Geraldine Page From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Geraldine Page Born Geraldine Sue Page November 22, 1924(1924-11-22) Kirksville, Missouri, USA Died June 13, 1987 (aged 62) New York City, New York USA Years active 1953-1987 Spouse(s) Alexander Schneider (1954-1957) Rip Torn (1963-1987) [show]Awards won Academy Awards Best Actress 1985 The Trip to Bountiful BAFTA Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1978 Interiors Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries/Movie 1967 A Christmas Memory 1969 The Thanksgiving Visitor Golden Globe Awards Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1962 Summer and Smoke 1963 Sweet Bird of Youth Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924 – June 13, 1987) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. Although starring in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater. Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Stage career 1.2 Film career 1.3 Private life 2 Filmography 3 Academy Award Nominations 4 References 5 External links [edit] Biography Page was born in Kirksville, Missouri. She attended the Goodman Theatre Dramatic School in Chicago and studied acting with Uta Hagen in New York. She began appearing in stock at the age of seventeen. [edit] Stage career Page was a trained method actor and worked closely with Lee Strasberg. Her appearance as Alma in the Off-Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke" in 1952 was as earth-shattering and legendary as anything that had ever happened in the American theatre. "Summer and Smoke" had not been particularly well received in its Broadway incarnation. Page's performance (as the minister's daughter consumed with infinite longing) and that 1952 production, directed by Jose Quintero, gave the play a new birth, and, according to common wisdom, it was that production (for its daring, for its fervor, for its being "downtown" rather than in the artistically "safe" realm of Broadway) which gave birth to the Off-Broadway movement in New York theatre. From then on, Page's name was synonymous with a kind of heart-stopping, naturalistic magic in the theatre, continuing with her work, on Broadway, as the spinster in "The Rainmaker" and as the frustrated wife whose husband becomes romantically obsessed with a young Arab, played by James Dean, in "The Immoralist." She earned critical accolades for her performance in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth opposite Paul Newman. She originated the role of a larger-than-life, addicted, sexually voracious Hollywood legend trying to extinguish her fears about her career with a young hustler named Chance Wayne, played by Newman. Page received her first Tony Award nomination for the play. She and Newman later starred in the film adaptation and Page earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the film. In 1964, she starred in a Broadway revival of Anton Chekov's The Three Sisters with Kim Stanley and Shirley Knight. The production was directed by Lee Strasberg. She also starred in Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy/White Lies, in 1967, which was the production in which both Michael Crawford and Lynn Redgrave made their Broadway debuts. Page received her second Tony nomination (for Best Featured Actress in a Play) for a successful production of Alan Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular with Sandy Dennis and Richard Kiley. Page also starred as Zelda Fitzgerald in the last major Broadway production of a Tennessee Williams play, "Clothes for a Summer Hotel" in 1980. Although the New York critical establishment had turned against Williams by that point in his career (with perhaps some justification), Page, in another remarkable creative turn, played Zelda (from her young days as a ravishingly sensual Southern belle through to her dissolution into madness) with a flourish of heart and technique which defied her own age and the strictures of type-casting. Page starred in another successful Broadway play. Agnes of God, which opened in 1982, ran for 599 performances with Page performing in nearly all of them. She received a Tony Award nomination, for Best Lead Actress in a Play, for her performance as the secretive nun Mother Miriam Ruth. The highly acclaimed production garnered co-star Amanda Plummer a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Elizabeth Ashley played the court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. Martha Livingstone. After winning an Academy Award in 1985, Page returned to Broadway in a revival of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit in