Lee Grant Galleries 1
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant
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Biography

  An attractive brunette with angular features, Lee Grant began her career as a child performer with NYC's Metropolitan Opera. By age 11, she had become a member of the American Ballet Theatre. After music studies at Juilliard, she won a scholarship to attend the Neighborhood Playhouse and switched her focus to acting. Grant understudied the role of Ado Annie in a touring production of "Oklahoma!" before landing her breakthrough stage role as a young shoplifter in Sidney Kingsley's "Detective Story" in 1949. Hollywood soon beckoned and she recreated the role in William Wyler's 1951 superb film version. Grant won the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress prize and earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for the role. Seemingly on the verge of a brilliant career, the actress found herself the victim of the blacklist when her husband, playwright Arnold Manoff was named before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Grant herself refused to testify and the film offers over the next decade were sporadic.

Returning to Manhattan, Grant found work in TV (e.g., the daytime soap "Search for Tomorrow") and on stage (i.e., "A Hole in the Head" 1957; "Two for the Seesaw" 1959). After earning an OBIE Award for her work in Genet's "The Maids" in 1963, her small screen career began to pick up. In 1965, Grant joined the cast of the primetime soap "Peyton Place" as Stella Chernak and picked up an Emmy for her work. She earned a second statuette for her performance as a runaway wife and mother who ends up at a truck stop in California in "The Neon Ceiling" (NBC, 1971).

By the time she had earned her second Emmy, Grant's feature career had been rejuvenated with her stellar work as the widow of a murder victim in Norman Jewison's Oscar-winning "In the Heat of the Night" (1967). That same year, she essayed a neurotic in the campy "Valley of the Dolls". In "The Landlord" (1970), she was the society matron mother of Beau Bridges and her comic portrayal earned her a second Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Grant then played the mother of all Jewish mothers, Sophie Portnoy, in Ernest Lehman's film version of Philip Roth's novel "Portnoy's Complaint" (1972). Hal Ashby's "Shampoo" (1975) finally brought her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award as a Beverly Hills matron having an affair with her hairdresser. The following year, Grant received a fourth nomination for her deeply moving portrayal of a Jewish refugee in "Voyage of the Damned".

Her subsequent screen roles have been of varying quality, although Grant always brings a professionalism and degree of excellence to even the smallest role. After striking out as a sitcom lead in the underrated "Fay" (NBC, 1975), she delivered a fine portrayal of First Lady Grace Coolidge in "Backstairs at the White House" (NBC, 1979), was the domineering mother of actress Frances Farmer in "Will There Really Be a Morning?" (CBS, 1983) and excelled as Dora Cohn, mother of "Roy Cohn" (HBO, 1992). On the big screen, Grant lent her substantial abilities to "Teachers" (1984) as a hard-nosed school superintendent, "Defending Your Life" (1991), as an elegant prosecutor sparring with adversary Rip Torn, and "It's My Party" (1996), as the mother of man suffering from complications from AIDS.

While Grant has continued to act in features and on TV, she has concentrated more on her directing career since the 80s. After studying at the American Film Institute, she made the short "The Stronger" (1976) which eventually aired on Arts & Entertainment's "Shortstories" in 1988. Grant made her feature debut with "Tell Me a Riddle" (1980), an earnest, well-acted story of an elderly couple facing death. She has excelled in the documentary format, beginning with "The Wilmar 8" (1981), about strike by female bank employees in the Midwest. (Grant later directed a fictionalized account entitled "A Matter of Sex" for NBC in 1984). She steered Marlo Thomas to an Emmy in the fact-based "Nobody's Child" (CBS, 1986) and earned praise for helming "No Place Like Home" (CBS, 1989), a stark look at the effects of unemployment. A number of her documentaries have been screen as part of HBO's "America Undercover" series, including the Oscar-winning "Down and Out in America" (1985), about the unemployed, "What Sex Am I?" (1985), about transsexuals and transvestites, "Battered" (1989), about victims of domestic violence, and "Women on Trial" (1992), about mothers who turn to the courts to protect their children. In 1997, she produced, directed and hosted the well-received "Say It, Fight It, Cure It" (Lifetime) which focused on breast cancer survivors and their families.

source movies.yahoo.com

Filmography

  Going Shopping (2005) .... Winnie
Mulholland Dr. (2001) .... Louise Bonner
... aka Mulholland Drive (France) (USA: closing credits title)
The Amati Girls (2000) .... Aunt Spendora
Dr T and the Women (2000) .... Dr. Harper
... aka Dr. T and the Women (Germany) (USA: alternative spelling)

