Birth name Beatrice Whitney Straight NationalityUSA Birth 2 august 1914 at Old Westbury (USA) Death 7 april 2001 (at 86 years) at Los Angeles (USA) Awards Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an American theatre, film and television actress. She was an Academy Award and Tony Award winner.
Straight made her Broadway debut in 1939 in The Possessed. Her other Broadway roles included Viola in Twelfth Night (1941), Catherine Sloper in The Heiress (1947) and Lady Macduff in Macbeth (1948). For her role as Elizabeth Proctor in the 1953 production of The Crucible, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. For the 1976 film Network, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was on screen for five minutes and forty seconds, the shortest performance ever to win an Academy Award for acting. She also received an Emmy Award nomination for the 1978 miniseries The Dain Curse. Straight also appeared as Mother Christophe in The Nun's Story (1959) and Dr. Lesh in Poltergeist (1982).
Biography
Born in Old Westbury, New York, Straight was the daughter of investment banker Willard Dickerman Straight and Dorothy Payne Whitney. She was four years old when her father died in France of influenza during the great epidemic while serving with the US Army during World War I.
Following her mother's remarriage to British agronomist Leonard K. Elmhirst in 1925, the family moved to England. It was there that Straight was educated and began acting in amateur theater productions.
Returning to the United States, she made her Broadway debut in 1939 in the play The Possessed. Most of her theatre work was in the classics, including Twelfth Night (1941), Macbeth, and The Crucible (1953), for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
From its inception, Straight was a member of the Actors Studio, attending the class conducted three times weekly by founding member Robert Lewis; her classmates included Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Jerome Robbins, Sidney Lumet, and about 20 others.
Straight was active in the early days of television, appearing in anthology series such as Armstrong Circle Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, The United States Steel Hour, Playhouse 90, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and dramatic series like Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, The Defenders, Route 66, Mission: Impossible, and St. Elsewhere.
Straight worked infrequently in film, and is remembered best for her role as a devastated wife confronting husband William Holden's infidelity in Network (1976). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance which, at five minutes and forty seconds, remains the shortest ever to win an Oscar.
Further film and television performances include the role of the mother of Lynda Carter's title character in the Wonder Woman series, and Marion Hillyard, the icy, controlling mother of Stephen Collins in The Promise. She also played the role of the paranormal investigator Dr. Martha Lesh in the film Poltergeist (1982), the most widely seen role of her film career.
Personal life
Straight was married twice, first to Frenchman Louis Dolivet, a left-wing activist who became editor of United Nations World magazine and later a film producer. They divorced in 1949, and she immediately married film and Broadway actor/producer Peter Cookson, with whom she had two sons.
, 1h44 Directed byDamian Harris OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime ActorsGoldie Hawn, John Heard, Beatrice Straight, Robin Bartlett, Jan Rubes, George R. Robertson Roles Adrienne's Mother Rating60% Adrienne Saunders (Hawn) is happily married to her art dealer husband, Jack (Heard). They have a daughter named Mary (Peldon). Adrienne hears from a friend that she thought she saw Jack in town when he claimed to be on an out of town business trip. Adrienne confronts him, but he denies being in town, and their lives continue. Soon after a museum curator is mysteriously murdered, and a relic that Jack bought for the museum is revealed to be a fake. Jack is placed under suspicion, and then Adrienne receives word from the police that Jack perished in a car accident. In trying to wrap up Jack's affairs, Adrienne begins to suspect that her husband had switched identities with a high school classmate, Frank Sullivan. When she sees a high school yearbook picture of her husband attributed to Sullivan, she is convinced.
, 1h51 Directed bySidney Lumet OriginUSA GenresDrama ThemesChildren's films ActorsRichard Gere, Julie Christie, Gene Hackman, Kate Capshaw, Denzel Washington, E. G. Marshall Roles Claire Hastings Rating57% Pete St. John (Richard Gere), a ruthless and highly successful media consultant, is juggling a couple of other political candidates when asked to join the campaign of wealthy but little-known Ohio businessman Jerome Cade (J. T. Walsh), who hopes to win the Senate seat being vacated by St. John's friend Sam Hastings (E. G. Marshall).
, 1h28 Directed byJohn Herzfeld OriginUSA GenresScience fiction, Fantastic, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Fantasy, Romance ActorsJohn Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Charles Durning, Oliver Reed, Beatrice Straight, Scatman Crothers Roles Ruth Rating47% Four angels — Charlie (Charles Durning), Earl (Scatman Crothers), Gonzales (Castulo Guerra), and Ruth (Beatrice Straight) — have been in charge of Heaven for the last 25 years. They are playing a golf match in Heaven when their game is interrupted by God, who has returned to the office and does not like what he sees down on Earth. God wants to order up another flood and start all over again (despite his promise in the rainbow that he never would again), but the four angels persuade him to reconsider, reasoning that, if a typical Earth man can reform, it would prove that all mankind is capable of it.
, 1h55 Directed bySteven Spielberg, Tobe Hooper OriginUSA GenresDrama, Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror ThemesFilms about children, Films about television, Ghost films ActorsCraig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Zelda Rubinstein, Beatrice Straight, Heather O'Rourke, Dominique Dunne Roles Dr. Lesh Rating72% Steven and Diane Freeling (Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams) live a quiet life in an Orange County, California planned community called Cuesta Verde, where Steven is a successful real estate developer and Diane is a housewife who cares for their children Dana (Dominique Dunne), Robbie (Oliver Robins), and Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke). Carol Anne awakens one night and begins conversing with the family's television set, which is transmitting static following a sign-off. The following night, while the Freelings sleep, Carol Anne fixates on the television set as it transmits static again. Suddenly, a hand of a white apparition blasts from the television screen and vanishes into the wall, triggering a violent earthquake in the process. As the shaking subsides, Carol Anne announces "They're here'.
