Beatrice Straight

Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an American theatre, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was both an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award nominee.

Career

Straight returned to the United States and made her Broadway debut in the play The Possessed (1939). Most of her theater work was in the classics, including Twelfth Night (1941), Macbeth (1948) and The Crucible (1953), for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She returned to the New York stage in 1979 to play Gertrude in Hamlet opposite William Hurt .

Straight was a member of the Actors Studio from its inception, attending the class founding member Robert Lewis conducted three times a week; her classmates included Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Jerome Robbins, Sidney Lumet, and about twenty others.

Straight was active in the early days of television, appearing in anthology series such as Armstrong Circle Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, Suspense, The United States Steel Hour, Playhouse 90, and dramatic series such as Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, The Defenders, Route 66, Mission: Impossible and St. Elsewhere. Further television performances included the likes of turns in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as well as her role as Hippolyta in the Wonder Woman series.

Straight worked infrequently in film and is perhaps remembered best for her role as a devastated wife confronting husband William Holden's infidelity in Network (1976). Despite her character only appearing briefly onscreen, Straight was highly praised for her performance, earning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Another widely seen film appearance was the role of the paranormal investigator Dr. Martha Lesh in the horror film Poltergeist (1982).

Personal life On February 22, 1942, Straight married Louis Dolivet, Free French Leader, in Polk County, Iowa. At the time, Dolivet was a speaker at the National Farm Institute and Straight was in the middle of the midwest road show of Twelfth Night.

Straight obtained a divorce from Dolivet in Reno, Nevada, on May 24, 1949. Together, the couple had one child: Willard Whitney Straight Dolivet (1945–1952)

In 1948, while starring in the Broadway production of The Heiress, an adaptation of Henry James's Washington Square, she met Peter Cookson. They married in 1949 and remained married until Cookson's death in 1990. Peter had two children from his previous marriage, Peter W. Cookson Jr. and Jane Coopland (née Cookson).

Straight reportedly had Alzheimer's disease in her last years. In 2001, she died from pneumonia in Northridge, Los Angeles, at the age of 86.

Filmography Film + Title Year Role Notes Phone Call from a Stranger 1952 Claire Fortness Patterns 1956 Nancy Staples The Silken Affair 1956 Theora The Nun's Story 1959 Mother Christophe (Sanatorium) The Young Lovers 1964 Mrs. Burns The Garden Party 1973 Mrs. Sheridan Short film Network 1976 Louise Schumacher Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress The Promise 1979 Marion Hillyard Bloodline 1979 Kate Erling The Formula 1980 Kay Neeley Endless Love 1981 Rose Axelrod Poltergeist 1982 Dr. Martha Lesh Two of a Kind 1983 Ruth Power 1986 Claire Hastings Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress Deceived 1991 Adrienne's Mother Final film role From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff 2002 Self They Are Here: The Real World of the Poltergeists 2007 Dr. Martha Lesh (uncredited) Archive footage from Poltergeist

