 |
Eileen HerlieScottish and American actress
Date of Birth: 08.03.1918
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Eileen Herlie
Eileen Isobel Herlihy was born on March 8, 1918 in Glasgow, Scotland. She was one of five children in a family with a Catholic father and a Protestant mother. After receiving a classical theatrical education, Eileen achieved success in London's West End with her performance in the French play "The Two-Headed Eagle".
Early Career
Her first major breakthrough came when she joined the cast of Laurence Olivier's film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in 1948. Interestingly, she was 11 years younger than Olivier, who played Hamlet, but she perfectly embodied the role of his mother, Gertrude. Eileen reprised this role in 1964 in a Broadway production with Richard Burton, and later appeared in another adaptation of "Hamlet" directed by John Gielgud.
Notable Works
In addition to her appearances in "Hamlet," Eileen Herlie portrayed Helen Carte in the musical drama "The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan" in 1953, Frau Ida Kerner in John Huston's biopic "Freud: The Secret Passion" in 1962, and Polina, the wife of the bailiff, in the first serious film adaptation of Anton Chekhov's famous play "The Seagull" in 1968.
She was nominated for the prestigious Tony Award in 1960 for "Best Actress in a Musical" for her role in the musical "Take Me Along" with Jackie Gleason. On Broadway, she also appeared in Peter Ustinov's projects "Photo Finish" in 1963 and "Halfway Up the Tree" in 1967. She played Queen Mary in the play "Crown Matrimonial" in 1973. Prior to this, she shined in the role of Queen Mary in the 1972 television film "The Woman I Love" directed by Paul Wendkos, starring Richard Chamberlain as Edward VIII and Faye Dunaway as Wallis Simpson.
On television, Eileen Herlie reached the level of soap operas, playing Myrtle Fargate in the long-running series "All My Children," in which she remained until the end of her life. In the 1980s, Herlie was nominated for an Emmy Award three consecutive times in 1984, 1985, and 1986. She developed close friendships with Louis Edmonds, another star of "All My Children," and attended his funeral in 2001.
Personal Life and Death
Eileen Herlie was married to Vitold Kunciewicz and Phillip Barrett, but divorced both without having any children. She passed away on October 8, 2008 in New York City, USA, due to complications from pneumonia. Eileen Herlie was one of the few actresses in the late 1990s who played the same character in three different soap operas.
