Known more for her work on the stage than on the big screen, Elaine Stritch was born February 2, 1925 to Mildred and George Stritch in Detroit, Michigan. Born into a wealthy family, Stritch had the opportunity to pursue her dream of acting and train at the Dramatic Workship of The New School in New York City. Several other students of the prestigious Dramatic Workshop were Bea Arthur, Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Rod Steiger, and Tennessee Williams.
Stritch made her stage debut in 1944, and in three short years was able to make her Broadway debut in the play Loco. 1947 would also mark her appearance in two other plays, Made in Heaven and the revue Angel in the Wings. As the years went on, her roles began to get bigger and better. While she was an understudy to Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam, she appeared in the revival of Pal Joey (1952). She would then star in the national tour of Call Me Madam, and was given a supporting role in the original production of William Inge’s Bus Stop.
It was in 1961, when Stritch starred in Noël Coward’s Sail Away, that she was “promoted over the title and given virtually all the best songs when it was reckoned that the leading lady … although excellent, was rather too operatic for a musical comedy.”(1) Throughout her time on the stage, Stritch became known as the singer with the brassy, powerful singing voice — and it wasn’t long before she became the toast of both Broadway and London’s West End.
When talking about Elaine Stritch, it’s essential to talk about her role in the British comedy series Two’s Company alongside Donald Sinden. Stritch played the role of Dorothy McNab, an American writer who lives in London and is famous for her sensationalist thriller novels. Sinder played the role of Robert, Dorothy’s English butler who disapproved of just about everything Dorothy did. The series thrived on the culture clash between these two characters. The show lasted from 1975 to 1979, and in total was nominated for four Britich Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA): 1977 for Best Comedy, 1979 for Best Comedy, Best Graphics (for the opening credits sequence) and Best Light Entertainment Performance for the two stars, Stritch and Sinden.
Stritch never appeared in many films, but when she did make an appearance, she always seemed to be a small, but integral part, of a very strong cast. Early on in her career, she appeared in the 1956 film Three Violent People, which starred Charlton Heston and Anne Baxter. She then co-starred with Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones in the David O. Selznick remake of A Farewell to Arms. A year later, she appeared in The Perfect Furlough co-starring with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. But her best performance, in my opinion, was in the film Providence, directed by French filmmaker Alain Resnais.
Josh Kaye for Classic Movie Hub
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