Television + Title Year Role Notes With This Ring 1951 Self Season 1, Episode 4: "#1.4" ; Season 1, Episode 5: "#1.5" Somerset Maugham TV Theatre 1951 Season 1, Episode 12: "The Treasure" Lights Out 1951 Charlotte Season 3, Episode 36: "Grey Reminder" Cosmopolitan Theatre 1951 Season 1, Episode 4: "Reward, One Million" Hallmark Hall of Fame 1952 (2) Elizabeth Barrett / Louisa May Alcott Season 1, Episode 3: "Love Story"; Season 1, Episode 21: "The Magnificent Failure" The Web 1952 Season 2, Episode 24: "Hear Footsteps" Armstrong Circle Theatre 1952 (2) Season 2, Episode 21: "Image"; Season 3, Episode 3: "Betrayal" Kraft Theatre 1952 (2), 1953 Season 5, Episode 42: "Thorn in the Flesh"; Season 6, Episode 10: "The Iron Gate"; Season 7, Episode 13: "Gavin" Love Story 1954 (2) Season 1, Episode 3: "The Matchmaker"; Season 1, Episode 7: "The Yo-Yo People" Suspense 1952, 1954 Claire Trent / Mrs. de Spain Season 4, Episode 19: "The Red Signal"; Season 6, Episode 47: "Barn Burning" Inner Sanctum 1954 Louise Season 1, Episode 34: "Pattern of Fear" Omnibus 1953, 1954 Goneril / ** Season 2, Episode 3: "King Lear"; Season 3, Episode 6: "Antigone" You Are There 1954, 1955 Anne Boleyn / ** Season 2, Episode 42: "The Crisis of Anne Boleyn"; Season 3, Episode 19: "The Torment of Beethoven" Danger 1955 Season 5, Episode 22: "The Dark Curtain" Lamp Unto My Feet 1956 Episode aired Oct 28: "Page From a Family Album" Studio One in Hollywood 1951 (2), 1957 Kay / ** / Pamela Baxter / Deborah Season 3, Episode 24: "The Target"; Season 3, Episode 29: "A Chill on the Wind"; Season 10, Episode 6: "Act of Mercy"; Season 10, Episode 8; "Bend in the Road" The United States Steel Hour 1955, 1958 Daisy Jackson / Katherine Grant Season 2, Episode 17: "The Roads to Home"; Season 5, Episode 15: "Top Secret Mission" Look Up and Live 1957 Self / Narrator Episode aired April 21: "The Way of the Cross" The Investigator 1958 The Widow Season 1, Episode 7: "#1.7" Playhouse 90 1958 Grace Season 3, Episode 5: "Shadows Tremble" Play of the Week 1959 Mlle. de St. Euverte Season 1, Episode 6: "The Waltz of the Toreadors" Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1959, 1960 Cynthia Fortnam / Ida Blythe Season 5, Episode 10: "Special Delivery"; Season 5, Episode 27: "The Cuckoo Clock" Diagnosis: Unknown 1960 Rhoda Clarence Season 1, Episode 4: "Final Performance" Route 66 1961, 1962, 1963 Kitty Chamberlain / Mother Teresa / Elena De Amundo Season, 1 Episode 24: "Most Vanquished, Most Victorious"; Season 2, Episode 26: "Kiss the Maiden All Forlorn"; Season 3, Episode 22; "The Cage Around Maria" Dr. Kildare 1961 Pamela Rainey Season 1, Episode 10: "For the Living" Naked City 1962 Ann Johns Season 3, Episode 32: "Memory of a Trolley Car" The Doctors and the Nurses 1962 Ruth Martin Season 1, Episode 10: "The Lady Made of Stone" The Eleventh Hour 1963 Veronica Filmore Season 1, Episode 14: "Where Have You Been, Lord Randall, My Son?" Ben Casey 1963 Edith Bauer Season 2, Episode 2: "Rigadoon for Three Pianos" The Defenders 1965 Mrs. Campbell Season 4, Episode 15: "Eyewitness" Mission: Impossible 1966 Dr. Martha Richards Zubrovnik Season 1, Episode 11: "Zubrovnik's Ghost" Felony Squad 1967 Victoria Cahill Season 2, Episode 10: "Who'll Take Care of Joey?" Love of Life 1970 Vinnie Phillips Season 13, various episodes Matt Lincoln 1970 Barbara Miller Season 1, Episode 8: "Doc" The Wide World of Mystery 1973 Mother Season 1, Episode 12: "The Haunting of Rosalind" The Borrowers 1973 Mrs. Crampfurl TV film Beacon Hill 1975 Mrs. Hacker Season 1, Episode 1: "The Pilot"; Season 1, Episode 2: "The Colonel and the Fawn"; Season 1, Episode 3: "The Marblehead Club"; Season 1, Episode 4: "The Poor Little Thing"; Season 1, Episode 5: "The Soldiers"; Season 1, Episode 6: "The Shining Example"; Season 1, Episode 7: "The Speakeasy"; Season 1, Episode:8 "The Million Dollar Gate"; Season 1, Episode 9: "The Suitors"; Season 1, Episode 10 "The Test"; Season 1, Episode 11: "The Pretenders" Bicentennial Minutes 1976 Self / Narrator Season 1, Episode 575: "Episode #1.575" Straight Talk 1977 Self / Guest Episode aired March 1: "Episode dated 1 March 1977" The Andros Targets 1977 Mrs. Bendeson Season 1, Episode 6: "Requiem for a Stolen Child, Part I" The 49th Annual Academy Awards 1977 Self / Winner TV special The World of Darkness 1977 Joanna Sanford TV film Wonder Woman 1977 Hippolyta Season 2, Episode 1: "The Return of Wonder Woman"; Season 2, Episode 4: "The Bermuda Triangle Crisis" The Mike Douglas Show 1977 Self / Guest Season 16, Episode 157: "Episode #16.157" Killer on Board 1977 Beatrice Richmond TV film The 50th Annual Academy Awards 1978 Self / Past Winner TV special The Dain Curse 1978 Alice Dain Leggett miniseries; Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series King's Crossing 1982 Louisa Beauchamp Season 1, Episode 1: "Keepers of the Ring"; Season 1, Episode 2: "Friday's Child"; Season 1, Episode 3: "Ghosts"; Season 1, Episode 4: "Triangle"; Season 1, Episode 5: "Long Ago Tomorrow"; Season 1, Episode 6: "Confusion by Cupid"; Season 1, Episode 7: "The Home Front"; Season 1, Episode 8: "Family Reunion"; Season 1, Episode 9: "One Afternoon"; Season 1, Episode 10: "Strangers" All-Star Family Feud Special: Heroes vs. Villains 1982 Self / Celebrity Contestant TV special Night of 100 Stars 1982 Self TV special The Making of "Poltergeist" 1982 Self (uncredited) TV short film Faerie Tale Theatre 1984 Queen Veronica / Woman in Museum Season 3, Episode 2: "The Princess and the Pea" Robert Kennedy and His Times 1985 Rose Kennedy miniseries Chiller 1985 Marion Creighton TV film Under Siege 1986 Margaret Sloan TV film Jack and Mike 1987 Mike's Mother Season 1, Episode 18: "Spirits in the Night" St. Elsewhere 1988 Marjorie Andrews Season 6, Episode 18: "The Naked Civil Surgeon"; Season 6, Episode 19: "Requiem for a Heavyweight"; Season 6, Episode 20: "Split Decision" Run Til You Fall 1988 Margaret TV film People Like Us 1990 Maisie Verdurin TV film 8th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards 2002 Self • In Memoriam (archive footage) TV special The 74th Annual Academy Awards 2002 Self • Memorial Tribute (archive footage) TV special Shakespeare Uncovered 2015 Goneril (uncredited - archive footage from King Lear) Season 2, Episode 2: "King Lear with Christopher Plummer"

