Marjorie Dean Dunfee (December 25, 1915 – December 23, 1994) was an American

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 ...

and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

actress and acting coach.

Early years

Born in

Belmont, Ohio Belmont is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 453 at the 2010 census. History Belmont was originally known as Wrightstown, and under the l ...

, on December 25, 1915, Dunfee was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. B. Dunfee.

Career

Dunfee began her professional acting career at the Ogunquit Playhouse in

Ogunquit, Maine Ogunquit ( ) is a resort town in York County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,577. Ogunquit is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Ogunquit, which means "beau ...

, starring in

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

's production of ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

''. Her stage credits on- and off-broadway include ''Madam, Will You Walk?'' (1953), ''The Midnight Caller'' (1958), ''The Visit'' (1960), ''The Last Days of Lincoln'' (1961) and ''Crowbar'' (1990). She also appeared in several films, most notably as the elderly lady at the bus stop who gives Tom Hanks advice in ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

''. After World War II, Dunfee was a student at the Actors Laboratory Theater in Los Angeles and worked there. During that time she gained insights into dialect and phonetics. That experience eventually led to her becoming a dialect specialist. In the early 1960s, she operated the Nora Dunfee Studio in New York. Dunfee studied speech and voice under Margaret Prendergast McLean and taught for many years in the graduate acting program of the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. She also taught privately in New York and California and coached many actors over the years, including

Julie Haydon Julie Haydon (born Donella Donaldson, June 10, 1910 – December 24, 1994) was an American Broadway, film and television actress who received second billing as the female lead in the Ben Hecht–Charles MacArthur 1935 film vehicle for Noël ...

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

Raul Julia Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After ...

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton ('' née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Gl ...

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...

and

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

. In theater, she was a vocal consultant for ''The Real Thing''. ''Two Gentlemen of Verona'' and ''A Lie of the Mind'', and cinematically, she served as dialect coach for such films as ''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

'', ''

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, the p ...

'', and '' The Serpent and the Rainbow''. Dunfee met her future husband, David Clarke, in an acting class and the two married in 1946. Plays in which they acted together included ''Portrait of a Lady'', ''The Visit'' and ''The Gin Game''. Clarke and Dunfee had two daughters together, K.C. and Susan. Her last consulting job was on the film '' Rob Roy'' (1995). Dunfee was working as Sissy Spacek's dialogue coach and preparing for her own role in Charles Matthau's adaptation of

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

's ''

The Grass Harp ''The Grass Harp'' is a novel by Truman Capote published on October 1, 1951Clarke, Gerald. ''Capote: A Biography'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988), page 224. It tells the story of an orphaned boy and two elderly ladies who observe life from a ...

'' when she became ill and had to leave the shoot.

Death

Dunfee died on December 23, 1994, from complications after a brief illness at St. Clare's Hospital and Health Center in Manhattan.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1915 births 1994 deaths American film actresses American stage actresses People from Belmont, Ohio Actresses from Ohio Tisch School of the Arts faculty 20th-century American actresses {{US-film-actor-1910s-stub