- Born
- Died
- Height5′ 7¼″ (1.71 m)
- A brash, sharp-tongued, incorrigible actress/singer who led a six decade career that contained many highs and lows, veteran Elaine Stritch's raucous six-decade career certainly lived up well to the Stephen Sondheim song lyrics "I'm Still Here." A popular, magnetic performer, she stole so many moments on stage she could have been convicted of grand larceny This tough old bird approached her octogenarian years with still-shapely legs, a puffy blonde hairdo, a deep, whiskey voice and enough sardonic bluster and bravado to convince anyone that she would be around forever.
The Detroit-born (February 2, 1925) Elaine Stritch was the daughter of a B.F. Goodrich executive, of Irish/Welsh heritage, and the youngest of three sisters. Educated locally at Sacred Heart Convent and Duschesne Residence Finishing School, she prepared for the stage at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School where fellow "school mates" included Marlon Brando. She made her first appearance at the New School as a tiger and a cow in a 1944 children's production entitled "Babino," then followed it the following year with the part of a parlor maid in "The Private Life of the Master Race."
Elaine made it to Broadway in October 1946 as "Pamela Brewster" in "Loco" at the Biltmore Theatre. Taking over the part of "Miss Crowder" in "Made in Heaven" after that, she finished off the decade appearing in such theatre productions as "Three Indelicate Ladies," "The Little Foxes" (as Regina), the revue "Angel in the Wings" and "Yes M'Lord."
From the 1950's on, Elaine would become the toast of both Broadway and (later) London's West End, earning award-worthy acclaim on both continents over the years. Starting with a tour of "Pal Joey" (as Melba) in 1952, she followed this success with such shows as "Call Me Madam" (as Sally); "On Your Toes" (as Peggy); "Bus Stop" (Tony nom: as waitress Grace), "The Sin of Pat Muldoon" (as Gertrude); "Goldilocks" (as Maggie); "Sail Away!" (Tony nom, and also London debut as Mimi); "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (as Martha); "The King and I" (as Anna); "The Grass Harp" (as Babylove); "Wonderful Town" (as Ruth); "Private Lives" (as Amanda); "Mame" (as Vera, then Mame); "Company" (Tony-nom: as Joanne); "Small Craft Warnings" (as Leona); "The Gingerbread Lady" (as Evy); "Show Boat" (Drama Desk Award: as Parthy); and "A Delcate Balance" (Tony-nom, Drama Desk Award: as Claire). Through sheer personality alone, her cacophonous singing voice miraculously took classic songs from, among others, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart to Noël Coward and Stephen Sondheim and put her own indelibly raucous stamp on them.
Oddly, Elaine never made the same kind of impact on film. Nevertheless, she appeared in an armful of supports over the years, growing increasingly abrasive, in such movies as The Scarlet Hour (1956), Three Violent People (1956), A Farewell to Arms (1957), The Perfect Furlough (1958), Kiss Her Goodbye (1959), Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965), Too Many Thieves (1966), The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker (1970), The Spiral Staircase (1975), Providence (1977), September (1987), Cocoon: The Return (1988), Cadillac Man (1990), Out to Sea (1997), Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), Screwed (2000), Small Time Crooks (2000); Autumn in New York (2000), Monster-in-Law (2005), ParaNorman (2012) and River of Fundament (2014)
The actress fared somewhat better on early TV. She appeared as one of the Paynes in the early Dumont family comedy series The Growing Paynes (1948), and made appearances on several anthology series ("Kraft Theatre," "Goodyear Playhouse," "The Alcoa Hour," "The Dupont Show of the Month"). A few guest spots also decorated her small screen resume, including "Mister Peepers," "Adventures in Paradise" and "Wagon Train". In the 60's, Elaine returned to the series format, but only enjoyed single season life on three: My Sister Eileen (1960), as Ruth Sherwood; the acclaimed The Trials of O'Brien (1965) as lawyer Peter Falk's secretary "Miss G."; and as Ellen Burstyn's derisive mother on The Ellen Burstyn Show (1986).
In 1973, Elaine married English actor John Bay and moved to London. While there she appeared in a number of plays/musicals and then played an American authoress in the British comedy series Two's Company (1975) co-starring Donald Sinden as the butler. When she returned to America in the early 80's, she returned alone.
At age 76, a razor-sharp Elaine captivated audiences in a candid one woman musical stage memoir that would win her the Tony, Drama Desk, Obie, Outer Circle Critics and New York Drama Critics awards. Elaine Stritch at Liberty (2002) show also chronicled her notorious private life, combative nature, which included a long bout with the bottle (to curb her stage fright), and a destructive relationship with fellow alcoholic Gig Young. Add to that a fair share of Hollywood gossip all cleverly packaged up with raw wit and show-stopping patter songs and you had quintessential Elaine Stritch. Truly one of a kind, she would eventually be inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.