Selected theatre credits Broadway + Title Date of Production Role Notes Bitter Oleander Feb. 11, 1935 – Mar. 02, 1935 Spinning Girl Lyceum Theatre The Possessed Oct. 24, 1939 – Nov. 4, 1939 Lisa Lyceum Theatre Twelfth Night Dec. 2, 1941 – Dec. 13, 1941 Viola Little Theatre A Happy Ending c. 1942 -/- Barbizon-Plaza Concert Hall Land of Fame Sep. 21, 1943 – Sep. 25, 1943 Angela Belasco Theatre Pygmalion c. 1945 as producer Ethel Barrymore Theatre Playboy of the Western World c. 1946 as producer Booth Theatre The Wanhope Building Feb. 9, 1947 – Feb. 16, 1947 Felina Princess Theatre The Heiress Sep. 29, 1947 – Sep. 18, 1948 Catherine Sloper Biltmore Theatre; Casting replacement Eastward in Eden Nov. 18, 1947 – Nov. 29, 1947 Emily Dickinson Royale Theatre Macbeth Mar. 31, 1948 – Apr. 24, 1948 Lady Macduff National Theatre The Innocents Feb. 1, 1950 – Jun. 3, 1950 Miss Giddens Playhouse Theatre The Grand Tour Dec. 10, 1951 – Dec. 15, 1951 Nell Valentine Martin Beck Theatre The Crucible Jan. 22, 1953 – Jul. 11, 1953 Elizabeth Proctor Martin Beck Theatre; Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play Everything in the Garden Nov. 29, 1967 – Feb. 10, 1968 Mrs. Toothe Plymouth Theatre Who Am I? 1971-1973 as director Young World Foundation Theatre Company

