Lee Grant

For other people named Lee Grant, see Lee Grant (disambiguation).
Lee Grant

Grant in 1975
Born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal
October 31, (between 1925 and 1929) see notes[1]
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress and director
Years active 1949–2007, 2013
Spouse(s) Arnold Manoff (1951-1960; divorced; 2 children)
Joseph Feury (né Fioretti; 1962-present)
Children Dinah Manoff and Tom Manoff

Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. From 1952 through 1964 she was blacklisted from radio, film, and most television work, but continued working sporadically in the theatre during this time.

She won the Best Actress Award at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival for her role as the shoplifter in the 1951 film version of Detective Story.[2] She won the 1964 Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performance as Solange in Jean Genet's The Maids. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Karpf in Shampoo (1975). She has been nominated for the Emmy Award seven times between 1966 through 1993, winning twice.

Early life

Lee Grant was born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal[3][4] in Manhattan, the only child of Witia (née Haskell), an actress and teacher, and Abraham W. Rosenthal, a realtor and educator. Her father was born in New York City, to Polish Jewish immigrants, and her mother was a Russian Jewish immigrant.[5] The family resided at 706 Riverside Drive in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.[6] Her date of birth is October 31 but the year has long been disputed, with different sourcing citing dates between 1925 and 1929.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

She debuted in a show at the Metropolitan Opera, and later joined the American Ballet as an adolescent.[14] She attended Art Students League of New York, Juilliard School of Music, The High School of Music & Art, and George Washington High School, all in New York City. Grant graduated from high school at the age of fourteen, receiving a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, and studied under Sanford Meisner. She subsequently enrolled in Actors Studio in New York.

Career

Grant had her first stage ballet performance in 1933 at the Metropolitan Opera House.[15] In 1938, in her early teens, she was made a member of the American Ballet, under George Balanchine.[15]

As an actress, Grant had her professional stage debut as understudy in Oklahoma in 1944, and in 1948 had her Broadway acting debut in Joy to the World. Grant established herself as a dramatic method actress on and off Broadway, earning praise for her role as a shoplifter in Detective Story, in 1949, with Ralph Bellamy. [16] She made her film debut two years later in the film version (Detective Story), starring Kirk Douglas, receiving her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination, and winning the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.[17] She was a regular on the CBS soap opera, Search for Tomorrow in the early 1950s.[2]

In 1951 she gave an impassioned eulogy at the memorial service for actor J. Edward Bromberg, whose early death, she implied, was caused by the stress of being called before House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). After her eulogy was published, she was summoned by the same committee to testify against her husband, playwright Arnold Manoff, but refused. As a result, for the next twelve years, her "prime years", as she put it,[18] she was blacklisted and unable to work in either television or movies.

Kirk Douglas, who acted with her in Detective Story, recalled that it was director Edward Dmytryk who had first named her husband at the HUAC:

Lee was only a kid, a beautiful young girl with extraordinary talent and a big future. You could see it. She was so good that she earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her very first film role. But because Eddie Dmytryk named her husband, Lee Grant was blacklisted before her film career even had a chance to begin. Of course, she refused to testify about the man to whom she was married, and it took years before anyone would hire her for another picture.[19]

She appeared in a limited number of stage and television shows during these years. In 1953 she played Rose Peabody on the CBS daytime drama, Search for Tomorrow.[15] In the Broadway production of Two for the Seesaw in 1959, she played Gittle Mosca. And in 1963 she won acclaim for her stage performance in the Off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Maids.[15]

Grant in 1961

By the time Grant's name was finally removed from the blacklist in the early 1960s, she had since been divorced, remarried, and now had a young daughter, Dinah. Grant immediately tried to reestablish her television and movie career. In her autobiography, she writes:

Dinah was my grail, my constant; nothing and no one could get between us. Dinah and my need to support her financially, morally, viscerally, and my rage at those who had taken twelve working, acting years from my life, were what motivated me.[20]:250

The scars and fears of the blacklist years remained imprinted on her memory and would stay there throughout her career. As late as 2002, she would freeze and go into a "near trance" when anyone asked her about her experiences during the McCarthy period.[21]

