Collin Wilcox

Collin Wilcox (born February 4, 1935 in Cincinnati , Ohio , † October 14, 2009 in Highlands , North Carolina ) was an American actress , who was particularly popular in the 1960s through her portrayal of Mayella Ewell in the film Who disturbs the nightingale (1962) and her supporting roles in the television series The Untouchables , Twilight Zone , Preston & Preston and Smoking Colts . She also appeared as Collin Wilcox-Horne and Collin Wilcox-Paxton .

Life

Collin Wilcox gained her first stage experience as a child at the Highlands Community Theater , a local Highlands theater company that her parents co-founded in the 1930s . After completing school, she studied at the University of Tennessee and later acting at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago and at The Actors Studio in New York City . In Chicago, she also appeared with the Compass Players , an improvisational theater group that was also the forerunner of The Second City theater company .

She made her actual Broadway debut in 1958 in the play The Day the Money Stopped , a drama directed by Maxwell Anderson and Brendan Gill . Although the play was canceled after only four performances, she won the Actors' Equity Association 's Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Actress on Broadway for the role of Ellen Wells .

She gained widespread attention on television in 1958 when she appeared on the live broadcast of The Member of the Wedding , a version of Carson McCuller 's play of the same name from 1951, directed by Robert Mulligan , who later directed Who the Nightingale disturbs . In order to get the role of Frankie, the prepubescent heroine of the play, the then over twenty-year-old appeared at the casting with shaved hair, her breasts wrapped in tea towels and freckles on her face that were applied with iodine .

Her best-known film role was that of Mayella Ewell, a young white woman who falsely accused an African American (played by Brock Peters ) of rape in Who Disrupts the Nightingale , the 1962 cinematic adaptation of Harper Lee's 1960 novel Who Disrupts the Nightingale The portrayal of her tearful testimony during cross-examination by attic lawyer Atticus Finch, portrayed by Gregory Peck and awarded the Oscar for best actor , is one of the most remarkable scenes in the film.

Her television appearances, which are still repeated today, also included the episode Number 12 Looks Just Like You from the television series The Twilight Zone , which was first broadcast in 1964 . In it she played an inconspicuous 19-year-old woman in a society of the future who resists a ritual "transformation procedure" that makes her physically beautiful, whereby she can choose between several models, and grants her a longer life.

Collin Wilcox, who was married three times, also had guest roles on television series such as Dr. Kildare , On the Run , The Boss , The Waltons, and Our Little Farm . She also played supporting roles in the movies Catch-22 - The Evil Trick (1970), Jaws 2 (1978), Marie (1985) and the CBS- produced television film The Story of Jane Pittman (1974).

Filmography (selection)

• 1953: Twice Upon a Time
• 1959: Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( Alfred Hitchcock Presents , TV series, an episode)
• 1962: Chicago 1930 ( The Untouchables , TV series, two episodes)
• 1962: Who disturbs the nightingale (To Kill a Mockingbird)
• 1962–1965: Preston & Preston ( The Defenders , television series, four episodes)
• 1963: Temple Houston (TV series, an episode)
• 1964: Incredible Stories ( Twilight Zone , TV series, an episode)
• 1964, 1965: Alfred Hitchcock shows ( The Alfred Hitchcock Hour , TV series, two episodes)
• 1965, 1966: On the Flight ( The Fugitive , TV series, two episodes)
• 1966, 1967: FBI ( The FBI , TV series, two episodes)
• 1967: The People at Shiloh Ranch ( The Virginian , TV series, an episode)
• 1968: The Name of the Game Is Kill
• 1968: The Sound of Anger (TV movie)
• 1970: Catch-22
• 1970: The Revolutionary
• 1970: $ 100 more if it's a boy (The Baby Maker)
• 1971: Ace on Wheels (Jump)
• 1972: The Boss ( Ironside , TV series, an episode)
• 1972: The Waltons ( The Waltons , television series, an episode)
• 1972: Smoking Colts ( Gunsmoke , TV series, an episode)
• 1972, 1974: Cannon (TV series, two episodes)
• 1973: Owen Marshall - Defense Attorney ( Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law , TV series, an episode)
• 1973: The Streets of San Francisco ( The Streets of San Francisco , television series, one episode)
• 1973: The Man Who Could Talk to Kids (TV movie)
• 1974: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (Movie made for TV)
• 1974: A Cry in the Wilderness (TV movie)
• 1974: Columbo (TV series, an episode)
• 1975: The Lives of Jenny Dolan , Movie made for TV
• 1976: Adventures of the Country Road ( Movin 'On , TV series, an episode)
• 1977: Quincy ( Quincy, ME , TV series, an episode)
• 1977: September 30, 1955
• 1977: Our Little Farm ( Little House on the Prairie , TV series, an episode)
• 1978: Jaws 2 (Jaws 2)
• 1979: Under This Sky (TV movie)
• 1985: Marie - A True Story (Marie)
• 1987: Long Farewell ( Foxfire , TV movie)
• 1991: Wilde Alice ( Wildflower , TV movie)
• 1993: The Portrait (TV movie)
• 1994: Christy (TV movie)
• 1994–1995: Christy (TV series, five episodes)
• 1995: The Poisoner ( Death in Small Doses , TV movie)
• 1995: Fluke
• 1995: A Bend in the Road (The Journey of August King)
• 1996: Sweet 17, Deadly Beast ( Twisted Desire , TV movie)
• 1996: Crying Child ( The Crying Child , Movie made for TV)
• 1997: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil)
• 1998: Virus X - The Deadly Trap ( Carriers , TV movie)
• 2003: A Touch of Fate

Web links

• THE NEW YORK TIMES: Collin Wilcox, Actress in 'Mockingbird', Dies at 74 (October 22, 2009)
• Collin Wilcox in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Collin Wilcox in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
• Collin Wilcox in the German synchronous file
• Collin Wilcox Paxton in the German synchronous file