Polly Bergen
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| Polly Bergen | |
| Birth name | Nellie Paulina Burgin |
| Born | July 14, 1930 (age 76) Knoxville, Tennessee, USA |
| Spouse(s) | Freddie Fields |
Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin on July 14, 1930) is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Bergen was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Just as other actresses such as Joan Collins and Luise Rainer have done, Bergen publicly revealed that she had undergone an abortion when she was a young woman.
[edit] Career
Bergen was a regular panelist on the CBS television game show To Tell the Truth during its debut run. She played the character of Rhoda Henry in two ABC miniseries, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. She appeared in the 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also appeared on HBO's The Sopranos.
In 2006, Bergen was a semi-regular cast member of Commander-in-Chief as the President's mother. Her role in that series, about the first female President, is notable because Bergen herself once played a President, in the 1964 film Kisses for My President. One of her most recent appearances was on CBS's Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation Candles on Bay Street (2006), in which she played the assistant to a husband-and-wife team of veterinarians. Bergen also was in several television commercials for Pepsi Cola in the 1950's.
[edit] Personal life
Bergen converted to Judaism[citation needed] after having married Hollywood talent agent Freddie Fields, by whom she had one biological child and two adopted children. She had previously been a Southern Baptist; a grandfather was a Baptist minister.[citation needed] She had two other marriages that also ended in divorce. When not working, Bergen lives quietly amongst her Hollywood pals in the Hills of Litchfield County, Connecticut.[citation needed]
[edit] Filmography
- Champion (1949)
- Across the Rio Grande (1949)
- At War with the Army (1950)
- That's My Boy (1951)
- Warpath (1951)
- The Stooge (1952)
- Cry of the Hunted (1953)
- Arena (1953)
- Half a Hero (1953)
- Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
- Cape Fear (1962)
- Belle Sommers (1962)
- The Caretakers (1963)
- Move Over, Darling (1963)
- Kisses for My President (1964)
- A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
- Making Mr. Right (1987)
- Mother, Mother (1989) (short subject)
- Cry-Baby (1990)
- Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored (1995)
- Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995)
- Paradise, Texas (2005)
- A Very Serious Person (2006)
[edit] Television Work
- The Blue Angel (1954) (canceled after a few weeks)
- The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (host from 1954-1955)
- To Tell the Truth (panelist from 1956-1961)
- The Polly Bergen Show (1957-1958)
- Death Cruise (1974)
- Murder on Flight 502 (1975)
- Not for Women Only (host from 1976-1977)
- 79 Park Avenue (1977) (miniseries)
- Teleton (1977)
- How to Pick Up Girls! (1978)
- The Million Dollar Face (1981)
- Born Beautiful (1982)
- The Winds of War (1983) (miniseries)
- Velvet (1984)
- Addicted to His Love (1988)
- War and Remembrance (1988) (miniseries)
- She Was Marked for Murder (1988)
- The Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989)
- My Brother's Wife (1989)
- Steel Magnolias (1990) (unsold pilot)
- Baby Talk (1991-1992)
- Lightning Field (1991)
- Lady Against the Odds (1992)
- Arly Hanks (1993) (unsold pilot)
- Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal (1993)
- Leave of Absence (1994)
- The Surrogate (1995)
- In the Blink of an Eye (1996)
- For Hope (1996)
- Early Bird (2005)
- Commander in Chief (2005-2006)
- Candles on Bay Street (2006)
[edit] External links
- Polly Bergen at the Internet Movie Database
- Polly Bergen at the Internet Broadway Database
- Polly Bergen—Madame President (fan site)
