GERALDINE PAGE
Information From IMDb
Date of Birth
22 November 1924, Kirksville, Missouri, USA
Date of Death
13 June 1987, New York City, New York, USA (heart attack)
Birth Name
Geraldine Sue Page
Nickname
Gerry
First Lady of the American Theater
Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Spouse
Rip Torn (1963 - 13 June 1987) (her death) 3 children
Alexander Schneider (13 May 1954 - 1957) (divorced)
Mini Biography
Considered by many to be one of the greatest American actresses of all time, Geraldine Page was a master craftswoman who seemed to bring out the most inner detail of the character she was playing. Her dedication to her craft has earned her the respect of many of today's great actors including Meryl Streep and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Geraldine Sue Page was born on November 22, 1924 in Kirksville, Missouri to Dr. Leon Elwin Page, an osteopathic physician and Pearl Maize Page, a homemaker. She had an older brother named Donald. The family moved to Chicago when Page was five years old. Growing up, her interests and hobbies always were directed toward the arts. She tried writing and painting while younger, but that proved to be too frustrating. She wanted to be a concert pianist, but her family couldn't afford all that training. While she was still a preteen, she joined the drama club at her church and soon found her passion. She began reading all kinds of plays as well as reading about actors. She was fascinated with the careers of actresses like Lucille La Verne, Maude Adams, and Eva Le Gallienne.
Upon graduation from high school in 1942, she entered the Goodman Theater School, where she performed in just about everything in which students could perform, as well as earning money working for a children's theater group. When she completed the three year program in 1945, she and several other students organized a summer stock theater in Lake Zurich, Illinois. After the summer season she headed for New York City. Unfortunately, by Christmas she was working three part-time jobs just to get by and not finding any work as an actress. She returned to Chicago that winter and accepted a position as a part-time instructor in the theater department at DePaul University for the spring semester. After another summer at Lake Zurich, Miss Page headed for New York again, this time joining a stock company in Woodstock, New York. She spent the next two summers in Lake Zurich, and the rest of the time performing in Woodstock playing everything from young girls to grandmothers.
In 1948, she made her New York city debut with an Off-Broadway production of "Seven Mirrors." She spent the next four years performing with Off-Broadway groups and summer stock in New Jersey. She also performed character parts on radio shows. In 1952 she had the lead in an Off-Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke". That production caused a sensation, not only with critics but with a growing audience marking the first big hit Off-Broadway. Page won the Drama Critics Award, becoming the first person from a non-Broadway production to receive such an award.
Page put off a number of film offers and instead played leading roles on radio and television and made her Broadway debut in January 1953 in Vina Delmar's play "Mid-Summer." Although the play was dismissed by most critics, she was hailed by critics for her portrayal of an uneducated woman married to a schoolteacher.
In the fall of 1953, she made her film debut opposite John Wayne in the western "Hondo." Although she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, she wasn't offered any good parts in Hollywood and returned to New York.
During the 1950s, Page's theater career flourished. She played a variety of roles on Broadway including a vindictive wife of a homosexual in "The Immoralist," to a lonely spinster in "The Rainmaker." She also made frequent radio and television appearances and honed her craft at the Actors Studio. It was in the fall of 1959 that Page starred opposite Paul Newman in Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth." Her role as a pathetic fading movie star earned universal praise, her first Tony Award nomination, and interest again from Hollywood. It was also when she met and married one of her co-stars, actor Rip Torn.
In 1961 she starred in the film version of "Summer and Smoke" and in 1962 in "Sweet Bird of Youth." She earned consecutive Golden Globe awards as well as Academy Award nominations for these two performances.
From now on, Page divided her time between the stage and the screen. Her selectivity was high, whatever the medium. She turned down many famous roles, including the role of Martha in the original Broadway production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and the role of the mother in the film version of "The Exorcist." She was first and foremost a character actress who believed in repertory. She tended to accept parts that were very different from the one she had just played and often liked to rotate between leading roles and supporting roles.
Despite the fact that she was such a highly respected stage actress, very few of her Broadway productions after "Sweet Bird of Youth" were hits, and often closed after just a few performances. The few productions that were hits included revivals of "Strange Interlude" and "The Three Sisters." Most of her better stage work through the rest of her life came in productions Off-Broadway, or in regional theaters across the country. She liked touring the United States and performing theater in states and cities often neglected by Broadway touring companies. In the 1960s, some of her notable film work included "The Happiest Millionaire," "What ever happened To Aunt Alie" and "You're A Big Boy Now." She earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the latter. She also won two Emmy Awards for television work.
In the 1970s one of her few hits on Broadway was as a drunken banker's wife in "Absured Person Singular." This role netted her a second Tony Award nomination. One of her bigger triumphs on the stage was the Sancturay Theater Compnay which she and her husband Rip Torn founded off-Broadway. Although it only lasted a couple of years, it gave young actors a chance to work, and many of the productions were given rave reviews by critics. Some of her more memorable film roles in the 1970s included her role as a nosy matchmaker in "Pete 'n' Tillie" (Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress) as a controversial religious leader in "The Day of the Locust" as the voice of the villain Madame Medusa in The Rescuers (1977) and as the suicidal mother in "Interiors" (Oscar nomination as Best Actress).