the role of the psychic medium Madame Arcati. The production, which also starred Richard Chamberlain, Blythe Danner and Judith Ivey, was Page's last. Page was again nominated for a Tony Award, for Best Lead Actress in a Play, and was considered to be a favorite to win. However, she did not win, and several days after the awards ceremony she died. The show lasted several weeks more with co-star Patricia Conolly taking over Page's role. In 1960 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre. [edit] Film career Page gave celebrated performances in films as well as her work on Broadway. Her film debut was in Out of the Night (1947). Her role in Hondo, garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In all, despite her relatively small filmography, Page received eight Academy Award nominations. She finally won the Oscar in 1986 for a wonderful performance in The Trip to Bountiful, which was based on a play by Horton Foote. Had she not won for Trip to Bountiful, she would have held the record for most nominations without a single win. When she won (F. Murray Abraham, upon opening the envelope, exclaimed "I consider this woman the greatest actress in the English language"), she received a standing ovation from the audience. She was surprised by her win (she openly talked about being a seven-time Oscar loser), and took a while to get to the stage to accept the award because she had taken off her shoes while sitting in the audience. She had not expected to win, and her feet were sore. Her other notable screen roles included Academy Award-nominated performances in Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke (1961); Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) You're a Big Boy Now (1966); and Woody Allen's Interiors (1978). She also appeared in quirky and eccentric roles such as calculating murderer of old ladies in What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969); a repressed schoolmistress in the Clint Eastwood film The Beguiled (1971); a charismatic evangelist (modeled after Aimee Semple McPherson) in The Day of the Locust (1975); and as Sister Walburga in Nasty Habits (1977). She did various television shows in the 1950s through the 1980s, including movies and series, such as Hawaii Five-0, Kojak, and several episodes of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, including "The Sins Of The Fathers" and "Something In The Woodwork". She also was a voice actress and voiced the villainous Madame Medusa in the Disney animated film The Rescuers. Page has also appeared in television productions and won two Emmy Awards as Outstanding Single Performance By an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama for her roles in the classic Truman Capote stories, A Christmas Memory (1967) and The Thanksgiving Visitor (1969). Her final film was the 1987 Mary Stuart Masterson film My Little Girl, which was the film debut of Jennifer Lopez. [edit] Private life Page was married to violinist Alexander Schneider from 1954 to 1957. In 1963 she married actor Rip Torn, who was 7 years younger than Page. They remained married until her death. Page and Torn had three children, a daughter (actress Angelica Torn) and twin sons (actor Tony Torn, and Northern Arizona University professor Jon Torn). Page, who also suffered from kidney disease, died of a heart attack in 1987 during a run on Broadway in Sir Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit at the Neil Simon Theatre. She did not arrive for either of the show's two June 13 performances, and at the end of the evening performance, the play's producer announced that she had died at the age of 62.[1] Five days later, "an overflow crowd of colleagues, friends and fans," including Torn, Sissy Spacek, James Earl Jones, and Amanda Plummer, filled the Neil Simon Theatre to pay tribute to Page.[2] Her achievements as a stage actress and teacher were highlighted; actress Anne Jackson stated at the tribute that "[Page] used a stage like no one else I'd ever seen. It was like playing tennis with someone who had 26 arms."[2] Her husband, Rip Torn, called her "Mi corazon, mi alma, mi esposa (My heart, my soul, my wife)" and said that they "never stopped being lovers, and ... never will."