Grant's first major achievement, after House Committee on Un-American Activities officially cleared her, was in the 1960s television series Peyton Place, as Stella Chernak, for which she won an Emmy in 1966. In 1967, Grant appeared in an episode of Mission Impossible, portraying the wife of a U.S. diplomat who goes undercover to discredit a rogue diplomat. That same year she played the distraught widow of the murder victim in the Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night.[2]

She received subsequent Academy Award nominations for the dramas The Landlord (1970) and Voyage of the Damned (1976). Her acting range extended into comedy equally well, notably in several roles as an overbearing mother. In Plaza Suite (1971), a comedy directed by Arthur Hiller and written by Neil Simon, she played the harassed mother of a bride, with Walter Matthau as the father. The film was followed by another comedy role as the mother in Portnoy's Complaint (1972).[2] Also in 1971, she co-starred with Peter Falk in the second appearance of Columbo, a pilot film called "Ransom of a Dead Man" before the show became a hit TV series, and with Falk again on Broadway in Neil Simon's Prisoner of Second Avenue. Simon said that his "first and only choice" for the part was Grant, whom he said was equally at home with dramatists such as Chekhov or Sidney Kingsley, yet could also be "hilariously funny" when the script called for it, as she was able to portray essential honesty in her acting.[22]

Among her most notable roles was as Warren Beatty's older girlfriend in the comedy, Shampoo (1975), for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The film received mixed reviews but was Columbia's biggest hit in the studio's 50-year history.[23] After The Landlord (1970), it was the second film that Grant acted in under director Hal Ashby. Critic Pauline Kael, comparing her in both films, notes that Grant "is such a cool-style comedienne that she's in danger of having people say that she's good, as usual."[24] During the filming, however, she did have some serious disagreements with Beatty, who was also the producer, and she nearly quit. During one scene, she wanted to play it in a way she knew was more realistic from a woman's perspective, but Beatty disagreed. After thinking about the scene for a few days, she told director Hal Ashby she couldn't do it his way and was quitting. As she was walking out, Beatty stopped her and asked what was wrong. "I sat down and told him," she said. "He threw up his hands and said, 'Play it your way. What do I know? I'm a man.'"[25]

Despite the success of the film, Grant was feeling less secure in Hollywood as she was now around 50 years old. She writes:

I was becoming my own worst enemy as an actor, traumatized onstage and fixated on staying young so I could keep working in film. A woman of a certain age does not play in movies or TV; we're kicked to the side or out. And I was a woman of a certain age, terrified I'd be found out and unemployed again."[20]:213

Actor Bruce Dern, who played alongside her in The Big Town (1987), recalls working with her: "Lee Grant is a fabulous actress. Anytime she works it's a blessing you have her in your movie."[26]

Grant is the only Hollywood actress of her generation to successfully move into directing. She directed the stage play, The Stronger in 1976, written by August Strindberg. In 1980 she directed her first film, Tell Me a Riddle, a story about an aging Jewish couple. She also directed several documentary films, including Down and Out in America (1986) which won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. That same year she directed Nobody's Child, a TV movie starring Marlo Thomas about a woman confined to a mental institution for 20 years. For her direction, Grant became the first female director to win the Directors Guild of America Award.

Grant at the premiere of F.I.S.T. (April 1978)

In recent years she directed a series of Intimate Portrait episodes for Lifetime Television, that celebrated a diverse range of accomplished women.[2] Admiring her directing and acting skill, actress Sissy Spacek agreed to act in Hard Promises "only to work with Grant", although Grant was later replaced as its director.[27]

In March 1971, Grant appeared in the Columbo episode "Ransom for a Dead Man"', and was nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie. Having been nominated for two performances in the same acting category, she received the award for her other Emmy-nominated performance in the television film, The Neon Ceiling. The only other nominee was Colleen Dewhurst; in Grant's acceptance speech, she wryly noted "I must thank Colleen Dewhurst since it takes two of me to equal one of her."

