Audrey Christie (June 27, 1912 – December 19, 1989) was an American actress, singer and dancer.

Early life and family

She was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, to Charles Christie and Florence Ferguson. She attended a fine arts school in Chicago, but she quit school at age 15 after finding success as a performer with the Six Chicago Steppers.

Career

Originally, she worked as a singer and dancer, starting as a teenager in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

shows, but she later acted in dramatic roles as well. Early roles on Broadway included ''

Follow Thru ''Follow Thru'' is a 1930 American pre-Code musical romantic comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was the second all-color all-talking feature to be produced by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the hit 1929 Broadway mu ...

'' (1929), '' Sailor, Beware!'' (1933), ''The Women'' (1936), ''I Married an Angel'' (1938), and ''Without Love'' (1942). She had a lead role in '' The Desk Set'' (1956). She performed in the films '' Keeper of the Flame'' (1943), '' Deadline – U.S.A.'' (1952), '' Carousel'' (1956), ''

Splendor in the Grass ''Splendor in the Grass'' is a 1961 American period drama film produced and directed by Elia Kazan, from a screenplay written by William Inge. It stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (in his film debut) as two high school sweethearts, naviga ...

'' (1961), '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964), '' Harlow'' (1965), '' Frankie and Johnny'' (1966), ''

The Ballad of Josie ''The Ballad of Josie'' is a 1967 Technicolor American comedy Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Doris Day, Peter Graves, and George Kennedy. It humorously tackles 1960s themes of feminism in a traditional Western setting ...

'' (1967), ''

Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve ...

'' (1974), and ''

Harper Valley PTA "Harper Valley P.T.A." is a country song written by Tom T. Hall which in 1968 became a major international hit single for country singer Jeannie C. Riley. Riley's record, her debut, sold over six million copies as a single, and it made her the f ...

'' (1978). Christie acted in several episodes of the anthology TV series '' Studio One'' and another TV series, '' Fair Exchange''. During the 1964–1965 television season, she had a recurring role on the situation comedy ''

The Cara Williams Show ''The Cara Williams Show'' is an American situation comedy starring Cara Williams which centers on a married couple who try to conceal their marriage from their employer. Original episodes aired from September 23, 1964, until April 21, 1965 on CBS ...

''. In 1975, she appeared on the sitcom '' Maude'', playing the role of Maude’s overbearing mother. 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 ...

for her performance in the play '' The Voice of the Turtle''.

Personal life and death

She was married to

Guy Robertson Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincor ...

, also a performer, and they had a daughter, Christie Jane. Her second marriage was to actor

Donald Briggs Donald Briggs (January 28, 1911 – February 3, 1986) was an American actor, who appeared in over 75 films and television shows between the 1930s and 1970s. Early life Briggs was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Woodland Hills, California ...

(who was also born in Chicago), who predeceased her. They had a son, Jeffrey; and three grandchildren. Christie died of emphysema on December 19, 1989 at her home in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Audrey 1910s births 1989 deaths Year of birth uncertain Actresses from Chicago 20th-century American actresses American film actresses Deaths from emphysema