[2] [edit] Filmography Year Film Role Other notes 1953 Taxi Florence Albert uncredited Hondo Angie Lowe Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1961 Summer and Smoke Alma Winemiller Golden Globe; Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress 1962 Sweet Bird of Youth Alexandra Del Lago Golden Globe; Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress; Nominated - BAFTA Award 1963 Toys in the Attic Carrie Berniers Nominated - Golden Globe 1964 Dear Heart Ms. Evie Jackson with Glen Ford 1966 The Three Sisters Olga You're a Big Boy Now Margery Chanticleer Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Nominated - Golden Globe 1967 Monday's Child Carol Richardson The Happiest Millionaire Mrs. Duke 1969 What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? Claire Marrable Trilogy Sook 1971 The Beguiled Martha Farnsworth 1972 J. W. Coop Mama Pete 'n' Tillie Gertrude Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Nominated - Golden Globe 1973 Happy as the Grass Was Green Anna Witmer 1975 The Day of the Locust Big Sister 1977 Nasty Habits Sister Walburga The Rescuers Madame Medusa voice 1978 Interiors Eve BAFTA Award; Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress; Nominated - Golden Globe 1981 Harry's War 'Aunt' Beverly Honky Tonk Freeway Sister Maria Clarissa 1982 I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can Jean Scott Martin 1984 The Pope of Greenwich Village Mrs. Ritter Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1985 The Bride Mrs. Baumann Walls of Glass Mama White Nights Anne Wyatt The Trip to Bountiful Mrs. Carrie Watts Academy Award for Best Actress; Nominated - Golden Globe 1986 Native Son Peggy 1987 Riders to the Sea My Little Girl Molly [edit] Academy Award Nominations Best Actress in a Leading Role 1961 - Summer and Smoke 1962 - Sweet Bird of Youth 1978 - Interiors 1985 - The Trip to Bountiful Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1953 - Hondo 1966 - You're a Big Boy Now 1972 - Pete 'n' Tillie 1984 - The Pope of Greenwich Village [edit] References ^ Kolbert, Elizabeth. Geraldine Page, 62, Dies; A Star of Stage and Film. New York Times. 15 June 1987. ^ a b c Gerard, Jeremy. Tribute to Geraldine Page Fills Neil Simon Theater. New York Times. 18 June 1987. [edit] External links Geraldine Page at the Internet Movie Database Geraldine Page at the Internet Broadway Database Awards and achievements Preceded by Ruth Roman Sarah Siddons Award - Sarah Siddons Society, Chicago 1960 Succeeded by Gertrude Berg Preceded by Greer Garson for Sunrise at Campobello Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1962 for Summer and Smoke Succeeded by Geraldine Page for Sweet Bird of Youth Preceded by Geraldine Page for Summer and Smoke Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1963 for Sweet Bird of Youth Succeeded by Leslie Caron for The L-Shaped Room Preceded by Jenny Agutter for Equus BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1978 for Interiors Succeeded by Rachel Roberts for Yanks [show]v • d • eAcademy Award for Best Actress Katharine Hepburn (1981) · Meryl Streep (1982) · Shirley MacLaine (1983) · Sally Field (1984) · Geraldine Page (1985) · Marlee Matlin (1986) · Cher (1987) · Jodie Foster (1988) · Jessica Tandy (1989) · Kathy Bates (1990) · Jodie Foster (1991) · Emma Thompson (1992) · Holly Hunter (1993) · Jessica Lange (1994) · Susan Sarandon (1995) · Frances McDormand (1996) · Helen Hunt (1997) · Gwyneth Paltrow (1998) · Hilary Swank (1999) · Julia Roberts (2000) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Complete list · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present) [show]v • d • ePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie Judith Anderson (1954) · Mary Martin (1955) · Claire Trevor (1956) · Polly Bergen (1957) · Julie Harris (1959) · Ingrid Bergman (1960) · Judith Anderson (1961) · Julie Harris (1962) · Kim Stanley (1963) · Shelley Winters (1964) · Lynn Fontanne (1965) · Simone Signoret (1966) · Geraldine Page (1967) · Maureen Stapleton (1968) · Geraldine Page (1969) · Patty Duke (1970) · Lee Grant (1971) · Glenda Jackson (1972) · Cloris Leachman (1973) · Susan Hampshire / Cicely Tyson / Mildred Natwick (1974) · Katharine Hepburn / Jessica Walter (1975) Complete list: (1954-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present) Persondata NAME Page, Geraldine ALTERNATIVE NAMES Page, Geraldine Sue SHORT DESCRIPTION Actress DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1924 PLACE OF BIRTH Kirksville, Missouri, United States DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1987 PLACE OF DEATH New York City, New York United States Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldine_Page" Categories: 1924 births | 1987 deaths | Actors Studio alumni | American film actors | American Methodists | American stage actors | BAFTA winners (people) | Best Actress Academy Award winners | Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners | Emmy Award winners | People from Kirksville, Missouri