Poor Liza (1998)
Under Heat (1996) .... Jane
The Substance of Fire (1996) .... Cora Cahn
It's My Party (1996) .... Amalia Stark
"American Masters"
- Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (1995) TV Episode .... Narrator
"White Fang" (1993) TV Series .... Blair Dillon
... aka Croc blanc (Canada: French title)
"The Ray Bradbury Theater"
... aka Monde fantastique de Ray Bradbury, Le (Canada: French title)
... aka Mystery Theatre (UK: rerun title)
... aka Ray Bradbury présente (France)
... aka The Bradbury Trilogy (UK: rerun title)
... aka The Ray Bradbury Theatre (UK)
- The Handler (1992) TV Episode .... Mrs. Rogers
Citizen Cohn (1992) (TV) .... Dora
In My Daughter's Name (1992) (TV) .... Maureen Leeds
Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (1992) (TV) .... Carol Gertz
... aka Fatal Love
"Empty Nest"
- The Return of Aunt Susan (1992) TV Episode .... Aunt Susan
Defending Your Life (1991) .... Lena Foster
She Said No (1990) (TV) .... D.A. Doris Cantore

The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro (1989) (TV) .... Marilyn Klinghoffer
The Big Town (1987) .... Ferguson Edwards
"Mussolini: The Untold Story" (1985) (mini) TV Series .... Rachele Mussolini
Teachers (1984) .... Dr. Donna Burke
Constance (1984) .... Mrs. Barr
"One Day at a Time"
- Fifty (1984) TV Episode .... Ellie
Billions for Boris (1984) .... Sascha Harris
Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983) (TV) .... Lillian Farmer
Bare Essence (1982) (TV) .... Ava Marshall
Visiting Hours (1982) .... Deborah Ballin
... aka Get Well Soon
... aka Terreur à l'hôpital central (Canada: French title)
... aka The Fright
Thou Shalt Not Kill (1982) (TV) .... Maxine Lochman
For Ladies Only (1981) (TV) .... Anne Holt
The Million Dollar Face (1981) (TV) .... Evalyna
... aka Kiss of Gold (USA)
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981) .... Sylvia Lupowitz
Little Miss Marker (1980) .... The Judge

You Can't Go Home Again (1979) (TV) .... Esther Jack
When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (1979) .... Clarisse Ethridge
"Backstairs at the White House" (1979) (mini) TV Series .... Grace Coolidge
The Mafu Cage (1978) .... Ellen
... aka Deviation
... aka Don't Ring the Doorbell (USA: reissue title)
... aka My Sister, My Love
... aka The Cage
The Good Doctor (1978) (TV) .... Various roles
The Swarm (1978) .... Anne MacGregor
Damien: Omen II (1978) .... Ann Thorn
... aka Omen II
... aka Omen II: Damien (reissue title)
Airport '77 (1977) .... Karen Wallace
The Spell (1977) (TV) .... Marilyn Matchett
Voyage of the Damned (1976) .... Lillian Rosen
Perilous Voyage (1976) (TV) .... Virginia Monroe
... aka The Revolution of Antonio DeLeon (USA)
"Fay" (1975) TV Series .... Fay Stuart
Shampoo (1975) .... Felicia
The Seagull (1975) (TV) .... Irina Arkadina
The Internecine Project (1974) .... Jean Robertson
... aka G (West Germany)
... aka Mann stellt eine Falle, Ein (West Germany)
... aka Schwarze Panther, Der (West Germany)
What Are Best Friends For? (1973) (TV) .... Adele Ross
Partners in Crime (1973) (TV) .... Judge Meredith Leland
Lieutenant Schuster's Wife (1972) (TV) .... Ellie Schuster
Portnoy's Complaint (1972) .... Sophie Portnoy
Plaza Suite (1971) .... Norma Hubley
"Storefront Lawyers"
... aka Men at Law (new title)
- Yesterday Is But a Dream (1971) TV Episode .... Jennifer Carlyle
Columbo: Ransom for a Dead Man (1971) (TV) .... Leslie Williams
The Neon Ceiling (1971) (TV) .... Carrie Miller
The Last Generation (1971)
There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) .... Mrs. Bullard
Night Slaves (1970) (TV) .... Marjorie Howard
"The Name of the Game"
- A Love to Remember (1970) TV Episode .... Eddie Booker
- Tarot (1970) TV Episode
The Landlord (1970) .... Joyce Enders
"The Mod Squad"
- Mother of Sorrow (1970) TV Episode
"Bracken's World"
- Whatever Happened to Happy Endings? (1970) TV Episode .... Veronica Steele

