Meg Mundy

Meg Mundy
Meg Mundy in 1955
Born	Margaret Anne Mary Mundy January 4, 1915 Marylebone, London, England, UK
Died	January 12, 2016 (aged 101)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1934–2001
Spouse(s)	Konstantinos Yannopoulos (September 15, 1951-19??; divorced)[1] Mark Daniels (1943-51; divorced)
Children	1

Margaret Anne Mary "Meg" Mundy (January 4, 1915 – January 12, 2016) was an English-born American actress and model. She was born in London,^[2] but moved to the United States at the age of six in 1921.

Personal life

Mundy was born in Marylebone, London. Her mother, Australian opera singer Clytie Hine (1887–1983), studied at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, South Australia. Her father was English cellist John Mundy. The couple emigrated to the United States in 1921 with their two children. Their father became orchestra manager of the Metropolitan Opera. After retiring as a performer, Hine coached opera singers and musical performers. Meg's younger brother was Columbia University history professor John Hine Mundy (1917-2004)^[3] Mundy turned 100 on January 4, 2015 and died on January 12, 2016, at the age of 101.^[4] She was survived by her son and granddaughter.^[5]

Marriages

• Konstantinos Yannopoulos (September 15, 1951-19??; divorced); 1 child
• Mark Daniels (1943–51; divorced) (However, a September 29, 1942, newspaper article describes Mundy as "having recently married Lieutenant Mark Daniels," which indicates that they married in 1942, rather than 1943.)^[6]

Career

In 1940, modeling agency founder Harry Conover cited Mundy as one of the 10 top models ("those who lure the highest salaries").^[7] A newspaper article two years later reported that Mundy was "said to be Manhattan's highest paid model.")^[6]

Mundy debuted as a concert singer at Carnegie Hall in 1942.^[8]

In 1948 Mundy starred in The Respectful Prostitute (see below), but Dorothy Parker professed ignorance: "Meg Mundy? What's that, a Welsh holiday?"^[9] Ann Dvorak succeeded Mundy in the role. She played Mary McLeod, the lead female role, in the Broadway production of Detective Story; the role was later played by Eleanor Parker in the film.^[10]

She was featured as the mother of Mary Tyler Moore's character in the 1980 film Ordinary People, which won the Academy Award as Best Picture Of The Year. On television she played wealthy matriarch Mona Aldrich Croft on The Doctors from 1971–82, when the show ended. After playing the role of Isabelle Alden on the pilot for the new soap Loving, she briefly played Maeve Stoddard's imperious mother Julia on Guiding Light. She later played the role of Dimitri Marrick's wealthy aunt, Eugenia von Voynavitch on All My Children. She appeared in the 1983 Walter Matthau-Robin Williams film The Survivors and in two episodes of Law & Order in the 1990s.^[2]

Awards

In 1948 Mundy won the Theatre World Award for her performance in The Respectful Prostitute at Cort Theatre. She was succeeded in the role by film actress Ann Dvorak.^[11] In 1982 she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama Series at the 9th Daytime Emmy Awards for her role on The Doctors.^[2]

References

2. Profile, IMDb.com; accessed November 21, 2015.
3. John Hine Mundy profile, historians.org; accessed November 17, 2014.
4. "Notice of death of Meg Mundy". The New York Times. January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
5. Obituary, nytimes.com; accessed January 20, 2016.
6. Durling, E.V. (September 29, 1942). "On the Side". Pennsylvania, Shamokin. Shamokin News-Dispatch. p. 4. Retrieved April 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Barron, Mark (December 11, 1940). "Former Model Starts Agency". Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. The Wilkes-Barre Record. p. 14. Retrieved April 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Stevenson, L.L. (May 28, 1942). "Lights of New York". Indiana, Greenfield. Greenfield Daily Reporter. p. 6. Retrieved April 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Bryan, J. (Joseph) III (1985). Merry Gentlemen (And One Lady). New York, NY: Atheneum. p. 105. ISBN 0-689-11533-4.
10. Detective Story profile, ibdb.com; accessed November 17, 2014.
11. Profile, IBDb.com; accessed November 17, 2014.