Code, were looking for a leading lady type for their repertory season that winter in Baltimore. At the suggestion of George Pierce Baker, they auditioned and hired O'Neil, one of his talented students at the Yale School of Drama. Romances born of the University Players led to three significant marriages: actress Margaret Sullavan to Henry Fonda for a few months in 1932, director/actor Joshua Logan's younger sister Mary Lee Logan to Charles Leatherbee, and Joshua Logan himself to Barbara O'Neil, which lasted only a few months in 1939. O'Neil never remarried.

In 1937, O'Neil debuted in the film Stella Dallas and in 1939 she was cast in the role of Ellen O'Hara, Scarlett O'Hara's mother, in Gone with the Wind, after the role was turned down by Lillian Gish.[1] The following year, she appeared in All This and Heaven Too; she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of the domineering and jealous Duchesse de Praslin.

Her later films include Shining Victory (1941), I Remember Mama (1948), and Otto Preminger's Whirlpool (1949) and The Nun's Story (1959).

Death

Barbara O'Neil died from a heart attack at the age of 70 on September 3, 1980.[2]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1937 Stella Dallas Helen Morrison Dallas
1938 Love, Honor and Behave Sally Painter
The Toy Wife Louise Brigard
I Am the Law Jerry Lindsay
1939 The Sun Never Sets Helen Randolph
When Tomorrow Comes Madeleine Chagal
Tower of London Koningin Elyzabeth
Gone with the Wind Ellen O'Hara
1940 All This, and Heaven Too Hertogin de Praslin Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1941 Shining Victory Miss Leeming
1948 Secret Beyond the Door... Miss Robey
I Remember Mama Jessie Brown
1949 Whirlpool Theresa Randolph
1952 Angel Face Mrs. Catherine Tremayne
1956 Flame of the Islands Mrs. Duryea
1959 The Nun's Story Moeder Didyma
1970 Lions of St. Petersburg Tamila aka Leoni di Petersburgo

References

  1. ^ Lambert, Gavin (1976) [1973]. GWTW: The Making of Gone With the Wind (mass market paperback ed.). New York: Bantam Books. p. 53. 
  2. ^ "Barbara O'Neil Dies". http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/658112572.html?dids=658112572:65811257&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Sep+04%2C+1980&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Barbara+O'Neil+Dies%3B+Played+Scarlett's+Mother&pgati=google.  LA Times Archive

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Angel Face (1953 Drama Film)
When Tomorrow Comes (1939 Drama Film)
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