Beatrice Straight

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beatrice Whitney Straight (born August 2, 1914 in Old Westbury , New York , † April 7, 2001 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actress . Her best-known film roles include the parapsychologist Dr. Lesh in the horror film Poltergeist from 1982 as well as her role in the Filmsatire Network , for which she received the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1976 .

Life

Early life

Beatrice Straight was born in Old Westbury on August 2, 1914, the second of three children to the wealthy and respected Whitney family. Her father was the banker and publisher Willard Dickerman Straight (1880-1918), her mother the social activist Dorothy Payne Whitney (1887-1968). She began her acting career in the theater and made her debut in 1935 in Bitter Oleander on Broadway in New York .

Film career

Straight played her first film role in 1952 in A Stranger Is Calling alongside Gary Merrill . It was followed by other supporting roles in films such as the story of a nun and guest appearances in various television series.

In 1977 she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress on Network , despite being only 5 minutes and 40 seconds - the shortest film appearance ever to win an Oscar. She played the wife of William Holden's character, directed by Sidney Lumet , who is abandoned by her husband for a younger wife.

In 1982 Straight had her most famous film appearance in the role of the parapsychologist Dr. Lesh in the horror film Poltergeist , which brought in high revenues and had two sequels.

After the success of Poltergeist , several other supporting roles in television series and films followed, before Straight in 1991 with Deceived at the side of Goldie Hawn shot her last film and then withdrew from the film business at the age of 77.

In addition to her film career, Straight continued to work on theater productions and appeared in plays by William Shakespeare , Henrik Ibsen and Tennessee Williams, among others.

Private life

Beatrice Straight was married twice. From 1942 until her divorce on May 24, 1949 with Louis Dolivet, with whom she had a son who drowned in a swimming accident in a pond in Armonk in 1952 at the age of seven . From June 2, 1949 Straight was married to the actor Peter Cookson († 1990) in second marriage. The couple had two children, including director and screenwriter Tony Cookson. She last lived in Beverly Hills. Beatrice Straight died of pneumonia on April 7, 2001 at the age of 86 in Los Angeles. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the last few years of her life . Straight was buried in the William Henry Lee Memorial Cemetery in New Marlborough , Massachusetts .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rich Drees: Oscar's Greatest Mistakes: Beatrice Straight, 1977 Best Supporting Actress. In: FilmBuffOnline. February 4, 2015, accessed March 16, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Beatrice Straight. In: Find a Grave . May 15, 2001, accessed March 16, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Straight, Beatrice
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Straight, Beatrice Whitney (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Old Westbury , New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 2001
Place of death Los Angeles , California, United States