Joan Lorring (born Madeline Ellis;
April 17, 1926 – May 30, 2014) was an American actress and singer known for her work in film and theatre. For her role as Bessy Watty in ''
The Corn Is Green
''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...
'' (1945), Lorring was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Lorring also originated the role of Marie Buckholder in ''
Come Back, Little Sheba'' on Broadway in 1950, for which she won a
Donaldson Award
The Donaldson Awards were a set of theatre awards established in 1944 by the drama critic Robert Francis in honor of W. H. Donaldson (1864–1925), the founder of ''The Billboard'' (now ''Billboard'') magazine.
Categories included "best new pla ...
(an early version of the
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
).
Personal life
Lorring was born in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. Her family fled Hong Kong in 1937 following the
Japanese invasion in 1937 at the start of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, traveling by boat to
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, and then landing in San Francisco. Soon after, they moved to Los Angeles and Madeleine (known by her nickname "Dellie") began working as a child actress in radio and film – she was credited as "Dellie Ellis" when she played the title role in the radio program ''
A Date With Judy
''A Date with Judy'' is a comedy radio series aimed at a teenage audience which ran from 1941 to 1950.
The series was co-created by Jerome Lawrence and Aleen Leslie, and based on Leslie's “One Girl Chorus” column in the Pittsburgh Press. La ...
'' (1942).
She eventually adopted ''Joan Lorring'' as her stage name.
She was married to cancer researcher and Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry at
Cornell Medical School
The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with N ...
, and Chief of Endocrinology at
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...
, Martin Sonenberg (1920–2011). The couple had two daughters, Santha and Andrea.
Radio
Lorring began her career as a child actress on the radio. Her performances include Alma Horrell in the ''
Suspense
Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...
'' episode "The Great Horrell", aired on August 22, 1946, and "The Farmer Takes a Wife".
Theatre
Lorring made her Broadway debut in 1950, originating the role of Marie Buckholder opposite
Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth (born Marjory Ford; August 30, 1898October 16, 1992) was an American actress. One of only 24 performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, Booth was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and three Tony Awa ...
in ''
Come Back Little Sheba''.
Terry Moore later played Marie in the
1952 film version. For this role, Lorring won a
Donaldson Award
The Donaldson Awards were a set of theatre awards established in 1944 by the drama critic Robert Francis in honor of W. H. Donaldson (1864–1925), the founder of ''The Billboard'' (now ''Billboard'') magazine.
Categories included "best new pla ...
for Most Outstanding Female Debut in the 1949–1950 Broadway season. This success led to her performing in the 1951 Broadway production of the
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...
play ''
The Autumn Garden
''The Autumn Garden'' is a 1951 play by Lillian Hellman. The play is set in September, 1949 in a summer home in a resort on the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 miles from New Orleans. The play is a study of the defeats, disappointments and diminished ex ...
''. In 1954, she performed in the play ''Dead Pidgeons'', and her last Broadway appearance was in 1957, originating the role of The Young Woman, opposite
Kim Stanley
Kim Stanley (born Patricia Kimberley Reid; February 11, 1925 – August 20, 2001) was an American actress, primarily in television and theatre, but with occasional film performances.
She began her acting career in theatre, and subsequently at ...
as The Woman, in ''A Clearing in the Woods'' by
Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter.
After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S. Army during World War II, ...
.
In 1970, Lorring performed in an
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
production of ''
Awake and Sing!
''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935.
Summary and characters
The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...
'' as Bessie Berger.
Film and television
Lorring made her film debut at age 18 in ''
Song of Russia
''Song of Russia'' is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff collapsed near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by Lás ...
'' (1944). Her second film was the Oscar-nominated drama ''
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel. It was first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year.
Premise
''The Bri ...
''.
For her third film role as Bessy Watty in 1945's ''
The Corn Is Green
''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...
'' opposite
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
as Miss Moffat, Lorring (at age 19) was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Thelma Schnee had originated the role of Bessy on Broadway opposite
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...
in 1940.
Lorring next had supporting roles in the 1946 dramas ''
Three Strangers
''Three Strangers'' is a 1946 American film noir crime drama directed by Jean Negulesco, written by John Huston and Howard Koch, starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre, and featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier.
Pl ...
'' and ''
The Verdict
''The Verdict'' is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet, adapted from Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. It stars Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O'Shea, and ...
'', in which she plays Lottie Rawson and performs the song "Give Me a Little Bit". In 1947, she appeared in ''
The Other Love
''The Other Love'' is a 1947 American film noir drama romance film directed by Andre DeToth and starring Barbara Stanwyck, David Niven, and Richard Conte. Written by Ladislas Fodor and Harry Brown based on the story "Beyond" by Erich Maria Rem ...
'', a drama that stars
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
, and in ''
The Lost Moment
''The Lost Moment'' is a 1947 melodramatic psychological thriller film with elements of horror directed by Martin Gabel and starring Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead.
The film was not well received at the time but its reputati ...
'' which stars
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...
. In 1948, she played a supporting role in ''
Good Sam'', which stars
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...
and was directed by
Leo McCarey
Thomas Leo McCarey (October 3, 1898 – July 5, 1969) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was involved in nearly 200 films, the most well known today being ''Duck Soup (1933 film), Duck Soup'', ''Make Way for Tomo ...
.
In the early 1950s, Lorring began appearing often on television. In 1955, she performed in 13 episodes of the television series ''
Norby
Norby is a fictional robot created by Janet Asimov and Isaac Asimov who stars in his own series of children's science fiction books, ''The Norby Chronicles''. His first appearance was in the 1983 book ''Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot'', in total he a ...
'' as Helen Norby. The show lasted one season. Also in 1956, she reprised her award-winning role as Bessy in ''
The Corn is Green
''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...
'' on television opposite
Eva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author. A Broadway star by age 21, Le Gallienne gave up her Broadway appearances to devote herself to founding t ...
as Miss Moffat. She appeared on one episode of ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...
'', ''(The Older Sister'', 1956) about
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...
, in which she portrayed her sister Emma.
Lorring performed infrequently in the 1960s and 1970s focusing on her family life. Her last film role came in 1974 with ''
The Midnight Man'', and her later television roles were guest-starring for several episodes as Anna Pavel in ''
Ryan's Hope
''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in th ...
'' and a 1980 episode of ''
The Love Boat
''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...
''.
Retirement and death
Lorring enjoyed a quiet retirement through the 1980s and 1990s. She lived until May 30, 2014, when she died in Sleepy Hollow, New York at age 88 from natural causes.
Lorring was not included in the In-Memoriam segment at the
87th Academy Awards
The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2014 in film, films of 2014 and took place on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, ...
.
Filmography
Radio appearances
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorring, Joan
1926 births
2014 deaths
20th-century American actresses
American child actresses
American film actresses
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American radio actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Donaldson Award winners
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Jewish American actresses
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American women