Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. Born Anna Eileen Herbert, her career spanned nearly 60 years. She first became known for her role as schoolteacher Rosemary Sydney in the original 1953 cast of William Inge's play Picnic on Broadway. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the overprotective mother of a blind adult son in Butterflies Are Free, a role she originated on Broadway before playing it in the film. She often played mothers, including Rocky Graziano's mother in Somebody Up There Likes Me; the mother of a murdered child in The Bad Seed; the elderly mother of an estranged son in the PBS production of the one-act play Save Me a Place at Forest Law; the overbearing mother of the detective portrayed by George Segal in No Way to Treat a Lady; the mother of reporter Jack Stein on the 1990s television sitcom Love & War; the mother of two separate characters on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live in the 1980s and 1990s; and the meddling mother of a jilted wife (played by Diane Keaton) in The First Wives Club, her last film role. She also had a recurring role on the 1970s sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as Mary's Aunt Flo Meredith, a famous woman reporter, which she repeated on the subsequent spin-off series, Lou Grant. In addition to her Academy Award, she also won two Emmy Awards for Save Me a Place at Forest Lawn and Love & War, and a Golden Globe Award for The Bad Seed. She also received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2000, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She made her final acting appearance in 2000 at age 80 in an off-Broadway production, The Waverly Gallery, in which she played the leading role of an elderly grandmother with Alzheimer's disease. Description above from the Wikipedia article Eileen Heckart, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 1996 · The First Wives Club as Catherine MacDuggan
- 1995 · Murder One as
- 1994 · The 5 Mrs. Buchanans as Mother Emma Buchanan
- 1994 · Ellen as Grandma
- 1994 · Ultimate Betrayal as Sarah McNeil
- 1994 · Breathing Lessons as Mabel
- 1993 · Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story as Shelly
- 1992 · Love & War as
- 1991 · Home Improvement as Elaine Jenkins
- 1989 · Stuck with Each Other as Fay Cass
- 1988 · Annie McGuire as
- 1986 · Heartbreak Ridge as Little Mary Jackson
- 1985 · Stephen King's Golden Tales as Rose Pennywell
- 1984 · Tales from the Darkside as Rose Pennywell
- 1984 · Partners in Crime as Jeanine
- 1984 · The Cosby Show as Mrs. Hickson
- 1984 · Highway to Heaven as Helen Spencer
- 1983 · Trauma Center as Amy Decker
- 1982 · Games Mother Never Taught You as Martha Brewster
- 1981 · Joe Dancer: The Big Black Pill as Sister Clara
- 1980 · F.D.R.: The Last Year as Eleanor Roosevelt
- 1980 · White Mama as Three Bag Lady
- 1979 · The Sorrows of Gin as Rosemary
- 1979 · Trapper John, M.D. as
- 1979 · Out of the Blue as The Boss Angel
- 1979 · Backstairs at the White House as Eleanor Roosevelt
- 1978 · Suddenly, Love as Mrs. Malloy
- 1978 · Flying High as
- 1977 · Sunshine Christmas as Bertha Hayden
- 1977 · Lou Grant as
- 1976 · Burnt Offerings as Roz Allardyce
- 1976 · Alice as
- 1975 · Switch as Annie Warren
- 1975 · The Hiding Place as Katje
- 1974 · The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One as Ma Barker
- 1974 · Rhoda as Aunt Lillian Fiedler
- 1974 · Zandy's Bride as Ma Allan
- 1974 · Wedding Band as Herman's Mother
- 1973 · Barnaby Jones as Virginia Lennox / Steele
- 1972 · The Victim as Mrs. Hawkes
- 1972 · The Streets of San Francisco as Stella 'Stell' Charnovski
- 1972 · Banyon as
- 1972 · Butterflies Are Free as Mrs. Florence Baker
- 1971 · All the Way Home as Aunt Hannah Lynch
- 1969 · The Tree as Sally Dunning
- 1968 · Hawaii Five-O as Agatha Henderson
- 1968 · No Way to Treat a Lady as Mrs. Brummel
- 1967 · Up the Down Staircase as Henrietta Pastorfield
- 1966 · CBS Playhouse as
- 1966 · Felony Squad as
- 1965 · The F.B.I. as Mrs. Creighton
- 1963 · The Fugitive as Sister Veronica
- 1963 · My Six Loves as Ethel
- 1961 · The New Breed as Harriet Dawson
- 1961 · Ben Casey as
- 1961 · Dr. Kildare as Nurse Jenny Freesmith
- 1960 · Heller in Pink Tights as Mrs. Lorna Hathaway
- 1959 · A Doll's House as Kristine
- 1959 · Play of the Week as Myrtle
- 1958 · Naked City as Mildred Pepper
- 1958 · Naked City as Virginia Cort
- 1958 · Hot Spell as Fan
- 1956 · The Little Foxes as Birdie
- 1956 · The Bad Seed as Hortense Daigle
- 1956 · Bus Stop as Vera
- 1956 · Somebody Up There Likes Me as Ma Barbella
- 1956 · Tony Awards as Self - Winner
- 1956 · Miracle in the Rain as Grace Ullman
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Lucy Baldwin
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Hattie Silks
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Athena Partridge Royce
- 1953 · Kraft Television Theatre as
- 1953 · The Trip to Bountiful as Jessie Mae Watts
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Birdie
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Mabel
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Kristine Linde
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Aunt Hannah Lynch
- 1950 · Lux Video Theatre as Florie
- 1950 · Lux Video Theatre as Miss Green
- 1949 · Suspense as Mollie
- 1949 · Suspense as Margaret Quartermain
- 1949 · Suspense as Mrs. Haskell
- 1949 · Suspense as
- 1948 · Studio One as
- 1948 · Studio One as Evie Jackson
- 1948 · The Philco Television Playhouse as
- 1948 · The Philco Television Playhouse as Jessie Mae
- 1948 · The Philco Television Playhouse as Ruthie
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self