Off-Broadway + Title Date of Production Role Notes Henry IV, Part I c. 1946 as producer Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) Henry IV, Part II c. 1946 as producer Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) Uncle Vanya c. 1946 as producer Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) Oedipus c. 1946 as producer Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) The Critic c. 1946 as producer Century Theatre (also produced in the U.K.) Sing Me No Lullaby c. 1954 -/- Phoenix Theatre The River Line Jan. 2, 1957 - Jan. 13, 1957 Marie Chassaigne Carnegie Hall Playhouse Phedre Feb. 10, 1966 - May 8, 1966 Phedre Greenwich Mews Theatre Ghosts Mar. 13, 1973 - May 27, 1973 Mrs. Helene Alving Roundabout Stage II All My Sons Sep. 27, 1974 - Nov. 17, 1974 Kate Keller Roundabout Stage (23rd Street Theatre) Hamlet Dec. 12, 1979 - Feb. 10, 1980 Gertrude Circle Theatre

Other stage credits + Title Date of Production Role Notes Henry IV, Part I c. 1946 as producer The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) Henry IV, Part II c. 1946 as producer The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) Uncle Vanya c. 1946 as producer The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) Oedipus c. 1946 as producer The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) The Critic c. 1946 as producer The Old Vic Theatre - London, U.K. (also produced in the U.S.) A Streetcar Named Desire c. 1967, 1969-1970 Blanche du Bois Berkshire Theatre Festival - Stockbridge, MA; various other U.S. cities during the production's tour The Right Honorable Gentleman c. 1971 Mrs. Lila Rossiter The Cape Playhouse - Dennis, MA; Ogunquit Playhouse - Ogunquit, ME; various other U.S. cities during the production's tour The Palace at 4 A.M. c. 1972 The Mother John Drew Theatre - Easthampton, NY Old Times c. 1977 Kate Academy Festival Theatre - Lake Forest, IL

Selected radio credits + Title Date of Production Role Notes Great Scenes from Great Plays October 15, 1948 Elizabeth Barrett Program #3: "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" Lights Out April 30, 1951 Charlotte Season 3, Episode 36: "Grey Reminder" Suspense January 22, 1952 Claire Trent Season 4, Episode 19: "The Red Signal" CBS Radio Mystery Theater March 20, 1974 Alice Emery Season 1, Episode 60: "#60 — Ghost at the Gate" CBS Radio Mystery Theater July 25, 1974 Sybil Carter Season 1, Episode 123: "#123 — My Sister, Death" CBS Radio Mystery Theater January 20, 1975 Mrs. Vortic Season 2, Episode 15: "#208 — The Precious Killer" CBS Radio Mystery Theater May 12, 1975 Jesse Craig Season 2, Episode 79: "#272 — For Tomorrow We Die" CBS Radio Mystery Theater February 26, 1976 Ellen Gardner Season 3, Episode 33: "#438 — The Providential Ghost"

Accolades Year Award Category Nominated work Results Ref. 1976 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress Network 1986 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Supporting Actress Power 1978 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series The Dain Curse 1953 Tony Awards Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actress The Crucible