In the 1980s she began teaching acting at the Pelian Theater School. In 1982 she had another triumph on Broadway as Mother Superior in "Agnes of God" a role which earned her a third Tony Award nomination. In 1983 she co-founded the Mirror Repertory Compnay, an Off-Broadway theater group dedicated to preserving the art of repertory theater. She performed and directed in a variety of productions with the group. She continued to work in films despite her hectic theater schedule. One of her film roles in 1984 was a scene stealing bit part as a chain smoking mother of a murdered cop in "The Pope of Greenwich Village." She received an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress. With that she became the first woman to receive seven Oscar nominations for acting without a single win. In 1985, she starred in the independent film "The Trip To Bountiful." Based on Horton Foote's play, it tells the story of a 60 year old woman who yearns to run away from her cramped city apartment that she shares with her son and daughter -in-law, to see the old country town where she grew up. Page's performance was hailed by critics and she began to rack up a number of award nominations. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, making it her eighth try for the golden boy. Although Meryl Streep looked like a sure bet for "Out Of Africa" many critics predicted Page would emerge as the dark horse winner. When F. Murray Abraham opened the envelope on Oscar night he announced "Ladies and gentlemen, I consider this woman the greatest actress in the English language. The winner is Geraldine Page in The Trip To Bountiful!" As Page hurried to find her shoes which she had kicked under her seat, Meryl Streep led the long standing ovation for her.
In the 1980s she received a number of other honors. She received several lifetime achievement awards from various theater groups. In 1983, she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. The only thing that seemed to be missing was a Tony Award. In the spring of 1987, Page took a break from the Mirror Theater, to return to Broadway in a revival of "Blithe Spirit" For her leading performance as the wacky medium, she was nominated for her fourth Tony Award. Many critics predicted her to be the sentimental favorite for the award. She did not win. Six days after the Tony Awards ceremony, she died of a heart attack leaving behind her husband and their three children. She was 62 years old. A memorial service was held at a Broadway theater and numerous actors and celebrities payed their respects including Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy, and Paul Newman among others. Ronald and Nancy Reagan had flowers sent from the White House to the memorial service.
Page dedicated her life to her craft and is regarded as one of the most important actresses of the 20th century. She appeared in 28 films, 16 Broadway plays, memorable television plays and radio plays, and innumerable repertory, stock, regional and Off-Broadway performances. As People magazine noted: "Geraldine Page wasn't resting on her laurels at the time of her death, she was on a role. After a performance she asked 'I wasn't overdone was I?' Then she added with smile 'wasn't I exquisite?' As ever she was".
IMDb Mini Biography By: Brett Walter
Trivia
She had a daughter and twin sons with Rip Torn. Sons: John Torn and Tony Torn
Was starring in "Blithe Spirit" on Broadway at the time of her death.
Taught acting at the Actors Studio and Pelican Theater in New York, as well as the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles
Daughter: Angelica Torn.
Was nominated four times for Broadway's Tony Award: as Best Actress (Dramatic) in 1960, for "Sweet Bird of Youth," a role she recreated in an Oscar-nominated performance in the film version, Sweet Bird of Youth (1962); as Best Actress (Play), in 1982, for "Agnes of God;" and in 1987, for "Blithe Spirit," and as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic), in 1975, for "Absurd Person Singular" -- but never won.
In 1983, she co-founded the Mirror Repertory Company, an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to preserving the art of repertory. She remained an Artist in Residence with the group until her death.
In 1985, she became the first woman to receive seven Oscar nominations for acting without winning. The following year, she received her eighth nomination and finally won.
She received a standing ovation when she won her Oscar.
In 1960, she was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actress for her role in "Sweet Bird of Youth." She lost to Anne Bancroft for "The Miracle Worker." In 1962, she received an Oscar nomination for Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) but lost to Bancroft for the film version of The Miracle Worker (1962). In 1982 she originated the role of Mother Superior in "Agnes of God" but was passed over Agnes of God (1985) that went to Bancroft. Bancroft was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Page.
Her husband Rip Torn is the cousin of Sissy Spacek.
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 677-679. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
At the time of her death she had been ill with kidney disease and high blood pressure.
Was offered the role of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), but she turned it down. Louise Fletcher, who went on to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance, was cast instead.
When presenting Page's Best Actress Oscar for The Trip to Bountiful. F. Murray Abraham declared her "the greatest actress in the English language" and genuflected when she reached the podium.
She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Returned to work four months after giving birth to her daughter Angelica Torn in order to begin performing in the Broadway revival of "The Three Sisters".
