Catherine Burns

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Catherine Burns (born September 25, 1945 in New York City , New York - † February 2, 2019 ) was an American actress .

biography

Catherine Burns began her acting studies in the late 1960s at the renowned American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in her hometown, where such well-known mimes as Lauren Bacall , Anne Bancroft , Gena Rowlands and Spencer Tracy had completed their training. She made her American television debut in 1968 with the role of Mary Warren in Alex Segal's The Crucible , a film adaptation of Arthur Miller's famous play of the same name . In the drama, which was nominated twice for the American Emmy Television Award , she acted alongside George C. Scott , Melvyn Douglas and Tuesday Weld, among others . The part of Mary Warren should be exemplary for her future selection of her roles, in which Burns mostly gave weak, naive and impressionable characters or shy outsiders a face. That same year she first appeared on New York Broadway in the premiere of Jay Presson Allen's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968), which was based on the best-selling novel by Muriel Spark of the same name . The story of a progressive young teacher (played by Zoe Caldwell ) who failed her educational methods at a Scottish boarding school in the 1930s was a success with American audiences. In the play, which had 396 performances within a year and was to be successfully filmed a short time later by Ronald Neame with Maggie Smith in the title role, Burns played the intelligent, science-interested student Monica, who attracts attention with fits of anger. This earned her the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Broadway Actress.

Catherine Burns' breakthrough as a film actress came in 1969 with her film debut in Last Summer , which was published in Germany under the title Petting . Frank Perry's drama is about the aimless teenagers Sandy, Dan and Peter (played by Barbara Hershey , Bruce Davison and Richard Thomas ) who are on the cusp of growing up. All three spend a summer on the New York vacation island Fire Island and become aware of their awakening sexuality. A central part is played by the plump and lonely 15-year-old Rhoda, who overcomes her shyness and joins the group. The idealism of the girl who, unlike the others, knows what she wants is broken by Sandy, Dan and Peter, first through psychological and later through physical violence. Last Summer was a success with critics, who praised the work primarily because of the performance of the young acting ensemble, which has hardly been tried in the cinema, especially Catherine Burns. The role of Rhoda earned her the 1970 Kansas City Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress. At the Academy Awards in the same year Burns was nominated for the Academy Award in the same category, but had to admit defeat to her compatriot Goldie Hawn ( The Cactus Blossom ). In the same year she received the New York Theater World Award for Dear Janet Rosenberg, Dear Mr. Kooning . In the two-person piece, Burns mimed 19-year-old Janet, who gradually matured into a young and successful writer after meeting her favorite writer (played by Kevin O'Connor).

While Last Summer proved to be a career springboard for Barbara Hershey, Bruce Davison and Richard Thomas , Catherine Burns failed to build on the success of her first film role. After Fred Coe's tragic comedy Ich, Natalie (1969) and the female lead alongside Richard Thomas in the youth drama Red Sky at Morning , the actress focused on a career in television and was often featured with one-off guest appearances in well-known series such as Love, Lies, Passion (1969 ), The Waltons (1973), Make-Up and Guns, and The Seven Million Dollar Woman (both 1976). After an engagement for an episode of the television series Seeing Things (1984), Burns ended her acting career in the mid-1980s and returned to her hometown to work as a writer. As a co-producer of films such as the homoerotic drama All The Rage (1997) or the romantic comedy Starving Artists (1999), she briefly caught the eye in the late 1990s.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1967: The Crucible (TV)
  • 1969: Petting ( Last Summer )
  • 1969: Love, Lie, Passion ( One Life to Live , TV series)
  • 1969: Me, Natalie ( Me, Natalie )
  • 1971: Red Sky at Morning
  • 1972: Two for the Money (TV)
  • 1972: Night of Terror ( Night of Terror , TV)
  • 1976: Amelia Earhart (TV)
  • 1976: Make-up and pistols ( Police Woman , TV series)
  • 1976: The Bionic Woman ( The Bionic Woman , television series)
  • 1982: A Christmas Carol (TV)
  • 1984: Seeing Things (TV series)

Stage plays (selection)

  • 1968: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
  • 1970: Dear Janet Rosenberg, Dear Mr. Kooning

Awards

Oscar

  • 1970: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Petting

Further

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Biography at hollywood.com (accessed December 30, 2009)
personal data
SURNAME Burns, Catherine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH 2nd February 2019