Katharine Balfour (February 7, 1921 – April 3, 1990) was an American actress and writer. Her best-known role was as the mother of Oliver,
Ryan O'Neal's character, in the 1970 film ''
Love Story'', as well as Sophia Kebabian in ''
America, America
''America America'' (British title ''The Anatolian Smile''—a reference to an ongoing acknowledgment of the character Stavros' captivating smile) is a 1963 American drama film directed, produced and written by Elia Kazan, adapted from his own b ...
'' and was host of a radio talk show, ''Views in Brief,'' on
WEVD
WEVD was an American brokered programming radio station with some news-talk launched in August 1927 by the Socialist Party of America. Making use of the initials of recently deceased party leader Eugene Victor Debs in its call sign, the station ...
in New York.
Background
Katharine Balfour, daughter of Raphael and Gertrude Balber, was born in the
Borough of Manhattan and graduated from
Morris High School (Bronx, New York)
Morris High School, in New York City, was a high school in the Melrose section of the Bronx borough's South Bronx area. The direct predecessor of Morris was built in 1897 and established as the Mixed High School, situated in a small brick building ...
.
[Obituary,]
Katharine Balfour, 69, An Actress and Writer
" New York Times, April 4, 1990. She was married to New York
Freudian
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
psychoanalyst Leonard Sillman. From the mid-1960s until 1982, she had a close personal relationship with
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
executive editor
A.M. Rosenthal
Abraham Michael Rosenthal (May 2, 1922 – May 10, 2006) was an American journalist who served as ''The New York Times'' executive editor from 1977 to 1986. Previously he was the newspaper's city editor and managing editor. Near the end of his tenu ...
.
[Jeanie Kasindorf,]
The Most Happy Fella
" New York Magazine 48, 51 (Feb. 8, 1988).
Stage
In 1947 she created the role of Alma in director
Margo Jones
Margo Jones (December 12, 1911 – July 24, 1955), nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", was an American Theatre director, stage director and Theatrical producer, producer, best known for launching the American regional theater movement and for introduc ...
' original production of
Tennessee Williams's ''
Summer and Smoke
''Summer and Smoke'' is a two-part, thirteen-scene play by Tennessee Williams, completed in 1948. He began working on the play in 1945 as ''Chart of Anatomy'', derived from his short stories "Oriflamme" and the then-work-in-progress "Yellow Bir ...
'' in Jones' Theatre '47 in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
[ performing it again in a later road production in 1949.][Louis Calta,]
New Stages Faces Financial Threat
" New York Times, p. 7 (August 27, 1949). Her 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 ...
roles included Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...
in 1964's ''Helen'', a performance that the New York Times review found "properly sinuous and sultry."[Lewis Funke,]
Theater: Helen of Troy
" New York Times, Food Section, p. 55 (Feb. 11, 1964).
Screen
Her first credited film role was as Elsa in the wartime MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
drama-musical ''Music for Millions
''Music for Millions'' is a 1944 musical film, musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Margaret O'Brien, José Iturbi, Jimmy Durante, June Allyson, Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1917), Marsha Hunt, Hugh Herbert, Harry Davenport (ac ...
'' (1944). In addition to her role as Oliver Barrett's mother in '' Love Story'' (1970), she appeared as Sophia Kebabian in ''America, America
''America America'' (British title ''The Anatolian Smile''—a reference to an ongoing acknowledgment of the character Stavros' captivating smile) is a 1963 American drama film directed, produced and written by Elia Kazan, adapted from his own b ...
'' (1963), Amparo's mother in '' The Adventurers'' (1970), Mrs. Morrow in ''Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
'' (1981), and Theresa in ''Teachers
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
'' (1984).[
]
Writings
She also contributed articles to Family Circle
''Family Circle'' was an American magazine that covered such topics as homemaking, recipes, and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019. Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the " Seven Sisters," a group of se ...
magazine. From 1968 to 1985, she interviewed celebrities as host of a radio talk show, ''Views in Brief,'' on WEVD
WEVD was an American brokered programming radio station with some news-talk launched in August 1927 by the Socialist Party of America. Making use of the initials of recently deceased party leader Eugene Victor Debs in its call sign, the station ...
in New York.[Katharine Belfour, Actress, Starting a Radio Series]
" New York Times p. 81 (May 3, 1968). In 1988 New York Magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
reported that she had written a two-hundred-page manuscript tentatively entitled "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered," which was described as her "fictionalized memoirs."[Abe's Ex-Flame Writing ''Roman À Clef'']
" New York Magazine p. 13 (March 21, 1988).
Death
She died on April 3, 1990, in New York City. According to her ''New York Times'' obituary, the cause of her death was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
, also called Lou Gehrig's disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...
.[
]
Filmography
References
External links
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Katharine
Actresses from New York City
1921 births
1990 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Neurological disease deaths in New York (state)
Deaths from motor neuron disease