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1-12 of 12
- Actress
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From the grand old school of wisecracking, loud and lanky Mary Wickes had few peers while forging a career as a salty scene-stealer. Her abrupt, tell-it-like-it-is demeanor made her a consistent audience favorite on every medium for over six decades. She was particularly adroit in film parts that chided the super rich or exceptionally pious, and was a major chastiser in generation-gap comedies. TV holds a vault full of not-to-be-missed vignettes where she served as a brusque foil to many a top TV comic star. Case in point: who could possibly forget her merciless ballet taskmaster, Madame Lamond, putting Lucille Ball through her rigorous paces at the ballet bar in a classic I Love Lucy (1951) episode?
Unlike the working-class characters she embraced, this veteran character comedienne was actually born Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser on June 13, 1910, in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of a well-to-do banker. Of Irish and German heritage, she grew into a society débutante following high school and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in political science. She forsook a law career, however, after being encouraged by a college professor to try theater, and she made her debut doing summer stock in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The rest, as they say, is history.
Prodded on by the encouragement of stage legend Ina Claire whom she met doing summer theater, she transported herself to New York where she quickly earned a walk-on part in the Broadway play "The Farmer Takes a Wife" starring Henry Fonda in 1934. In the show she also understudied The Wizard of Oz (1939)'s "Wicked Witch" Margaret Hamilton, and earned excellent reviews when she went on in the part. Plain and hawkish in looks while noticeably tall and gawky in build, Wickes was certainly smart enough to see that comedy would become her career path and she enjoyed showing off in roles playing much older than she was. New York stage work continued to pour in, and she garnered roles in "Spring Dance" (1936), "Stage Door" (1936), "Hitch Your Wagon" (1937), "Father Malachy's Miracle (1937) and, in an unusual bit of casting, Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre production of "Danton's Death". All the while she kept fine-tuning her acting craft in summer stock.
A series of critically panned plays followed until a huge door opened for her in the form of Miss Preen, the beleaguered nurse to an acid-tongued, wheelchair-bound radio star (played by the hilarious Monty Woolley) in the George S. Kaufman/Moss Hart comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner"; for once, it was Wickes doing the cowering. The play was the toast of Broadway for two wacky years and she went on tour with it as well. She also become a Kaufman favorite.
Hollywood took notice as well, and when Warner Bros. decided to film the play, it allowed both Wickes and Woolley to recreate their classic roles. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941), which co-starred Bette Davis and Ann Sheridan, was a grand film hit and Wickes was now officially on board in Hollywood, given plenty of chances to freelance. At Warners she lightened up the proceedings a bit in the Bette Davis tearjerker Now, Voyager (1942) as the nurse to Gladys Cooper. Elsewhere, she traded quips with Lou Costello as a murder suspect in the amusing whodunit Who Done It? (1942); played a WAC in Private Buckaroo (1942) with The Andrews Sisters; and dished out her patented smart-alecky services in both Happy Land (1943) and My Kingdom for a Cook (1943).
Wickes returned to Broadway for a few seasons, often for Kaufman, and did some radio work as well, but returned to Hollywood and played yet another nurse in The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948), a part written especially for her. She appeared with Bette Davis for a third time in June Bride (1948), finding some fine moments playing a magazine editor. Wickes went on to perform yeoman work in On Moonlight Bay (1951) and its sequel, By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953); I'll See You in My Dreams (1951); White Christmas (1954) and The Music Man (1962), the last as one of the "Pick-A-Little, Talk-A-Little" gossiping housewives of River City.
Television roles also began filtering in for Wickes she continued to put her cryptic comedy spin on her harried housekeepers, teachers, servants and other working commoner types. She played second banana to a queue of comedy's best known legends in the 1950s and 1960s, notably Lucille Ball (who was a long-time neighbor and pal off-screen), Danny Thomas, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, Peter Lind Hayes and Gertrude Berg. Her stellar work with Berg on The Gertrude Berg Show (1961) garnered Wickes an Emmy nomination. Among the Baby Boom generation, she may be best remembered as Miss Cathcart in Dennis the Menace (1959).
