Mildred Dunnock (January 25, 1901 - July 5, 1991) was an American theater, film and television actress.
Born in
Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...
, Dunnock was a school teacher who did not start acting until she was in her early thirties. She attended
Goucher CollegeGoucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...
where she was a member of
Alpha PhiAlpha Phi fraternity for women founded at Syracuse University on September 18, 1872. Its celebrated Founders Day is October 10. It was the third Greek-letter organization founded for women. In Alpha Phi the Greek letter Phi is pronounced "Fee". It is a common misconception that this...
sorority.
After a couple of roles in
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
productions, Dunnock won praise for her performance as a Welsh school teacher in
The Corn is GreenThe Corn is Green is a semi-autobiographical play by Emlyn Williams.At its core is L. C. Moffat, a strong-willed Welsh schoolteacher working in a small poverty-stricken coal mining town...
(1940).
Mildred Dunnock (January 25, 1901 - July 5, 1991) was an American theater, film and television actress.
Early life
Born in
Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...
, Dunnock was a school teacher who did not start acting until she was in her early thirties. She attended
Goucher CollegeGoucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...
where she was a member of
Alpha PhiAlpha Phi fraternity for women founded at Syracuse University on September 18, 1872. Its celebrated Founders Day is October 10. It was the third Greek-letter organization founded for women. In Alpha Phi the Greek letter Phi is pronounced "Fee". It is a common misconception that this...
sorority.
Career
After a couple of roles in
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
productions, Dunnock won praise for her performance as a Welsh school teacher in
The Corn is GreenThe Corn is Green is a semi-autobiographical play by Emlyn Williams.At its core is L. C. Moffat, a strong-willed Welsh schoolteacher working in a small poverty-stricken coal mining town...
(1940). The
1945 film versionThe Corn Is Green is a 1945 drama film starring Bette Davis as a schoolteacher determined to bring education to a Welsh coal mining town, despite great opposition...
marked her screen debut opposite
Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
.
During the 1940s Dunnock performed mostly on stage, in such dramas as
Another Part of the ForestAnother Part of the Forest is a 1946 play by Lillian Hellman, a prequel to her 1939 drama The Little Foxes.-Plot synopsis:Set in the fictional town of Bowden, Alabama in June 1880, the plot focuses on the wealthy, ruthless, and innately evil Hubbard family and their rise to prominence...
(1946) and
Death of a SalesmanDeath of a Salesman is a 1949 play by American playwright Arthur Miller and is a classic of American theater. The play ran for 742 performances, winning both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The original production was directed by Elia Kazan with Lee J...
(1948) and in the musical
Lute SongLute Song is a 1946 American musical with a book by Sidney Howard and Will Irwin, music by Raymond Scott, and lyrics by Bernard Hanighen. It is based on the 14th century Chinese play Pi-Pa-Ki by Kao-Tong-Kia and Mao-Tseo...
(1946). She reprised her
Salesman role in the 1951 film version. She originated the role of Big Mama in the
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
'
Cat on a Hot Tin RoofCat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955, has been restaged several times since, and was adapted into an acclaimed 1958 motion picture.-Plot:...
, although she lost the movie role to
Judith AndersonDame Judith Anderson, AC, DBE was an Australian actress of stage and screen, who was also nominated for a Grammy and an Oscar...
. Her films include
The Trouble with HarryThe Trouble with Harry is an American black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the novel by Jack Trevor Story. It was released in the United States on October 3 1955 then rereleased once the rights were acquired by Universal Pictures in 1984...
(1955),
Love Me TenderLove Me Tender is the film debut of Elvis Presley and an American black and white motion picture directed by Robert D. Webb, released by 20th Century Fox on November 15, 1956. The film, named after the song, stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley. It is in the Western genre with musical...
(1956),
Baby DollBaby Doll is a 1956 film which tells the story of the childlike bride of a Mississippi cotton gin owner, who becomes the pawn in a battle between her husband and his enemy. It stars Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach and Mildred Dunnock...
(1956),
Peyton PlacePeyton Place is a 1957 American drama film directed by Mark Robson. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes is based on the bestselling 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious.-Synopsis:...
(1957),
The Nun's StoryThe Nun's Story is the title of a dramatic film that was released by Warner Bros. in 1959.-Plot:Based upon the 1956 novel of the same title by Kathryn Hulme, the story tells of the life of Sister Luke , a young Belgian woman who decides to enter a convent and makes many of the sacrifices required...
(1959),
Butterfield 8BUtterfield 8 is a 1935 novel written by John O'Hara in the wake of the success of his critically acclaimed Appointment in Samarra. The popular novel was adapted into a 1960 MGM film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey...
(1960), and
Sweet Bird of YouthSweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town with a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis, hoping she can help him to break into the movies...
(1962).
She was the uncredited woman in the wheelchair pushed down to the stairs to her death by
Richard WidmarkRichard Widmark was an American actor of films, stage, radio and television.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
in the 1947 film
Kiss of DeathKiss of Death is a 1947 film noir movie directed by Henry Hathaway and written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer from a story by Eleazar Lipsky. The story revolves around the story of the film's protagonist and antagonist...
.
In addition to her successful career as a character actress in film and theater, Dunnock appeared frequently in numerous TV series in guest roles, and later in her career, several made-for-television movies, including a remake of
Death of a Salesman in which she played Linda Loman for the third time.
Dunnock was twice nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, for
Death of a SalesmanDeath of a Salesman is a 1951 film adapted from the play of the same name by Arthur Miller. It was directed by László Benedek and written for the screen by Stanley Roberts. It received numerous awards, including four Golden Globe Awards and the Volpi Cup; it also received many nominations for...
in 1951, and for
Baby Doll in 1956. She was also nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for
Baby Doll. Her final film was
The Pick-up ArtistThe Pick-up Artist is a 1987 American film written and directed by James Toback. This romantic comedy starred Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey Jr. It was rated PG-13 by the MPAA.-Plot:...
(1987), which starred Robert Downey, Jr. and
Molly RingwaldMolly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. She became popular with teenage audiences in the 1980s, as a result of her starring roles in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink...
.
Dunnock has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures, at 6613 Hollywood Boulevard.
Private life
Dunnock was married to Keith Urmy from 1933 until her death, and had one child.
Dunnock died in
Oak Bluffs, MassachusettsOak Bluffs is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,713 at the 2000 census...
, of natural causes at the age of 90.