Born January 25, 1901 in Baltimore, Maryland, Mildred Dunnock was a schoolteacher who did not start acting until she was past 30. Once she began to act, however, her rise was swift and her career meteoric although she never rose above the ranks of character actress, albeit a superb one.
Dunnockโs first Broadway role was as one of the nurses on the maternity ward in 1932โs Life Begins. She was not asked to reprise her role in the film version made later that year. In 1933, she married Keith Urmey, an executive with Chemical Bank in Manhattan with whom she had one child. She remained married to him until her death. Continuing to act on the stage, she was finally allowed to recreate the part of one of her Broadway roles with the 1945 film version of The Corn Is Green. She returned immediately to Broadway where she created the role of Aunt Lavinia in 1946โs Another Part of the Forest, the prequel to The Little Foxes.
Uncredited as the old lady Richard Widmark pushes down the stairs in 1947โs Kiss of Death, she returned to Broadway once again where in 1949 she played her most famous role, that of the wife in Arthur Millerโs Death of a Salesman, directed by Elia Kazan. She repeated the role in the 1951 film version, earning her first Oscar nomination in the process.
Dunnock earned Golden Globe nominations for 1952โs Viva Zapata!, 1956โs Baby Doll and 1957โs Peyton Place and a second Oscar nomination for Baby Doll. On Broadway in 1955, she created the role of Big Mama in Tennessee Williamsโ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but lost the part to Judith Anderson in the 1958 film version.
Alternating TV and theatre work with her screen appearances, Dunnock had several high-profile screen roles as the Mistress of Postulants in 1959โs The Nunโs Story, Gig Youngโs avaricious mother in 1960โs The Story on Page One and Elizabeth Taylorโs poor mother in the same yearโs Butterfield 8. She had one of her most sympathetic roles as Shirley Knightโs aunt in 1962โs Sweet Bird of Youth and played James Francicusโs mother in 1964โs Youngblood Hawke.
In 1966, Dunnock was one of John Fordโs 7 Women in the legendary directorโs final film and played the wife once again in an abridged TV version of Death of a Salesman opposite original star Lee J. Cobb.
Dunnock had one more memorable big screen role as the murder victim in 1969โs What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? in support of Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon. She continued to act, mainly on TV, most memorably as Donna Reedโs mother in 1979โs The Best Place to Be. Her last role was back on the big screen in 1987โs The Pick-Up Artist in support of Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey, Jr.
Mildred Dunnock died on July 5, 1991 at the age of 90, three days before James Franciscus who played her son in Youngblood Hawke died at the age of 57.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
THE CORN IS GREEN (1945), directed by Irvin Rapper
Dunnock played the part of Miss Ronberry, the traditional Welsh schoolteacher, in support of Ethel Barrymore in the 1940 Broadway production of Emlyn Williamsโ play. She recreated the part for the 1945 film starring Bette Davis. Although she received strong notices for her performance, she didnโt make another film for two years when she returned unbilled as the old lady Richard Widmark pushes down the stairs in 1947โs Kiss of Death, returning to Broadway for Lillian Hellmanโs Another Part of the Forest, Hellmanโs prequel to The Little Foxes.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN (1951), directed by Laslo Benedek
Reportedly, neither Arthur Miller nor Elia Kazan wanted Dunnock for the original Broadway production of Millerโs most famous play, but her portrayal of Linda Loman, the wife of the titled character fit her like a glove and went on to be recognized as her signature role. She received her first Oscar nomination for reprising her role opposite the screenโs Willy Loman, Fredric March. Fifteen years later she joined Broadwayโs Willy, Lee J. Cobb, for a truncated TV version. She later worked for Kazan in Viva Zapata! and Baby Doll, and as Big Mama in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
PEYTON PLACE (1957), directed by Mark Robson
Having been a schoolteacher before turning to acting in real life, and having made her film debut as a schoolteacher in The Corn Is Green, it was only fitting that Dunnock should be asked to play the beloved schoolteacher who is passed over for a promotion to principal in the film version of the then most salacious American novel of all time, Grace Metaliousโ Peyton Place. Her characterโs gentility was the purest in the novel and the film, earning her a third Golden Globe nomination following her previous nods for Viva Zapata! and Baby Doll.
SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH (1962), directed by Richard Brooks
Having been passed over in favor of Judith Anderson in Brooksโ film version of Tennessee Williamsโ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the director made the slight up to her by giving her the role of Aunt Nonnie, the character who provides the comeuppance to her brother-in-law, the nasty mayor (Ed Begley) in Williamsโ Sweet Bird of Youth starring Geraldine Page and Catโs Paul Newman. She would work again with Page in her last important big screen role in 1969โs What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? , which also starred Ruth Gordon.
7 WOMEN (1966), directed by John Ford
Dunnock formed a lifelong friendship with Patricia Neal when the two starred in Broadwayโs Another Part of the Forest, and was looking forward to being reunited with her on Fordโs last film, but Nealโs series of strokes forced her to bow out in favor of Anne Bancroft, who gives one of her finest performances as an atheistic doctor who comes to the aid of a group of Protestant missionaries in Communist China. Margaret Leighton, Flora Robson, Dunnock, Betty Field and Anna Lee co-star. This was Dunnockโs third film with Field, following Peyton Place and Butterfield 8.
MILDRED DUNNOCK AND OSCAR
- Death of a Salesman (1951) โ nominated โ Best Supporting Actress
- Baby Doll (1956) โ nominated โ Best Supporting Actress
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.