Personal Quote
"I didn't want to be a Hollywood actress who every so often does a Broadway play. I wanted to be a Broadway actress who every so often does a movie.
Filmography
Actor
1987 Riders to the Sea
1986 Native Son....Peggy
1986 Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story (TV movie)...Itta Halaunbrenner
1986 My Little Girl...Molly
1985 The Trip to Bountiful...Mrs. Carrie Watts
1985 Deadly Nightmares (TV series) – W.G.O.D. (1985) … Lynette "Mama" Powers
1985 White Nights...Anne Wyatt
1985 Walls of Glass...Mama
1985 The Bride...Mrs. Baumann
1985 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (TV movie)...Sally Phelps
1984 The Pope of Greenwich Village...Mrs. Ritter
1984 The Dollmaker (TV movie)...Mrs. Kendrick
1984 The Parade (TV movie)...Sarah
1983 Loving (TV series)– Pilot (1983) … Amelia Whitley
1982 The Blue and the Gray (TV mini-series)...Mrs. Lovelace
1982 I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can...Jean Scott Martin
1981 Honky Tonk Freeway...Sister Mary Clarise
1981 Harry's War...'Aunt' Beverly
1978 Interiors...Eve
1977 Hawaii Five-O (TV series)– The Descent of the Torches (1977) … Philomena Underwood
1977 The Rescuers...Madame Medusa (voice)
1977 Something for Joey (TV movie)...Ann Cappelletti
1977 Nasty Habits...Sister Walburga
1976 Kojak (TV series)
– A Shield for Murder: Part 1 (1976) … Edna Morrison
– A Shield for Murder: Part 2 (1976) … Edna Morrison
1975 The Day of the Locust...Big Sister
1974 Live Again, Die Again (TV movie)...Mrs. O'Neill
1973 Happy as the Grass Was Green...Anna Witmer
1973 The Snoop Sisters (TV series)– Corpse and Robbers (1973)
1972-1973 Night Gallery (TV series)
– Something in the Woodwork (1973) … Molly Wheatland
– The Sins of the Fathers/You Can't Get Help Like That Anymore (1972) … Mrs. Evans
– Deliveries in the Rear/Stop Killing Me/Dead Weight (1972) … Frances Turchin
1972 Pete 'n' Tillie...Gertrude
1972 Ghost Story (TV series)
– Touch of Madness (1972) … Hattie
1972 Medical Center (TV series)– Betrayed (1972) … Ellen Davis
1972 Look Homeward, Angel (TV movie)...Eliza Gant
1971 J.W. Coop...Mama
1971 The Beguiled...Martha
1971/I Montserrat (TV movie)...Felisa
1971 The Name of the Game (TV series)– A Sister from Napoli (1971) … Sister Lucia
1969 Trilogy...Sook (segment "A Christmas Memory")
1969 What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?...Mrs. Marrable
1969 NBC Children's Theatre (TV series)– Little Women (1969) … Narrator
1967 The Happiest Millionaire...Mrs. Duke
1967 La chica del lunes...Carol Richardson
1967 The Thanksgiving Visitor (TV movie)...Sook
1966 ABC Stage 67 (TV series)– A Christmas Memory (1966) … Sook
1966 You're a Big Boy Now...Margery Chanticleer
1966 Hallmark Hall of Fame (TV series)– Barefoot in Athens (1966) … Xantippe
1966 The Long, Hot Summer (TV series)– Evil Angel (1966) … Maribelle Kirkpatrick
1966 The Three Sisters...Olga
1964 Dear Heart...Evie Jackson
1963 Toys in the Attic...Carrie Berniers
1962 Sweet Bird of Youth...Alexandra Del Lago
1961 Summer and Smoke...Alma Winemiller
1959 Sunday Showcase (TV series)– People Kill People Sometimes (1959) … Virginia Reed
1958 Playhouse 90 (TV series)
– Old Man (1958) … Addie
– Portrait of a Murderer (1958) … Florry
1958 General Electric Theater (TV series)– No Hiding Place (1958) … Heddie
1957 Kraft Television Theatre (TV series) – Fire and Ice (1957)
1955-1957 The United States Steel Hour (TV series)
– The Hill Wife (1957) … Estelle
– Shoot It Again (1955) … Marian
1955 Matinee Theatre (TV series)– An Apple for Miss Myrtle (1955) … Miss Myrtle
1955 Windows (TV series)– A Domestic Dilemma (1955) … the Woman Alcoholic
1955 Omnibus (TV series)– The Last Turn of the Screw (1955) … Governess
1954 The Philco Television Playhouse (TV series)– Miss Look-Alike (1954)
1953 Hondo...Angie Lowe
1953 Taxi...Florence Albert (uncredited)
1952 Robert Montgomery Presents (TV series)– The Fall Guy (1952)
1952 Studio One (TV series)– The Shadowy Third (1952)
1952 Lux Video Theatre (TV series) – The Lesson (1952) … Neighbor