"Medical Center"
- The Loner (1969) TV Episode .... Karen Harper
Marooned (1969) .... Celia Pruett
... aka Space Travelers (USA: reissue title)
The Big Bounce (1969) .... Joanne
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968) .... Fritzie Braddock
"Mission: Impossible"
- The Diplomat (1968) TV Episode .... Susan Buchanan
"Judd for the Defense"
- The Gates of Cerberus (1968) TV Episode .... Kay Gould
Valley of the Dolls (1967) .... Miriam Polar
"Ironside"
... aka The Raymond Burr Show (USA: syndication title)
- Eat, Drink and Be Buried (1967) TV Episode .... Francesca Kirby
In the Heat of the Night (1967) .... Mrs. Leslie Colbert
Divorce American Style (1967) .... Dede Murphy
"Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre"
... aka The Chrysler Theater
... aka Universal Star Time (syndication title)
- Deadlock (1967) TV Episode .... Virginia Cloyd
"The Big Valley"
- The Lady from Mesa (1967) TV Episode .... Rosemary Williams
"ABC Stage 67"
- The People Trap (1966) TV Episode .... Ruth
- The Love Song of Barney Kempinski (1966) TV Episode .... Laura
"Peyton Place" (1964) TV Series .... Stella Chernak (1965-1966)
"The Defenders"
- Nobody Asks What Side Your On (1965) TV Episode .... Maria Edwards
- The Empty Heart (1963) TV Episode .... Norma Burgess
"The Nurses"
- A Couple Dozen Tiny Pills (1965) TV Episode
"The Nurses"
... aka The Doctors and the Nurses (new title)
- A Couple of Dozen Tiny Pills (1965) TV Episode .... Lillian Carroll
- To Spend, to Give, to Want (1963) TV Episode .... Cleo Tanner
- The Gift (1963) TV Episode .... Doris Kelly
"Slattery's People"
- Question: Where Vanished the Tragic Piper? (1964) TV Episode .... Vera Donlon
"Ben Casey"
- For Jimmy, the Best of Everything (1964) TV Episode .... Anita Johnson
- For a Just Man Falleth Seven Times (1964) TV Episode .... Diedre Bassett
"The Fugitive"
- Taps for a Dead War (1964) TV Episode .... Millie
Terror in the City (1964) .... Suzy
... aka Pie in the Sky
An Affair of the Skin (1963) .... Katherine McCleod
... aka Love as a Disorder
"East Side/West Side"
- Not Bad for Openers (1963) TV Episode .... Nora Best
The Balcony (1963) .... Carmen
"Great Ghost Tales"
- Lucy (1961) TV Episode .... Lucy Morrison
"Play of the Week"
- The House of Bernarda Alba (1960) TV Episode
- World of Sholom Aleichem (1959) TV Episode .... Avenging Angel

The World of Sholom Aleichem (1959) (TV) .... Avenging Angel
The Blue Angel (1959)
"Brenner"
- Man in the Middle (1959) TV Episode .... Addie Palmer
Middle of the Night (1959) .... Marilyn
Where Is Thy Brother? (1958) (TV) .... Hannah
"Kraft Television Theatre"
... aka Kraft Mystery Theatre (new title)
... aka Kraft Theatre (new title)
- Three Plays by Tennessee Williams: Moony's Kid Don't Cry (1958) TV Episode
- Look What's Going On (1958) TV Episode
"Playwrights '56"
... aka The Playwright Hour
- Keyhole (1956) TV Episode .... Helen Cartwright
"The Alcoa Hour"
- Even the Weariest River (1956) TV Episode .... Lennie Converse
Storm Fear (1955) .... Edna
"Kraft Television Theatre"
... aka Ponds Theater (USA: new title)
- Death Is a Spanish Dancer (1955) TV Episode
"The Philco Television Playhouse"
... aka Arena Theatre (USA: new title)
... aka Repertory Theatre (USA: new title)
... aka The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (USA: new title)
- Shadow of the Champ (1955) TV Episode
"Search for Tomorrow" (1951) TV Series .... Rose Peterson #1 (1953-1954)
"Broadway Television Theatre"
- The Noose (1953) TV Episode
"ABC Album"
... aka The Plymouth Playhouse (USA: new title)
- Justice (1953) TV Episode
"Danger"
- The Face of Fear (1952) TV Episode
- Death for the Lonely (1952) TV Episode
- Dark as Night (1952) TV Episode
- Dressing Up (1950) TV Episode
"Studio One"
... aka Studio One Summer Theatre (summer title)
... aka Studio One in Hollywood (new title)
... aka Summer Theatre (summer title)
... aka Westinghouse Studio One
... aka Westinghouse Summer Theatre (summer title)
- The Blonde Comes First (1952) TV Episode
Detective Story (1951) .... Shoplifter



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