During the 1975-76 television season, she starred in the NBC sitcom Fay, which, to her chagrin, was canceled after eight episodes. She made a guest appearance on Empty Nest, in which her daughter Dinah Manoff co-starred. In 1988, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.[28]

In 1992, she played Dora Cohn, the mother of Roy Cohn, in the biographical made-for-TV film Citizen Cohn, which garnered her yet another Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2001, Lee Grant portrayed Louise Bonner in David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mullholland Drive. From 2004-07, Carlin Glynn, Stephen Lang, and Grant served as co-artistic directors for the Actors Studio.[29]

In 2013, she returned to the stage, after a nearly 40-year-absence, to star in The Gin Game, part of a benefit for improvement programs at the Island Music Guild. Grant played Fonsia Dorsey opposite Frank Buxton as Weller Martin; her daughter Dinah Manoff directed the production.[30]

Filmography

Actress

Year Film Role Notes
1951 Detective Story Shoplifter
1953-1954 Search for Tomorrow Rose Peabody
1955 Storm Fear Edna Rogers
1959 Middle of the Night Marilyn
1963 The Balcony Carmen
An Affair of the Skin Katherine McCleod
1964 Pie in the Sky Suzy
The Fugitive Millie Hallop episode-"Taps for a Dead War"
1965 -
1966
Peyton Place Stella Chernak appeared in 71 episodes (8/19/1965–3/28/1966)
1967 Divorce American Style Dede Murphy
In the Heat of the Night Mrs. Leslie Colbert
Valley of the Dolls Miriam
The Big Valley Rosie Williams
1968 Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell Fritzie Braddock
Judd, for the Defense Kay Gould
1969 The Big Bounce Joanne
Marooned Celia Pruett
1970 The Landlord Joyce Enders
There Was a Crooked Man... Mrs. Bullard
1971 Columbo: Ransom for a Dead Man Leslie Williams
The Neon Ceiling Carrie Miller
The Last Generation archive footage
Plaza Suite Norma Hubley
1972 Portnoy's Complaint Sophie Portnoy
1974 The Internecine Project Jean Robertson
1975 Shampoo Felicia Karpf
Fay (TV series) Fay Stewart
1976 Voyage of the Damned Lillian Rosen
1977 Airport '77 Karen Wallace
The Spell Marilyn Matchett
1978 Damien: Omen II Ann Thorn
The Swarm Anne MacGregor
The Mafu Cage Ellen
1979 When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? Clarisse Ethridge
1980 Little Miss Marker The Judge
1981 Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen Mrs. Lupowitz
1982 Visiting Hours Deborah Ballin
1984 Billions for Boris Sascha Harris
Constance Mrs. Barr
Teachers Dr. Donna Burke
1985 Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret Herself Documentary
1987 The Big Town Ferguson Edwards
1991 Defending Your Life Lena Foster
1992 Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story Carol Gertz TV film
Earth and the American Dream Narrator
Citizen Cohn Dora Marcus Cohn
1996 It's My Party Amalia Stark
The Substance of Fire Cora Cahn
Under Heat Jane
2000 Dr. T & the Women Dr. Harper
The Amati Girls Aunt Spendora
2001 Mulholland Drive Louise Bonner
2005 The Needs of Kim Stanley Herself
Going Shopping Winnie

Director

Year Production Notes
1975 For the Use of the Hall TV film
1976 The Stronger short subject
1980 Tell Me a Riddle
1981 The Willmar 8 Documentary
1984 A Matter of Sex TV film
1985 What Sex Am I? Documentary
ABC Afterschool Special Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale (TV episode)
1986 Nobody's Child TV film - DGA Award
Down and Out in America Documentary (also narrator)
1989 Staying Together
No Place Like Home TV film
1994 When Women Kill Documentary
Seasons of the Heart TV film
Following Her Heart TV film
Reunion TV film
1997 Say It, Fight It, Cure It TV film
1999 Confronting the Crisis: Childcare in America TV film
2000 American Masters Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
The Loretta Claiborne Story TV film
2001 The Gun Deadlock TV film
2004 Biography Melanie Griffith
2000–2004 Intimate Portrait 43 episodes
2005 ... A Father... A Son... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood TV film

