Margaret Sheridan
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Margaret Elizabeth Sheridan (October 29, 1926 – May 1, 1982) was an American actress of the early 1950s, and protégée of director Howard Hawks. The raven-haired beauty is best remembered for her role as Nikki Nickolson opposite Kenneth Tobey in the 1951 science fiction classic The Thing from Another World.
She was born in Los Angeles, California, to Thomas J. and Julia P. Sheridan. Margaret was discovered by Howard Hawks while she was still attending college. Initially Hawks believed she was the most promising of his female discoveries.
In 1947 she married William F. Pattison, a professional airline pilot. Hawks offered Sheridan the female lead opposite John Wayne in the 1948 film Red River. Sheridan turned down the role because she was expecting the birth of her first child. Joanne Dru accepted the role. Later Hawks offered her the role of Nikki Nickolson in the 1951 film The Thing from Another World, where the quality of the film and her performance cemented her in the minds of film lovers.
Sheridan's career suffered, and she never achieved the fame Hawks had hoped. Motherhood and a few years of maturity had evidently changed her. Hawks is quoted as saying she was just "not the same girl" he had discovered. He later commented that if she would have taken the role in Red River her career would have flourished.
She reportedly died of lung cancer May 1, 1982 in Orange, California.
[edit] References
- Howard Hawks: the Gray Fox of Hollywood by Todd McCarthy
