Gale Sondergaard

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Gale Sondergaard (born February 15, 1899 in Litchfield , Minnesota , † August 14, 1985 in Woodland Hills , California ; actually Edith Holm Sondergaard ) was an American actress of Danish descent. In 1937 she won the first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for A Restless Life .

Life

She attended the School of Dramatic Arts in Minneapolis and later moved to the theater for the John Keller Shakespeare Company. She traveled through North America through appearances in plays such as Hamlet , Julius Caesar , The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth . She made her film debut with the drama A Restless Life (1936), which earned her the Oscar for best supporting actress. Originally she was supposed to play the character of the wicked witch in the 1939 musical film The Wizard of Oz . But when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided to change the seductive appearance of the wicked witch with make-up into an ugly one, she turned down the role and was replaced by Margaret Hamilton . In 1946 she was nominated again for the Oscar for best supporting actress, but this time she did not win the award.

In 1922 she married Neil O'Malley, but divorced him in 1930. In the same year she married the director Herbert Biberman , which resulted in two children. Initially successful as an actress in the 1930s and 1940s, her career suffered a severe setback in the early 1950s during the McCarthy era . Her husband was accused of being a communist and was put on the Hollywood Ten list, after which she was also blacklisted. They sold their home in Hollywood and moved to New York, where Gale returned to the theater. After the death of her husband in 1971, she was seen again in various film and television productions. At the age of 86, she died of cerebral vein thrombosis in Woodland Hills, California.

Filmography (selection)

Remarks

Their facial features inspired Walt Disney to create the evil queen for the cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs .

Web links

Commons : Gale Sondergaard  - Collection of images
personal data
SURNAME Sondergaard, Gale
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sondergaard, Edith Holm (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Litchfield , Minnesota , United States
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1985
Place of death Woodland Hills , California , United States