References

  1. Her date of birth is October 31 but the year has long been disputed, with different sourcing citing dates between 1925 and 1929.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lee Grant at the Internet Movie Database
  3. Roberts, Jerry. Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors, Scarecrow Press, 1st edition (June 5, 2009), Amazon Digital Services, Inc; ASIN: B009W3C7E8
  4. Katz, Ephraim. The Film Encyclopedia, Harper Perennial (1998) p. 552 ISBN 0-06-273492-X
  5. Profile, forward.com; accessed September 9, 2014.
  6. Lee Grant profile, FilmReference.com; accessed September 9, 2014.
  7. The 1930 and 1940 U.S. censuses at Ancestry.com both indicate Grant was born in 1925. The 1930 census (Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1577; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 1027; Image: 588.0; FHL microfilm: 2341312. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls) gives her age as 4 and 6/12 months in April 1930. The 1940 census (Source Citation: Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: T627_2671; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 31-1922. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls) gives her age as 14 in April 1940 (NOTE: a) the census always requests the age of the individual being enumerated as of his or her last birthday; b) the first name is misspelled, as "Lyniva" in 1930, and, again, as "Lyoua" in 1940.)
  8. Personal details for Lee Grant Manoff, familysearch.org; accessed September 9, 2014.
  9. Year of birth, familysearch.org; accessed September 9, 2014.
  10. Bethanne Patrick (July 7, 2014). "Lee Grant on aging, relationships, and plastic surgery in her 20s". New York Post. Retrieved 2014.
  11. Hellmann, Paul T. (2006). Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Routledge. p. 779. Retrieved 2014.
  12. Vaughn, Robert (1972). Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 227. Retrieved 2014.
  13. Also, this ship manifest from 1933 gives her year of birth as October 31, 1926 and her age as seven (7), but as the date of the manifest is July 5, her age should have been six (6) years old.
  14. Gray, Spalding. Life Interrupted: The Unfinished Monologue, Random House (2005) p. 154
  15. 1 2 3 4 Turner Classic Movies
  16. Lee Grant at the Internet Broadway Database
  17. Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
  18. "Lee Grant on life beyond the Hollywood blacklist", CBS "Sunday Morning", August 3, 2014.
  19. Douglas, Kirk. I Am Spartacus: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist, Open Road Media (2012) p. 26 ISBN 978-1453254806
  20. 1 2 Grant, Lee. I Said Yes to Everything: A Memoir, Penguin (2014) ISBN 978-0-399-16930-4
  21. Ross, Steven J. Hollywood Left and Right, Oxford Univ. Press (2011) p. 128, ISBN 978-0195181722
  22. Simon, Neil. Rewrites, Simon & Schuster (1996) p. 336)
  23. Ford, Elizabeth. The Makeover in Movies: Before and After in Hollywood Films, 1941-2002, McFarland (2004) p. 198
  24. Kael, Pauline. The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael, Penguin e-books (2011)
  25. Biskind, Peter. Star: The Life and Wild Times of Warren Beatty, Simon & Schuster (2010) e-book
  26. Dern, Bruce. Things I've Said, But Probably Shouldn't Have: An Unrepentant Memoir, Wiley (2007) p. 231
  27. Jarboe, Jan. "Sissy Spacek's Long Walk Home", Texas Monthly, February 1991, p. 126.
  28. Profile Women in Film website; accessed September 9, 2014.
  29. Lipton, James. Inside Inside, Penguin Group (USA), October 18, 2007; ISBN 9781101211991, pg. 112
  30. Michael C. Moore (August 12, 2013). "Theater: High-powered cast deals this 'Gin Game'". Kitsap A&E. Retrieved September 9, 2014.

Further reading

Grant, Lee (2014). I Said Yes to Everything: A Memoir. Blue Rider Press. p. 466. ASIN B00G3L7WOM. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lee Grant.
Preceded by
Estelle Parsons
Vacant (2003-2004)
Artistic Director of the Actors Studio
2004-2007
With: Carlin Glynn
and Stephen Lang

(2004-2006)

Succeeded by
Ellen Burstyn
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