| August 11th, 2005 03:22 AM |
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| Poplar |
'Miss Ellie Ewing' dies, aged 82
BARBARA Bel Geddes, the veteran stage and screen actress best known as the matriarch Miss Ellie Ewing in the long-running television series Dallas, has died, it emerged last night. She was aged 82.
A funeral home in Mount Desert, Maine, confirmed the actress's death, but said her family had asked that no further information be given out. It was reported that she died of lung cancer at her home in Northeast Harbour, Maine, on Monday.
Born in New York City on 31 October, 192, to theatrical designer Norman Bel Geddes, she made her stage debut aged 18, but soon moved on to Broadway. The silver screen also beckoned and she made her film debut in 1947 with The Long Night starring Henry Fonda.
Other notable films included Panic in the Streets (1950), directed by Elia Kazan; Alfred Hitchcock's classic mystery thriller Vertigo (1958); and The Five Pennies, opposite Danny Kaye, in 1959.
However, her greatest television role came late in her career when she was desperate for money following the death of her husband, Windsor Lewis, in 1972.
She called Dallas "real fun", but it was also marked by tragedy. In 1981, Jim Davis, who played Miss Ellie's husband, Jock Ewing, died.
Intended to run for only six episodes, Dallas became one of the most popular dramas in the history of television, running for 13 years.
Bel Geddes won the Emmy Award for Best Actress in 1980 and was nominated in the same category in 1979 and 1981.
She left Dallas for a year in 1984 to have heart surgery and Donna Reed took over the role. Bel Geddes returned in 1985 for another five years before she effectively retired from acting.
During her retirement she illustrated children's books and designed stationery.
Her first marriage to Carl Schreuer, an electrical engineer, ended in 1951 after seven years. They had a daughter, Susan.
That same year she married director Lewis. The couple had a daughter, Betsy.
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| August 11th, 2005 03:23 AM |
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| glencar |
RIP Miss Ellie... |
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