Other memorable TV appearances included her Aunt Polly in the mini-series Pollyanna (1973); a 1984 continuing role on the daytime soaper The Edge of Night (1956); the role of Ouisar in the TV movie version of Steel Magnolias (1990); and three Emmy Award-winning portrayals -- as a guest on "Law & Order," for the 2004 TV documentary of her one-woman triumph, and for a recurring character on the hit sitcom 30 Rock (2006).
A diabetic, it took stomach cancer to finally slow this woman down at the end, dying at age 89 on July 17, 2014, at her Michigan home.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- Brash crusty persona
- Hoarse gravelly voice
- Discordant singing voice
- Shapely legs
- Once nearly married late actor Gig Young. After their broken engagement he married pre-Bewitched (1964) star Elizabeth Montgomery.
- Struggled with alcoholism throughout her adult life. Stritch quit drinking in 1987 following a severe diabetic attack and remained sober for 24 years. Into her mid 80s, Stritch began to allow herself a single drink a day which lead to further health problems including a series of strokes, as documented in Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (2013). The actress sobered up again, and remained alcohol free for the rest of her life.
- In "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty", Stritch tells of meeting Marlon Brando upon her arrival in New York City, where Elaine did "summer-stock" with Brando. After a performance, Brando took her to dinner, several clubs, ending up at a strip club where she was so bewildered that she broke into tears. He then suggested going to his walk-up in the village. Brando disappeared upon their arrival by going to his bedroom to change. Marlon soon reappeared wearing his pajamas. Complaining that it was so late, Elaine asked, "How I going to get home?". Brando simply answered: "I don't know!". Elaine said that after that evening, Brando would never talk to or recognize her anywhere he saw her. Years later, Brando called her up to invite her to dinner. When she met him for dinner, Brando did not say a word to her. They went into the restaurant where Brando ordered two Manhattan cocktails. When they arrived, Brando crushed his own glass in his hand, badly injuring it. His only words to Stritch during the dinner were, "Elaine... I'm sorry.".
- The documentary, "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me" directed by Chiemi Karasawa, is anything but depressing. The former Catholic school girl has packed a couple of life-times in her 89 years. "Shoot Me" features clips and photos from her past and lively conversations about her work with Sondheim and Noël Coward, her brief - and chaste - encounter as a teenager with a young John Kennedy ("He was the best-looking guy I ever saw in my life") and marrying the love of her life, British actor John Bay, who died of brain cancer in 1982. The film also features interviews with such friends and colleagues as Alec Baldwin, who is an executive producer on the film, Hal Prince, Nathan Lane, Cherry Jones, Tina Fey, John Turturro and James Gandolfini. A chance encounter at a New York hair salon was the genesis for "Shoot Me." Karasawa was getting her hair done when she saw Stritch in the salon. "My hair dresser said she has been a longtime client, you should be making a documentary about her," Karasawa said. "I thought it was an interesting idea. I didn't know that much about her." But she had briefly worked with Stritch a few years before as a script supervisor on Turturro's "Romance and Cigarettes," in which Stritch played Gandolfini's mother. "I just remember she was a tornado of a woman. She just blew in there, and every take was different." It took about four months of conversations before Stritch agreed to participate in the documentary. And then there was no holding back. "We were astonished at the amount of access she gave us," Karasawa said. "I liked Chiemi very much," Stritch said. "We had a laugh or two or four or 75. I said all right, come, let's do it. I thought she's fun to be with." Stretch noted that she "opened up more than I had planned" to the camera. "But I said to myself, 'Why not tell the truth?'".
- Accounts of Elaine Stritch barging up to a Broadway box office and asking for "a single ticket, somewhere in the back of the orchestra - gratis, of course!" The only time she was denied was at "Mamma Mia!," prompting her to add a middle expletive to the show's title!.
- [on friend and actress Vivien Leigh] Everything about that girl was sad. Except her talent. Nothing sad about that.
- [on Judy Garland] I honestly believe that she was the most talented female performer of the twentieth century.
- I was twelve, and my dad and sisters were downstairs in the living room having cocktails. My dad made what must have been a strong whiskey sour, and he gave me half. And a star was born!
- Honestly, this is a big thing to say, but I don't think I've ever been bored. If I even get an inkling of it, I split. I love that lyric in "Thanks for the Memory": You might've been a headache/But you never were a bore. I think being boring is just the worst sin of all time.
- On Haila Stoddard: She was a rare piece of work in show business, I'll tell you that. She was as fair as fair can be, and she had the taste and class to hire Noël Coward, and I hasten to add, me.
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