Patricia Collinge

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Eileen Cecilia Collinge

Birth Place

Dublin, IE

Born

September 20, 1892

Died

April 10, 1974

Biography

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A distinguished actress of the US stage, Collinge, of Irish-American background, made her London debut at age ten and was performing on Broadway by the time she was 14. Primarily a character actress, she also played leading roles, and won considerable acclaim for her heartfelt, nuanced acting. Collinge did not enter films until she was nearly 50, when she reprised her stage role as Aunt ...

Filmography

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The Nun's Story (1959)

Washington Story (1952)

Philip's mother

Casanova Brown (1944)

Tender Comrade (1944)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Emma [Spencer Oakley] Newton

Photos & Videos

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Tender Comrade (1943) -- (Movie Clip) You Have Very Small Ears

Tender Comrade (1944) -- (Movie Clip) White For Dumbrowski?

Biography

A distinguished actress of the US stage, Collinge, of Irish-American background, made her London debut at age ten and was performing on Broadway by the time she was 14. Primarily a character actress, she also played leading roles, and won considerable acclaim for her heartfelt, nuanced acting. Collinge did not enter films until she was nearly 50, when she reprised her stage role as Aunt Birdie in William Wyler's strong adaptation of Lillian Hellman's blistering 1939 Broadway triumph, "The Little Foxes" (1941). Despite competition from a brilliant cast headed by Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall and Teresa Wright, Collinge etched an unforgettable portrait of the genteel, hapless, emotionally abused member of the predatory Giddens family. Indeed, she almost stole the film in her most memorable scene, in which Birdie admits that her headaches are faked and her alcoholism an escape from her intense loathing of her own husband and son.

Collinge justly received a supporting Oscar nomination for her performance, and subsequently made very occasional film appearances during the 1940s and 50s. Probably the most vivid of these was her second film performance, that of the wholesome, dithery, unsuspecting sister of the "Merry Widow" murderer (Joseph Cotten) in Alfred Hitchcock's superb "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943). Later films were more routine, but she invariably did her best by them. Collinge was part of a houseful of WWII working women headed up by Ginger Rogers in "Tender Comrade" (1943) and she gamely supported Gary Cooper in the misfired farce "Casanova Brown" (1944). Typically cast as placid, sincere and sympathetic types, Collinge also performed in Fred Zinnemann's touching "Teresa" (1951) and in TV anthologies including "Love Story" (Dumont, 1954) and "Star Tonight" (ABC, 1955-56) before making her last film appearance as Sister William in another film for Zinnemann, the sterling "The Nun's Story" (1959).

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Nun's Story (1959)

Washington Story (1952)

Philip's mother

Casanova Brown (1944)

Tender Comrade (1944)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Emma [Spencer Oakley] Newton

The Little Foxes (1941)

Life Events

1903

London stage acting debut (date approximate)

1907

Broadway acting debut (date approximate)

1941

First film as actress, "The Little Foxes"

1944

First film in color, "Casanova Brown"

1959

Last film, "The Nun's Story"

Videos

Tender Comrade (1943) -- (Movie Clip) You Have Very Small Ears Kind of a moment for Ruth Hussey (as Barbara, married to deployed Pete, who might well be a heel), with WWII California factory worker housemates, Kim Hunter, Patricia Collinge and Ginger Rogers (as newlywed Doris, Helen and Jo), about dating other men, in Tender Comrade. 1943.

Tender Comrade (1944) -- (Movie Clip) White For Dumbrowski? Looks like at least the crew visited the Douglas Aircraft plant in Long Beach, CA, military wives Jo (Ginger Rogers), Barbara (Ruth Hussey), Helen (Patricia Collinge) and Doris (Kim Hunter, one of her earliest roles), getting lunch in Tender Comrade, 1944.

Little Foxes, The (1941) -- (Movie Clip) Good Names Are Always Useful Alexandra (Teresa Wright) arriving home from a ride, as we meet her aunt Birdie (Patricia Collinge), uncle Ben (Charles Dingle), mother Regina (Bette Davis), Birdie's husband and other uncle Oscar (Carl Benton Reid) and son Leo (Dan Duryea), early in William Wyler's The Little Foxes, 1941.

Little Foxes, The (1941) -- (Movie Clip) When We're Very Rich Having just charmed their Yankee investor, Regina (Bette Davis) begins her financial manipulation of brothers Ben (Charles Dingle) and Oscar (Carl Benton Reid), in William Wyler's The Little Foxes, 1941, from Lillian Hellman's play and screenplay.

Shadow Of A Doubt (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Do You Believe In Telepathy? Director Alfred Hitchcock detailing the family (on location in Santa Rosa, California), Mom, Dad, sister and brother (Patricia Collinge, Henry Travers, Edna May Wonacott, Charles Bates) as restless Charlie (Teresa Wright) decides to send an unnecessary telegram, in Shadow Of A Doubt, 1943.

Nun's Story, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) A Living Rule Belgium, 1920's, Dr. Van der Mal (Dean Jagger) delivers daughter Gabrielle (Audrey Hepburn) to her chosen convent, received by Sisters William (Patricia Collinge) and Margharita (Mildred Dunnock), opening Fred Zinnemann's film, from the novel by Kathryn C. Hulme, The Nun's Story, 1959.

Nun's Story, The - (Original Trailer) A headstrong girl (Audrey Hepburn) fights the strictures of the Catholic Church in Europe and the Belgian Congo in The Nun's Story (1959), directed by Fred Zinnemann and nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Teresa - (Original Trailer) In Teresa (1951) director Fred Zinneman imports the neo-realism style from Italy to America with a story of an Italian bride who marries an American GI.

Shadow Of A Doubt - (Re-issue Trailer) A long-lost uncle (Joseph Cotten) brings a terrifying secret to a small American town in this Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

Bibliography

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