Polly Bergen(1930-2014)
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Writer
In a six-decade-plus career (she started out as a radio performer at
age 14), there are very few facets of entertainment that lovely
singer/actress Polly Bergen has not conquered or, at the very least,
touched upon. A nightclub and Columbia recording artist of the 50s and
60s, she is just as well known for her film and Emmy-winning dramatic
performances as she is for her wry comedic gifts. In the leaner times,
she has maintained quite well with her various businesses. Truly one
for the ages, Polly has, at age 70+, nabbed a Tony nomination for her
gutsy "I'm Still Here" entertainer Carlotta in
Stephen Sondheim's "Follies", and was still dishing out the barbs as she recently demonstrated as
Felicity Huffman's earthy mom on
Desperate Housewives (2004).
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee as Nellie Burgin on July 14, 1930, her
family, which included father William, mother Lucy and sister Barbra,
eventually moved to Los Angeles. By the time she was 14, Polly was
singing professionally on radio and managed to scrape up singing gigs
with smaller bands around and about the Southern California area. She
attended Compton Junior College before Paramount mogul
Hal B. Wallis caught sight of her and
signed her up with his studio. Having made an isolated film debut (as
Polly Burgin) a year earlier in the Monogram western
Across the Rio Grande (1949),
Wallis showcased her as a decorative love interest in the slapstick
vehicles of Dean Martin and
Jerry Lewis, the (then) hottest
comedy team in Hollywood. But
At War with the Army (1950),
That's My Boy (1951) and
The Stooge (1951) did little for Polly
although she presented herself well. MGM and Universal had the idea to
cast her in a more serious vein with co-starring roles in their dramas
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953),
Arena (1953) and
Cry of the Hunted (1953), but
again she was overlooked. Disasppointed, she decided to abandon her
lucrative film contract and seek work elsewhere.
That "elsewhere" came in the form of 1950s TV. Focusing on her singing,
she promoted her many albums for Columbia by guest-starring on all the
top variety shows of the times. This culminated in her own variety
program,
The Polly Bergen Show (1957).
The song "The Party's Over" became her traditional show-closer and
signature tune. Polly also showed some marquee mettle on the cabaret
and nightclub circuits, performing at many of the top hotels and
showrooms throughout the country. She made her Broadway debut along
with Harry Belafonte in "John Murray
Anderson's Almanac" in 1953, and went on to appear in such stage shows
as "Top Man" and "Champagne Complex". A delightfully engaging game show
panelist to boot, she took a regular seat on the
To Tell the Truth (1956)
panel for five seasons.
Polly tended to display a looser, down-to-earth personality to induce
laughs but she was also was formidable dramatic player and fashion
plate quite capable of radiating great charm, poise and elegance. For
her role as alcoholic torch singer
Helen Morgan in the special TV
showcase The Helen Morgan Story (1957) , she took home the Emmy award.
Unfortunately for Polly, Ann Blyth took on the
role of the tragic singer in the film version (with
Gogi Grant providing the vocals), in what
could have been a significant return to films for her.
Instead, Polly had to wait another five years for that to happen. As
the wife of Gregory Peck and designated
victim of revengeful psychopath
Robert Mitchum in the taut movie thriller
Cape Fear (1962), her film career
reignited. Other opportunities came in the form of her distraught
mental patient in
The Caretakers (1963), which found
her at odds with nurse
Joan Crawford and doctor
Robert Stack; the sparkling comedy
Move Over, Darling (1963),
which placed her in a comedy triangle with "other wife"
Doris Day and husband
James Garner; and as the first
woman Chief Executive of the White House in the frothy comedy tidbit
Kisses for My President (1964)
opposite bemused "First Gentleman"
Fred MacMurray. In what was to be a tinge
of deja vu, Polly again saw her movie career dissipate after only a
couple of vehicles. True to form, the indomitable Polly rebounded on
TV.
A mild string of TV-movies came her way as she matured into the 1970s
and 1980s, most notably the acclaimed miniseries
The Winds of War (1983),
which reunited her with Robert Mitchum,
this time as his unhappy, alcoholic wife. This, along with her
participation in the sequel,
War and Remembrance (1988),
earned Polly supporting Emmy nominations. In the years to come, she
would find herself still in demand displaying her trademark comic grit
in such shows as
The Sopranos (1999),
Commander in Chief (2005)
and
Desperate Housewives (2004).
Polly returned to singing in 1999 after nearly a three-decade absence
(due to health and vocal issues). Quite huskier in tone, she went on to
delight the New York musical stage with stand-out performances in
"Follies" (2001), "Cabaret" (2002) and "Camille Claudel" (2007). Polly
still made nightly appearances and had even put together singing
concert tours on occasion.
Polly has authored three best-selling beauty books outside the acting
arena and has demonstrated a marked level of acumen in the business
world. Founding a mail-order cosmetics business in 1965, she sold it to
Faberge eight years later. She also developed her own shoe and jewelry
lines.
Married (1950-1955) to MGM actor
Jerome Courtland during her first movie
career peak, she later wed topflight agent/producer
Freddie Fields in 1957, a union that
lasted 18 years and produced two adopted children, Pamela and Peter. A
third marriage in the 1980s also ended in divorce. An assertive voice
when it comes to women's rights and issues, her memoir "Polly's
Principles" came out in 1974.
