''My Body, My Child'' is a 1982 American
made-for-television
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Marvin J. Chomsky
Marvin Joseph Chomsky (May 23, 1929 – March 28, 2022) was an American director and producer who worked both in television and film.
Early life and career
Chomsky born in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn. He attended Stuyvesant High School i ...
and starring
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
. It premiered on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
on 12 April 1982. It includes early performances by future ''
Sex and the City
''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...
'' co-stars,
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...
and
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...
. It is also the final television role of
Jack Albertson
Harold Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981), known professionally as Jack Albertson, was an American actor, comedian, dancer and singer who also performed in variety. Albertson was a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winning actor. For his perfor ...
, who was subsequently nominated posthumously for the
.
Plot
Leenie (Redgrave) is a middle-aged
Irish-American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
schoolteacher with three grown daughters. Yet she unexpectedly finds herself pregnant again and is delighted. However her doctor rejects this possibility because of an unreliable blood test and her age. Thus her symptoms such as troubled sleeping and sickness are mis-diagnosed as psychogenic. She is prescribed a host of medications to cope with these difficulties. However it later turns out that she is in fact pregnant and that these medications have been causing irreversible damage to her unborn baby. Faced with the truth that her child will be born with defects, she faces a decision to keep the baby or go against her religious beliefs and have an abortion.
Cast
*
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
as Leenie Cabrezi
*
Jack Albertson
Harold Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981), known professionally as Jack Albertson, was an American actor, comedian, dancer and singer who also performed in variety. Albertson was a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winning actor. For his perfor ...
as Poppa MacMahon
*
Joseph Campanella
Joseph Anthony Campanella (November 21, 1924 – May 16, 2018) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 television and film roles from the early 1950s to 2009. Campanella was best remembered for his roles as Joe Turino on ' ...
as Joe Cabrezi
*
Stephen Elliott Stephen Elliott may refer to:
Entertainment
*Stephen Elliott (actor), (1918–2005), American actor
* Stephen Elliott (author) (born 1971), American author and activist
Sport
*Steve Elliott (footballer, born 1958), English footballer
*Steve Ellio ...
as Dr. Gallagher
*
James Naughton
James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. He is best known as Michael Bower on '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984-1992) and was also notable for his earlier role as the astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season telev ...
as Dr. Dan Berensen
*
Gail Strickland
Gail Strickland is an American actress who had prominent supporting roles in such films as ' (1975), '' Bound for Glory'' (1976), ''Who'll Stop the Rain'' (1978), ''Norma Rae'' (1979), and ''Protocol'' (1984), and appeared regularly on various ...
as Adele
*Maia Danziger as Barbara 'Bo'
*Kenneth Kimmins as Bill
*Stephen D. Newman as Dr. Fialkin
*
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...
as Katy
*
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...
as Nancy
*Alexandra Borrie as Jana
*Leon B. Stevens as Dr. Butler
*Charles Kahlenberg as Dr. Spoke
*Mavis Ray as Aunt Beasey
See also
*
Catholicism and abortion
The official teachings of the '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a zygote, blastocyst, embryo or fetus, since it holds that " ...
References
External links
*
{{Marvin J. Chomsky
1982 television films
1982 films
1982 drama films
1980s English-language films
ABC network original films
Films about abortion
Films directed by Marvin J. Chomsky
American drama television films
1980s American films