Sandra Church (born January 13, 1937) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her performance as the original
Gypsy Rose Lee in ''
Gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
'' (1959),
[Kantor, Michael and Laurence Maslon, ''Broadway: The American Musical'', Bulfinch Press, New York, p. 286.] for which she was nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical has been presented since 1950. The award was not given at the first three Tony Award ceremonies. Nominees were not announced publicly until 1956.
Winners and nominees
1950s
...
. She also co-starred with
Marlon Brando in ''
The Ugly American
''The Ugly American'' is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer that depicts the failures of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia.
The book caused a sensation in diplomatic circles and had major political implic ...
'' (1963).
Early life
Church was born and raised in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. Her father died when she was two years old in a car accident. Her mother, a registered nurse with theatrical ambitions herself, moved Church at the age of five to
Hollywood to pursue a career in acting. She attended
Immaculate Heart High School.
She was taken out of high school to audition for the lead role in ''
Picnic'', which kicked off her acting career.
Career
Theatre
From 1953 to 1959, Church played various ingénue roles in theatrical plays. In 1953, Church made her
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
debut in the role of Madge Owens, replacing
Janice Rule
Mary Janice Rule (August 15, 1931 – October 17, 2003) was an American actress and psychotherapist, earning her PhD while still acting, then acting occasionally while working in her new profession.
Early life
Rule was born in Norwood, Ohio, to ...
, in
William Inge
William Motter Inge (; May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973) was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broad ...
's ''
Picnic'' with
Ralph Meeker
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of '' Mister Roberts'' (1948–1951) and ''Picnic'' ...
.
[Marill, Alvin H. ''More Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television, Vol II (M-Z)'', Metuchen: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1993. p. 944] Her next performance was playing Sonya in
Uncle Vanya
''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dir ...
(1956), an off-broadway production with
Franchot Tone
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...
and
Signe Hasso
Signe Eleonora Cecilia Hasso (''née'' Larsson; 15 August 1915 – 7 June 2002) was a Swedish actress, writer, and composer.
Biography
Hasso was born in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm, Sweden in 1915. Her father and grandfather died when s ...
, followed by a role as Betsy Dean in the
Ronald Alexander play ''Holiday for Lovers'' (1957). Church was featured as Helen White in
Sherwood Anderson's ''
Winesburg, Ohio'' alongside
Dorothy McGuire
Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 – September 13, 2001) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actre ...
and
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore Jr. (October 1, 1921 – February 6, 2009) was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two Ac ...
.
Church's breakout performance came in 1959 as the original
Gypsy Rose Lee in ''
Gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
'' (1959),
[Barnes, Clive. "Gypsy Bounces Back With Zest and Lilt", ''New York Times'', September 24, 1974]
en Brantley, Brantley, Ben. "New Momma Takes Charge" ''New York Times'' May 2, 2003.[ Rich, Frank. ''The Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993'', Random House, 1998, ] for which she was nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical has been presented since 1950. The award was not given at the first three Tony Award ceremonies. Nominees were not announced publicly until 1956.
Winners and nominees
1950s
...
. In his autobiography, playwright
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 ...
states, "It came down to between
Suzanne Pleshette and Sandra Church. Suzanne was the better actress, but Sandra was the better singer. We went with Sandra."
[Gates, Anit]
NYTimes-21cnd-Pleshette "Suzanne Pleshette, 70, 'Newhart' Actress, Dies" (bio)
''The New York Times'', January 21, 2008 In ''Gypsy'', Church introduced the popular standard "Let Me Entertain You."
Following ''Gypsy'', Church appeared in the 1960 Broadway play ''
Under the Yum Yum Tree
''Under the Yum Yum Tree'' is a 1963 American sex comedy film directed by David Swift and starring Jack Lemmon, Carol Lynley, Dean Jones, and Edie Adams, with Imogene Coca, Paul Lynde, and Robert Lansing in supporting roles. The film received ...
'', directed by
Joseph Anthony
Joseph Anthony (born Joseph Deuster; May 24, 1912 – January 20, 1993) was an American playwright, actor, and director. He made his film acting debut in the 1934 film ''Hat, Coat, and Glove'' and his theatrical acting debut in a 1935 producti ...
.
Films and television
Church's first on-screen appearance was on the ''
Producers' Showcase
''Producers' Showcase'' is an American anthology television series that was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth ...
'', followed by the role of Jeannie in ''
The Mugger
''The Mugger'' is a 1958 American film noir crime film about a police psychiatrist who is attempting to catch a mysterious mugger that has been attacking women in his city, stealing their purses and slashing their left cheek. The film is a police ...
'' (1958). She subsequently guest starred on the television series ''Look Up And Live'' (1959), as well as ''
The DuPont Show of the Month
''DuPont Show of the Month'' was a 90-minute television anthology series that aired monthly on CBS from 1957 to 1961. The DuPont Company also sponsored a weekly half-hour dramatic anthology series hosted by June Allyson, ''The DuPont Show with Ju ...
'' in 1960. Three years later, she played Marion MacWhite in the film adaptation of
Eugene Burdick
Eugene Leonard Burdick (December 12, 1918 – July 26, 1965) was an American political scientist, novelist, and non-fiction writer, co-author of '' The Ugly American'' (1958), ''Fail-Safe'' (1962), and author of '' The 480'' (1965).
Early life
H ...
and
William Lederer's novel, ''
The Ugly American
''The Ugly American'' is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer that depicts the failures of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia.
The book caused a sensation in diplomatic circles and had major political implic ...
'' (1963). Also in 1963, she appeared on television in ''
The Eleventh Hour'' and ''
Kraft Suspense Theatre
The ''Kraft Suspense Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced and broadcast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's '' Kraft ...
''.
Discography
Personal life
In October 1961 it was widely reported that Church and ''Gypsy'' composer
Jule Styne would marry, although this was untrue. In November 1964, she married Broadway play producer
Norman Twain
Norman Twain (September 13, 1930 – August 6, 2016) was an American film and theatre producer.
Early work in theatre
Born in Atlantic City in 1930, Twain began his career in theatre, producing and directing over 50 stage productions on and of ...
in
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The Ci ...
,
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
at the home of stage designer
Oliver Messel
Oliver Hilary Sambourne Messel (13 January 1904 – 13 July 1978) was an English artist and one of the foremost stage designers of the 20th century.
Early life
Messel was born in London, the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Messel a ...
.
[Profile of Sandra Church](_blank)
''Sarasota-Harold Tribune''; accessed May 20, 2015. The couple divorced in 1975. She later married Albert H. Clayburgh until his passing in 1997.
Church's great-aunt was educator
Mary Florence Denton, a longtime faculty member at
Doshisha University
, mottoeng = Truth shall make you free
, tagline =
, established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920
, vision =
, type = Private
, affiliation =
, calendar =
, endowment = €1 ...
in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Sandra
1938 births
American women singers
American film actresses
Actresses from San Francisco
Grammy Award winners
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Living people
Singers from San Francisco
21st-century American women