Polly played a grandmother in her last film, the dramedy Struck by Lightning (2012), and died two years later on September 20, 2013, at the age of 84.
age 14), there are very few facets of entertainment that lovely
singer/actress Polly Bergen has not conquered or, at the very least,
touched upon. A nightclub and Columbia recording artist of the 50s and
60s, she is just as well known for her film and Emmy-winning dramatic
performances as she is for her wry comedic gifts. In the leaner times,
she has maintained quite well with her various businesses. Truly one
for the ages, Polly has, at age 70+, nabbed a Tony nomination for her
gutsy "I'm Still Here" entertainer Carlotta in
Stephen Sondheim's "Follies", and was still dishing out the barbs as she recently demonstrated as
Felicity Huffman's earthy mom on
Desperate Housewives (2004).
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee as Nellie Burgin on July 14, 1930, her
family, which included father William, mother Lucy and sister Barbra,
eventually moved to Los Angeles. By the time she was 14, Polly was
singing professionally on radio and managed to scrape up singing gigs
with smaller bands around and about the Southern California area. She
attended Compton Junior College before Paramount mogul
Hal B. Wallis caught sight of her and
signed her up with his studio. Having made an isolated film debut (as
Polly Burgin) a year earlier in the Monogram western
Across the Rio Grande (1949),
Wallis showcased her as a decorative love interest in the slapstick
vehicles of Dean Martin and
Jerry Lewis, the (then) hottest
comedy team in Hollywood. But
At War with the Army (1950),
That's My Boy (1951) and
The Stooge (1951) did little for Polly
although she presented herself well. MGM and Universal had the idea to
cast her in a more serious vein with co-starring roles in their dramas
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953),
Arena (1953) and
Cry of the Hunted (1953), but
again she was overlooked. Disasppointed, she decided to abandon her
lucrative film contract and seek work elsewhere.
That "elsewhere" came in the form of 1950s TV. Focusing on her singing,
she promoted her many albums for Columbia by guest-starring on all the
top variety shows of the times. This culminated in her own variety
program,
The Polly Bergen Show (1957).
The song "The Party's Over" became her traditional show-closer and
signature tune. Polly also showed some marquee mettle on the cabaret
and nightclub circuits, performing at many of the top hotels and
showrooms throughout the country. She made her Broadway debut along
with Harry Belafonte in "John Murray
Anderson's Almanac" in 1953, and went on to appear in such stage shows
as "Top Man" and "Champagne Complex". A delightfully engaging game show
panelist to boot, she took a regular seat on the
To Tell the Truth (1956)
panel for five seasons.
Polly tended to display a looser, down-to-earth personality to induce
laughs but she was also was formidable dramatic player and fashion
plate quite capable of radiating great charm, poise and elegance. For
her role as alcoholic torch singer
Helen Morgan in the special TV
showcase The Helen Morgan Story (1957) , she took home the Emmy award.
Unfortunately for Polly, Ann Blyth took on the
role of the tragic singer in the film version (with
Gogi Grant providing the vocals), in what
could have been a significant return to films for her.
Instead, Polly had to wait another five years for that to happen. As
the wife of Gregory Peck and designated
victim of revengeful psychopath
Robert Mitchum in the taut movie thriller
Cape Fear (1962), her film career
reignited. Other opportunities came in the form of her distraught
mental patient in
The Caretakers (1963), which found
her at odds with nurse
Joan Crawford and doctor
Robert Stack; the sparkling comedy
Move Over, Darling (1963),
which placed her in a comedy triangle with "other wife"
Doris Day and husband
James Garner; and as the first
woman Chief Executive of the White House in the frothy comedy tidbit
Kisses for My President (1964)
opposite bemused "First Gentleman"
Fred MacMurray. In what was to be a tinge
of deja vu, Polly again saw her movie career dissipate after only a
couple of vehicles. True to form, the indomitable Polly rebounded on
TV.
A mild string of TV-movies came her way as she matured into the 1970s
and 1980s, most notably the acclaimed miniseries
The Winds of War (1983),
which reunited her with Robert Mitchum,
this time as his unhappy, alcoholic wife. This, along with her
participation in the sequel,
War and Remembrance (1988),
earned Polly supporting Emmy nominations. In the years to come, she
would find herself still in demand displaying her trademark comic grit
in such shows as
The Sopranos (1999),
Commander in Chief (2005)
and
Desperate Housewives (2004).
Polly returned to singing in 1999 after nearly a three-decade absence
(due to health and vocal issues). Quite huskier in tone, she went on to
delight the New York musical stage with stand-out performances in
"Follies" (2001), "Cabaret" (2002) and "Camille Claudel" (2007). Polly
still made nightly appearances and had even put together singing
concert tours on occasion.
Polly has authored three best-selling beauty books outside the acting
arena and has demonstrated a marked level of acumen in the business
world. Founding a mail-order cosmetics business in 1965, she sold it to
Faberge eight years later. She also developed her own shoe and jewelry
lines.
Married (1950-1955) to MGM actor
Jerome Courtland during her first movie
career peak, she later wed topflight agent/producer
Freddie Fields in 1957, a union that
lasted 18 years and produced two adopted children, Pamela and Peter. A
third marriage in the 1980s also ended in divorce. An assertive voice
when it comes to women's rights and issues, her memoir "Polly's
Principles" came out in 1974.
Polly played a grandmother in her last film, the dramedy Struck by Lightning (2012), and died two years later on September 20, 2013, at the age of 84.