Eleanor Phelps (September 8, 1907 – September 29, 2001) was an American theater, film, radio, and television actress. She appeared in 17

Broadway theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

productions. Before going off to Vassar for college, Phelps attended Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore along with future actresses Margaret Barker and

Mildred Natwick Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Tony Awards. Early life Natwick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Mildre ...

. In college she was a student of

Hallie Flanagan Hallie Flanagan Davis (August 27, 1889 in Redfield, South Dakota – June 23, 1969 in Old Tappan, New Jersey) was an American theatrical producer and director, playwright, and author, best known as director of the Federal Theatre Project, a pa ...

at the Vassar Experimental Theatre and aspired to become a Broadway performer. Her father opposed her desire to appear on stage but her mom assisted her by introducing her to actor

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

. She visited Arliss at his elegant

Beekman Place (Manhattan) Beekman Place is a small street located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Running from north to south for two blocks, the street is situated between the eastern end of 51st Street and Mitchell Place, ...

apartment and he also tried to discourage Phelps from acting. She joined the

University Players The University Players was primarily a summer stock theater company located in West Falmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, from 1928 to 1932. It was formed in 1928 by eighteen college undergraduates. Notable among them were Eleanor Phelps of Vassa ...

Guild for its first season of summer stock in West Falmouth on Cape Cod in 1928 along with

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

, Joshua Logan,

Bretaigne Windust Ernest Bretaigne Windust (January 20, 1906 – March 19, 1960) was a United States-based French-born theater, film, and television director. Early life He was born in Paris, the son of English violin virtuoso Ernest Joseph Windust and singer ...

, Charles Leatherbee,

Myron McCormick Myron McCormick (February 8, 1908 – July 30, 1962) was an American actor of stage, radio and film. Early life and education Born in Albany, Indiana, in 1908, Walter Myron McCormick was the middle child of Walter P. and Bessie M. McCormick ...

Kent Smith Frank Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985) was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film, theatre and television. Early years Smith was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Smith. He was born in New York City and was educated ...

, and others. On July 29, 1928, Broadway producer

Winthrop Ames Winthrop Ames (November 25, 1870 – November 3, 1937) was an American theatre director and producer, playwright and screenwriter. For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway, whose repertoir ...

traveled from New York to Cape Cod specifically to see Phelps in the dress rehearsal for the University Players production of ''The Jest,'' a 1919 Broadway comedy by

Sem Benelli Sem Benelli (August 10, 1877 – December 18, 1949) was an Italian playwright, essayist and librettist. He provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's ''L'amore dei tre re'' and ''L'incantesimo'', and Umber ...

. Perhaps his trip was occasioned at the suggestion of George Arliss who had starred as Shylock in Ames's Broadway production of Shakespeare's ''The Merchant of Venice'' during the Broadway season just ended. In any event, Ames offered Phelps the role of Jessica in the post-Broadway national tour of ''Merchant of Venice.'' At the end of the University Players 1928 summer season, Phelps left Cape Cod to join Arliss and company and never returned to Falmouth. She loved ''more than anything being in a play by Mister

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

.'' Phelps appeared in motion pictures in the early 1930s with roles in ''The Run Around'' (1932), ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1934), and ''Cleopatra'' (1934). She believed that some of the best acting was in soap operas. On radio, Phelps starred in ''Life and Love of Dr. Susan'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

beginning February 13, 1939. The story dealt with "the career of a young widow who decides to carry on her medical research after the death of her husband." Phelps participated in both soaps and made-for-television productions. Among these are ''Cinderella'' (1957), Hallmark Hall of Fame (1961), The Catholic Hour (1967), ''

The Secret Storm ''The Secret Storm'' is an American soap opera that the CBS television network transmitted from February 1, 1954, to February 8, 1974. It was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas ''Search for Tomorrow'' and ''Love ...

'' (1954), ''

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

'' (1975), ''

Threesome In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...

'' (1984), and ''

Kate & Allie ''Kate & Allie'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989, starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as two divorced women, both with children, who decide to live together in the same house. ...

'' (1989). She played a very rich lady, Grace Tyrrell, on ''The Secret Storm'', from 1970 to 1973. She once did a commercial for Hershey in which she played an elegant lady getting in an elevator with a cow. Among her passions was

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and wearing the bright colors and

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

designs which reflected her interest.

Personal life

Phelps married actor Alden Chase, but the marriage was annulled in October 1935.

Death

Phelps died in September 2001 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Eleanor 1907 births 2001 deaths American stage actresses American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Baltimore Vassar College alumni Bryn Mawr School people 20th-century American actresses

Personal life

Death

Filmography

See also

References

Further reading

External links