, 1h56 Directed byFranco Zeffirelli OriginUSA GenresDrama, Romance ActorsBrooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Beatrice Straight Roles Rose Rating49% In suburban Chicago, teenagers Jade Butterfield (Brooke Shields) and David Axelrod (Martin Hewitt) fall in love after they are introduced by Jade's brother Keith (James Spader). Jade's family is known in their community for a bohemian lifestyle, allowing them to develop an all-consuming and passionate relationship; including allowing the two to make love in Jade's bedroom. In contrast to the openness of her family, David's home life is dull; his parents are wealthy political activists who are not actively involved in his life.
, 1h52 Directed byTerence Young OriginGerman GenresThriller, Crime ActorsAudrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, James Mason, Irène Papas, Claudia Mori, Michelle Phillips Roles Kate Erling Rating46% Sam Roffe, President of Roffe & Sons Pharmaceuticals, dies in what appears to be a climbing accident, leaving his daughter Elizabeth (Audrey Hepburn) a billion-dollar empire. Roffe's board members see an opportunity to settle old scores, jockey for higher position, and reap lucrative profits. However, an investigation into Sam's death discloses that it was a murder and that a power struggle is going on within the company.
, 1h37 Directed byGilbert Cates OriginUSA GenresDrama, Romance ActorsKathleen Denise Quinlan, Stephen Collins, Beatrice Straight, Laurence Luckinbill, William Prince, Bibi Besch Roles Marion Hillyard Rating63% In a rich-boy/poor-girl story (along the lines of "Love Story"), Boston college students Michael Hillyard (Collins) and Nancy McAllister (Quinlan) are in love. While visiting a park overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, they hide a costume jewelry necklace under a large rock, promising that they will love each other as long as it remains undisturbed (which they expect to be forever).
, 2h1 Directed bySidney Lumet OriginUSA GenresDrama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance ThemesFilms about writers, Films about journalists, Films about sexuality, Films about television ActorsFaye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, Wesley Addy Roles Louise Schumacher Rating80% Howard Beale, the longtime anchor of the Union Broadcasting System's UBS Evening News, learns from the news division president, Max Schumacher, that he has just two more weeks on the air because of declining ratings. The two old friends get roaring drunk and lament the state of their industry. The following night, Beale announces on live television that he will commit suicide on next Tuesday's broadcast. UBS fires him after this incident, but Schumacher intervenes so that Beale can have a dignified farewell. Beale promises he will apologize for his outburst, but once on the air, he launches back into a rant claiming that life is "bullshit". Beale's outburst causes the newscast's ratings to spike, and much to Schumacher's dismay, the upper echelons of UBS decide to exploit Beale's antics rather than pull him off the air.
, 1h21 Directed byWalter C. Miller OriginUSA GenresFantasy ThemesChildren's films ActorsEddie Albert, Tammy Grimes, Judith Anderson, Beatrice Straight, Barnard Hughes Roles Mrs. Crampfurl Rating54% The Clock Family are "borrowers," tiny people who live in the houses of regular sized "human beans" (a borrower mispronunciation of "human beings"). They survive by borrowing all they need from big people and try to keep their existence secret. The main characters are a teenage borrower girl named Arriety Clock and her parents, Pod and Homily. During a borrowing expedition with her father and contrary to borrower nature, Arriety befriends a human boy who lives in the home and develops a friendship with him.
, 1h50 Directed bySamuel Goldwyn, Jr. OriginUSA GenresDrama ActorsPeter Fonda, Sharon Hugueny, Nick Adams, Deborah Walley, Beatrice Straight, Joseph Campanella Roles Mrs. Burns Rating54% While attending college, Eddie (Peter Fonda) shares an apartment with another student, nicknamed Tarragoo (Nick Adams). Tarragoo's girlfriend Debbie (Deborah Walley) and her friend Pam (Sharon Hugueny), who is studying to be a teacher and lives with her widowed mother (Beatrice Straight), are frequent visitors. Eddie and Pam develop a close relationship and, during the time her mother is away from home for a few days, Pam allows Eddie to stay the night. Finding herself pregnant, she tells Eddie who reacts with unhappiness, being low on funds and dismayed by the prospect of losing his scholarship. Pam discusses the situation with her mother, considers having an abortion, decides against it, and makes plans to leave. Meanwhile, Eddie, with help from professors Schwartz (Malachi Throne) and Reese (Joseph Campanella), improves his educational standing by passing an exam, and consults with Tarragoo and Debbie who advise him to take the morally correct path. At the crossroads of integrity, Eddie chooses rectitude and goes to Pam's mother, intent upon telling her so. Learning that Pam has already departed, he aims to follow her, with the conviction that whatever life offers, they will be able to face it together.
, 2h29 Directed byFred Zinnemann, Sergio Leone, Bernard Vorhaus OriginUSA GenresDrama, War ThemesFilms set in Africa, Films about religion ActorsAudrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, Mildred Dunnock, Dean Jagger Roles Mother Christophe Rating74% Gabrielle "Gaby" Van Der Mal (Audrey Hepburn), whose father Hubert (Dean Jagger) is a famous surgeon in Belgium, enters a convent of nursing sisters in the late 1920s in the hopes of eventually becoming a missionary nursing sister in the Belgian Congo. After being given the name of Sister Luke and undergoing a postulancy and novitiate which foreshadow her future difficulties with the vow of obedience, she takes her first vows and is sent to a school of tropical medicine.