Lois Nettleton
| Lois Nettleton | |
|---|---|
 Lois Nettleton at the 1989 Emmy Awards. | |
| Born |
Lois June Nettleton August 16, 1927 Oak Park, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died |
January 18, 2008 (aged 80) Woodland Hills, California, U.S. |
Cause of death | Lung cancer |
Resting place | Saint Raymond's Cemetery, Bronx, New York City |
| Other names | Lydia Scott |
| Years active | 1949–2008 |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Shepherd (1960–1967; divorced) |
Lois June Nettleton (August 16, 1927 – January 18, 2008)[1] was an American film, stage, radio, and television actress.
Youth
Born on August 16, 1927 in Oak Park, Illinois to Virginia and Edward L. Nettleton. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at the Miss America 1948 Pageant.[2] Her professional acting career began in 1949. She understudied Barbara Bel Geddes in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and first appeared on television in a 1954 episode of Captain Video.[3]
Career
Radio
Nettleton played Patsy in the radio soap opera The Brighter Day.[4]
Television/Emmy Award nominations
She performed in dozens of guest-starring roles on television shows. Early roles included Twilight Zone (episode "The Midnight Sun", 1961); Naked City; Route 66; Mr. Novak; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (episode "The Dark Pool", 1963); The Eleventh Hour; Dr. Kildare; Twelve O'Clock High; The Fugitive; The F.B.I.; Bonanza; Gunsmoke; The Virginian and Daniel Boone.[5]
In 1987, she portrayed the role of Penny VanderHof Sycamore on the TV series version of the classic Kaufman and Hart comedy play You Can't Take It With You with Harry Morgan and Richard Sanders. She was a regular celebrity guest on various versions of the game show Pyramid from the 1970s through 1991.[5]
Nettleton won two Emmy Awards during her career. She won one for her role as Susan B. Anthony in the television film The American Woman: Profiles in Courage (1977), and for "A Gun For Mandy" (1983), which was an episode of the religious anthology, Insight. She received an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series" for an episode of The Golden Girls. She also received Emmy nominations for her work in the TV movie Fear on Trial (1975) ("Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special") and for a recurring role on the series In the Heat of the Night, in 1989 ("Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series"). Nettleton appeared in a 2006 Christmas TV movie special, The Christmas Card.
Stage
A life member of The Actors Studio,[6] Nettleton made her Broadway debut in the 1949 production of Dalton Trumbo's play, The Biggest Thief in Town using the name "Lydia Scott."[7] She appeared in a 1959 off-Broadway production of Look Charlie, which was written by her future husband, humorist Jean Shepherd.
She received critical praise for her performance as Blanche DuBois in a 1973 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. Nettleton was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as "Amy" in a 1976 revival of They Knew What They Wanted. Other stage credits include Broadway productions of Darkness at Noon and Silent Night, Lonely Night.[8] She continued to act onstage into her seventies. Her final stage performance was in 2004, in an off-Broadway play, How to Build a Better Tulip.
Film
Her film roles included Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment, Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd, The Man in the Glass Booth, and Colin Higgins' The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In 1964 she played the title role in Mail Order Bride, a western film also starring Buddy Ebsen and Keir Dullea. She was also in The Honkers with James Coburn. She played the villainous Maud Wendell in Centennial.[5]
Voice
In her later years, she did several voice roles for Disney, such as Disney's House of Mouse (as Maleficent), and Herc's Adventures. She appeared in episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater.[5]
Personal life
She was the first caller to Jean Shepherd's late-night radio program on WOR. She became a regular guest, known to listeners as "The Caller." They appeared together in Shepherd's off-Broadway play Look Charlie in 1959, and married in 1960. They divorced seven years later. She never remarried or had children.
Her last public appearance was at the 2007 Twilight Zone Convention, in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, in August 2007.
Death
Nettleton died at the age of 80, from lung cancer, in Woodland Hills, California on January 18, 2008. She was interred in New York City's Saint Raymond's Cemetery.
References
- ↑ "Actress Lois Nettleton dies at 80", Variety (Associated Press), January 21, 2008
- ↑ Martin, Douglas (January 22, 2008), "Lois Nettleton, 80, Dies; Acted on Stage and TV", The New York Times
- ↑ "Captain Video and His Video Rangers: The Enemy from Within, Part 1". IMDb. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ↑ Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. P. 120.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lois Nettleton at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 279. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
- ↑ IMDB.com Biography of Lois Nettleton
- ↑ Lois Nettleton at the Internet Broadway Database
External links
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