Actress. She gained fame as a versatile American actress of stage, film, and television, who was nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, yet received only one Oscar. Some sources listed this 5'8" beauty as a strong supporting character actress instead of the leading lady. Born the daughter of an osteopathy physician, she became an actress at the age of 17, receiving critical reviews for her 1952 performance in the off-Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's play "Summer and Smoke." This led to her being invited to Hollywood for her first big movie role, which was opposite John Wayne in "Hondo" in 1953. She received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for this role. Considered too hot-tempered, too selective about her roles, and too difficult a team player, Hollywood refused to give her preferential star treatment for ten years, allowing her to return to Broadway plays, this time excelling in the Tennessee Williams play, "Sweet Bird of Youth." She was selected for the film versions of the roles she played in Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke" in 1961 and "Sweet Bird of Youth" in 1962, for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, as well as receiving a Golden Globe for each film. During her career, she received seven more Golden Globe nominations. She then earned two Emmy Awards for her roles in the television productions of "A Christmas Memory" in 1967 and "The Thanksgiving Visitor" in 1969. Besides "Hondo", she received Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominations for "You're A Big Boy Now" in 1966, "Pete 'n Tillie" in 1972, and "The Pope of Greenwich Village" in 1984. Besides her two prior Tennessee Williams films, she received a third Academy Award Best Actress nomination for "Interiors" in 1978, yet for the same film in the same year, she received the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress. After her Oscar nominations and losses, she finally earned a Best Actress Oscar for her 1985 performance in the role of Mrs. Watts in "The Trip to Bountiful." Her first husband was the Lithuanian violinist Abraham Schneider, whom she divorced after a three-year marriage. In 1963, she married actor Rip Torn, and their country estate was named "Torn Page." The couple had a daughter and twin sons. She received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actress for her role as a nun in the 1982 play "Agnes of God," which ran for 599 Broadway productions. While appearing in the role of Madame Arcati in the Broadway version of Noel Coward's play "Blythe Spirit," she did not appear for a nightly performance and later was found dead at home following a heart attack. She had a successful four-decade acting career. Her last film, "My Little Girl," was released posthumously.