In later years her gangly figure filled out a bit as she continued to appear here and there on the small screen in both guest star and series' regular parts. Later in life she enjoyed a bit of a resurgence. Recalled earlier for her Sister Clarissa in the madcap comedy films The Trouble with Angels (1966) and its sequel, Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! (1968), both with Rosalind Russell, She donned the habit again decades later as crabby musical director Sister Mary Lazarus in the box-office smash Sister Act (1992) and its sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). She appeared in Postcards from the Edge (1990) as Meryl Streep's grandmother, and in Little Women (1994) as the matriarchal Aunt March. True to form, the last role in which she appeared was voicing the gargoyle "Laverne" in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), which was released after her death.
The never-married Wickes died in 1995 after entering the hospital with respiratory problems. She suffered a broken hip from an accidental fall and complications quickly set in following surgery. She was 85 years young.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Luisa Marsella was born on 5 December 1948. She was an actress and director, known for Punk City (1985) and Mother's Day (1980). She died on 22 October 1995 in New York City, New York, USA.- Kingsley Amis was born on 16 April 1922 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The New Adventures of Lucky Jim (1982), The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim (1967) and Take a Girl Like You (1970). He was married to Elizabeth Jane Howard and Hilary Ann Bardwell. He died on 22 October 1995 in London, England, UK.
- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Mario Costa was born on 1 June 1910 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for Pini di Roma (1941), The Beast (1970) and Mad About Opera (1948). He died on 22 October 1995 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Mae Old Coyote was born on 19 February 1891 in Canada. She was an actress, known for Dirty Dingus Magee (1970), The Eagle and the Fawn (1919) and Before the White Man Came (1920). She died on 22 October 1995 in Big Horn, Montana, USA.
- Jouko Rikalainen was born on 31 March 1947 in Finland. He was an actor, known for Veijo Meren tarinoita (1970), Pikku Pietarin piha (1961) and Mummoni ja Mannerheim (1971). He died on 22 October 1995.
- Miljenko Smoje was born in a poor family of labourers. He finished high school in Split in 1941, but his education was interrupted by WW2 and Italian occupation. Smoje joined resistance movement and somehow managed to survive both the arrest by Italians and being kicked out of Communist party. After the war he finished college and worked few years as a teacher. In 1948 he joined regional newspaper "Slobodna Dalmacija" and worked there as reporter until his retirement in 1979. Through the years Smoje discovered great sense of humour, as well as a talent to capture unorthodox characters. Soon he became writing humouristic pieces and thus became one of the most popular writers of that genre in former Yugoslavia. His television debut was _Nase malo misto (1970) (TV)_, series about small Dalmatian town and its picturesque inhabitants. Series was great success and still has a cult status in Croatia. After some minor works for movies and TV, Smoje tried to repeat that success with _"Velo misto" (1981) (mini)_, tragicomic historical chronicle about his home town of Split. The series was also success, but most people still prefer his former masterpiece. Last years of his life Smoje spent working as satirical columnist for controversial weekly newspaper "Feral Tribune".
- María Calvo was born on 15 August 1892 in Zaragoza, Spain. She was an actress, known for Reina de reinas: La Virgen María (1948), El pasado acusa (1931) and La voluntad del muerto (1930). She died on 22 October 1995 in the USA.
- Mehmet Ali Güngör was born in 1928 in Sivas, Turkey. He was an actor, known for Kaçis (1985), Yazgi (1987) and Dadas Rifat Geliyor (1975). He died on 22 October 1995 in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Sound Department
Jerzy Rybicki was born on 23 August 1913 in Zgierz, Poland. He is known for Miasteczko (1960), Identification Marks: None (1965) and Smierc urzednika (1961). He died on 22 October 1995 in Zgierz, Poland.- Murray Bolen was born on 7 April 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for Nerds of a Feather (1989), The Embracers (1963) and Trick or Treats (1982). He died on 22 October 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Soundtrack
Jeros was born on 23 March 1951 in Valladolid, Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain. He died on 22 October 1995 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.