Eileen Letchworth (July 19, 1922 – February 15, 2003) was an American actress.

Early years

Born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, Letchworth was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Letchworth. Her father was president of the Bethel Township School Board for 16 years, and her grandfather, G. E. Letchworth, was a Methodist minister. She had a sister, Doris. After attending Bethel High School, Letchworth became a drama student at Carnegie Tech. She went on to act at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. In 1953, Letchworth was one of three recipients of the first Faculty Fund scholarships to attend the American Theatre Wing Professional Training Program. Selected from more than 100 applicants, the three each received one year's training in the program.

Career

Stage

Letchworth's debut on Broadway came when she portrayed Frances in ''I Gotta Get Out'' (1947). The play was not successful, and she returned to Pittsburgh to work as a model. In August 1960, she had the leading female role in ''

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs'' is a 1957 play by William Inge about family conflicts during the early 1920s in a small Oklahoma town. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 1958 and was made into a film of the same name in 196 ...

'' at the

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Playhouse. She also acted in ''The Matchmaker'' at the Playhouse that summer. Letchworth returned to Broadway to portray June in '' Say, Darling'' (1958) and Mrs. Durant in '' Cactus Flower'' (1965). She was also an understudy for ''A Desert Incident'' (1959), ''The Warm Peninsula'' (1959), ''Absence of a Cello'' (1964), and ''A Very Rich Woman'' (1965). Her other roles on stage included "a slickly sophisticted suburbanite" in ''Spofford'' at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1969. She played Amanda in '' The Glass Menagerie'' at the Rodale Theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1980, and she portrayed Flora Van Huysen in an off-Broadway production of ''The Matchmaker'' (1991).

TV and film

In 1974, Letchworth received attention for having the results of her own facelift shown on network television as part of the ABC soap opera ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

''. After learning of Letchworth's desire for time off to have the cosmetic surgery, the show's creator, Agnes Nixon, suggested writing a facelift for Letchworth's character into the script. The actress agreed. In August 1974, she had the surgery; on August 12, her doctor removed her bandages, and on August 13, her character, Margo Flax, had her bandages removed on the program. Letchworth used no makeup on the program for about a month, allowing the cameras to show the healing of her face from its post-surgery puffiness and black eyes. In other activity on TV soap operas, she was on ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'', and she portrayed Anne Mason on '' Another World'' and Sharon Feress on '' Love of Life''. She appeared on other TV programs, including ''The Phil Silvers Show'' and talk shows hosted by Phil Donahue and Polly Bergen. She also made TV commercials. Letchworth appeared in the films '' Last Summer'' (1969) and '' Gypsy 83'' (2001).

Personal life and death

On February 28, 1945, Letchworth married William C. Larson. After they divorced, she married actor Paul Larson on August 14, 1966, in New York. She had a son, Eric, from her first marriage and a stepson, also named Eric, from her second marriage. She died on February 15, 2003, in New York City, aged 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letchworth, Eileen 1922 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Pennsylvania American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Broadway theatre people American soap opera actresses Carnegie Mellon University alumni