Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Mildred Dunnock

 
American Theater Guide: Mildred [Dorothy] Dunnock
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > American Theater Guide

Dunnock, Mildred [Dorothy] (1901–91), actress. Born in Baltimore, she made her debut in Life Begins (1932) and later appeared in such plays as The Corn Is Green (1940) and Another Part of the Forest (1946). For years one of the most respected supporting actresses in American theatre despite her mousy looks and plaintive voice, Dunnock is best remembered for three roles: the long‐suffering, loving wife Linda in Death of a Salesman (1949); the weak, boozy Mrs. Constable in In the Summer House (1953); and the vacuous, subjugated wife Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955).

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Actor: Mildred Dunnock
Top
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jan 25, 1901 in Baltimore, Maryland
  • Died: Jul 05, 1991 in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Drama
  • Career Highlights: Death of a Salesman, Baby Doll, The Trouble with Harry
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Corn Is Green (1945)

Biography

Educated at Goucher College and at Johns Hopkins and Columbia University, American actress Mildred Dunnock was introduced to films in her stage role as Miss Ronsberry in The Corn Is Green (1945). Her next major assignment was as Willy Loman's long-suffering wife Linda in Arthur Miller's 1948 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Death of a Salesman, a part that she also essayed in the 1952 film version. Dunnock preferred stage work and college lecture tours to the movies, but returned before the cameras occasionally in such films as 1952's Viva Zapata (directed by the director of Salesman, Elia Kazan), Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry (1955), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1962). One of Dunnock's most spectacular film appearances was her unbilled role in the gangster melodrama Kiss of Death (1948); she was the wheelchair-bound old lady pushed down a flight of stairs by giggling psychopath Richard Widmark! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Mildred Dunnock
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Mildred Dunnock
Born January 25, 1901(1901-01-25)
Baltimore, Maryland
Died July 5, 1991 (aged 90)
Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
Years active 1947 - 1987
Spouse(s) Keith Urmy (1933-1991)

Mildred Dunnock (January 25, 1901 - July 5, 1991) was an American theater, film and television actress.

Contents

Early life

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Dunnock was a school teacher who did not start acting until she was in her early thirties. She attended Goucher College where she was a member of Alpha Phi sorority.

Career

After a couple of roles in Broadway productions, Dunnock won praise for her performance as a Welsh school teacher in The Corn is Green (1940). The 1945 film version marked her screen debut opposite Bette Davis.

During the 1940s Dunnock performed mostly on stage, in such dramas as Another Part of the Forest (1946) and Death of a Salesman (1948) and in the musical Lute Song (1946). She reprised her Salesman role in the 1951 film version. She originated the role of Big Mama in the Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, although she lost the movie role to Judith Anderson. Her films include The Trouble with Harry (1955), Love Me Tender (1956), Baby Doll (1956), Peyton Place (1957), The Nun's Story (1959), Butterfield 8 (1960), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).

She was the uncredited woman in the wheelchair pushed down to the stairs to her death by Richard Widmark in the 1947 film Kiss of Death.


In addition to her successful career as a character actress in film and theater, Dunnock appeared frequently in numerous TV series in guest roles, and later in her career, several made-for-television movies, including a remake of Death of a Salesman in which she played Linda Loman for the third time.

Dunnock was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for Death of a Salesman in 1951, and for Baby Doll in 1956. She was also nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for Baby Doll. Her final film was The Pick-up Artist (1987), which starred Robert Downey, Jr. and Molly Ringwald.

Dunnock has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures, at 6613 Hollywood Boulevard.

Private life

Dunnock was married to Keith Urmy from 1933 until her death, and had one child.

Dunnock died in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, of natural causes at the age of 90.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mildred Dunnock".  Read more