Gale Sondergaard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| Gale Sondergaard | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 in the trailer for Dramatic School (1938) |
|||||||
| Born | Edith Holm Sondergaard February 15, 1899 Litchfield, Minnesota |
||||||
| Died | August 14, 1985 (aged 86) Woodland Hills, California |
||||||
|
|||||||
Gale Sondergaard (February 15, 1899 – August 14, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning U.S. film actress. In 1936, she was the first actress to be awarded an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Edith Holm Sondergaard was born in Litchfield, Minnesota to Danish parents. She studied acting at the Minneapolis School of Dramatic Arts before joining the John Keller Shakespeare Company. She later toured North America in productions of Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and Macbeth.
[edit] Career
Sondergaard made her first film appearance in Anthony Adverse as "Faith Paleologue" and became the first recipient of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this performance. Her career as an actress flourished during the 1930s, including a role opposite Paul Muni in Academy Award-winning The Life of Emile Zola.
Walt Disney Studios used her as the main inspiration for the Wicked Queen in the animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Originally cast as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939), she was replaced by Margaret Hamilton when MGM decided to change the Wicked Witch from a glamorous character to an ugly one, and Sondergaard, fearing it could damage her career, refused to wear the necessary disfiguring makeup.
In 1940 she played the role with which she is perhaps most identified, the exotic and sinister wife in The Letter, supporting Bette Davis. She received a second Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role as the King's wife in Anna and the King of Siam in 1946.
In 1978 Sondegaard played the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in a production of Marcelle Maurette's play Anastasia at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
[edit] Private life
Married to the film director Herbert Biberman from 1930, her career suffered irreparable damage during the Red Scare of the early 1950s, when her husband was accused of being a communist and named as one of the Hollywood Ten. With her career stalled, she supported her husband during the production of Salt of the Earth (1954). Highly controversial when it was made, and not a commercial success, its artistic and cultural merit was recognized in 1992 when the National Film Preservation Board selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The 2000 film One of the Hollywood Ten chronicled Sondergaard's relationship with Biberman and her role in the making of Salt of the Earth.
Sondergaard and Biberman sold their home in Hollywood shortly after they completed Salt of the Earth, and moved to New York where Sondergaard was able to work in theatre.
[edit] Death
Herbert Biberman died in 1971. Sondergaard made a few more film and television appearances, before retiring. She died from cerebral vascular thrombosis in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 86.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Anthony Adverse | Faith Paleologus | first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1937 | Maid of Salem | Martha Harding | |
| Seventh Heaven | Nana, Diane's Sister | ||
| The Life of Emile Zola | Lucie Dreyfus | ||
| 1938 | Lord Jeff | Doris Clandon | |
| Dramatic School | Madame Therese Charlot | ||
| 1939 | Never Say Die | Juno Marko | |
| Juarez | Empress Eugenie | ||
| Sons of Liberty | Rachel Salomon | ||
| The Cat and the Canary | Miss Lu | ||
| The Llano Kid | Lora Travers | ||
| 1940 | The Blue Bird | Tylette (the cat) | |
| The Mark of Zorro | Inez Quintero | ||
| The Letter | Mrs. Hammond | ||
| 1941 | The Black Cat | Abigail Doone | |
| Paris Calling | Colette | ||
| 1942 | My Favorite Blonde | Madame Stephanie Runick | |
| Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen | Mrs. Van Dorn | ||
| 1943 | A Night to Remember | Mrs. Devoe | |
| Appointment in Berlin | Gretta Van Leyden | ||
| Isle of Forgotten Sins | Marge Willison | ||
| The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler | Anna Huber | ||
| Crazy House | uncredited cameo performance | ||
| 1944 | The Spider Woman | Adrea Spedding | |
| Follow the Boys | herself | ||
| Christmas Holiday | Mrs. Monette | ||
| The Invisible Man's Revenge | Lady Irene Herrick | ||
| Gypsy Wildcat | Rhoda | ||
| The Climax | Luise | ||
| Enter Arsene Lupin | Bessie Seagrave | ||
| 1946 | The Spider Woman Strikes Back | Zenobia Dollard | |
| A Night in Paradise | Attosa | ||
| Anna and the King of Siam | Lady Thiang | ||
| The Time of Their Lives | Emily | ||
| 1947 | Pirates of Monterey | Señorita De Sola | |
| Road to Rio | Catherine Vail | ||
| 1949 | East Side, West Side | Nora Kernan | |
| 1969 | Savage Intruder | Leslie | |
| Slaves | New Orleans lady | ||
| It Takes a Thief | Madame Olga Millard | TV, episode "The Scorpio Drop" | |
| 1970 | Get Smart | Hester Van Hooten | TV, episide "Rebecca of Funny-Folk Farm" |
| Tango | TV | ||
| The Best of Everything | Amanda Key | TV | |
| 1971 | Night Gallery | Abigail Moore | TV, episode "The Dark Boy" |
| The Bold Ones: The Lawyers | Mrs. Marley | TV, episode "The Letter of the Law" | |
| 1973 | The Cat Creature | Hester Black | TV |
| 1974 | Medical Center | Myra | TV, episode "Adults Only" |
| Nakia | TV, episode "The Quarry" | ||
| Police Story | Marge White | TV, episode "A World Full of Hurt" | |
| 1976 | Ryan's Hope | Marguerite Beaulac | TV, 6 episodes |
| The Return of a Man Called Horse | Elk Woman | ||
| Pleasantville | Ora | ||
| Hollywood on Trial | herself | documentary | |
| 1977 | Visions | Ora Drummond | TV, episode "Pleasantville" |
| 1978 | Centennial | Aunt Augusta | TV mini series |
| 1981 | The Fall Guy | Mrs. Jackson | TV, episode "The Human Torch" |
| 1983 | Echoes | Mrs. Edmunds |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by — |
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1936 for Anthony Adverse |
Succeeded by Alice Brady for In Old Chicago |
[edit] External links
|
|||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sondergaard, Gale |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sondergaard, Edith Holm |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1899-2-15 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Litchfield, Minnesota |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1985-8-14 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Woodland Hills, California |
