Actress. She is best remembered for her role of 'Honey' in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), for which she won an Oscar. She began her acting career in various roles on television, beginning with "The Guiding Light" soap opera, in 1956. She had a small part in the film, "Splendor in the Grass" (1961), but won two consecutive Tony awards for "A Thousand Clowns" and "Any Wednesday", which led to her being selected for an Oscar winning role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"(1966). She quickly followed up with an acclaimed performance as a frustrated teacher in "Up the Down Staircase" (1967), played a terminally ill woman in "Sweet November" (1968), and opposite Jack Lemmon as his equally unlucky spouse in "The Out-of-Towners" (1970). She excelled at playing shrill, barely in control, neurotic victims, whose whiny voice would either repel audiences or captivate them. After 1982, her film work became sporadic, but she continued to make movies up until just before her death in 1992. Believed for many years to be married to jazz great Gerry Mulligan, she eventually let the public know that they had never made it official. She died of ovarian cancer in Westport, Connecticut.
Actress. She is best remembered for her role of 'Honey' in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), for which she won an Oscar. She began her acting career in various roles on television, beginning with "The Guiding Light" soap opera, in 1956. She had a small part in the film, "Splendor in the Grass" (1961), but won two consecutive Tony awards for "A Thousand Clowns" and "Any Wednesday", which led to her being selected for an Oscar winning role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"(1966). She quickly followed up with an acclaimed performance as a frustrated teacher in "Up the Down Staircase" (1967), played a terminally ill woman in "Sweet November" (1968), and opposite Jack Lemmon as his equally unlucky spouse in "The Out-of-Towners" (1970). She excelled at playing shrill, barely in control, neurotic victims, whose whiny voice would either repel audiences or captivate them. After 1982, her film work became sporadic, but she continued to make movies up until just before her death in 1992. Believed for many years to be married to jazz great Gerry Mulligan, she eventually let the public know that they had never made it official. She died of ovarian cancer in Westport, Connecticut.
Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson
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