Judy Holliday

Actor

About

Also Known As

Judith Tuvim, Judy Tuvim

Birth Place

New York City, New York, USA

Born

June 21, 1921

Died

June 07, 1965

Cause of Death

Cancer

Biography

Filmography

Bells Are Ringing (1960)

Ella Peterson

Full of Life (1957)

Emily Rocco

The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956)

Laura Partridge

It Should Happen to You (1954)

Gladys Glover

Phffft (1954)

Nina Tracy

The Marrying Kind (1952)

Florence Keefer

Photos & Videos

View All

Adam's Rib (1949) -- (Movie Clip) My Dear Husband

Marrying Kind, The (1952) -- (Movie Clip) It's A Dead One

Family & Companions

David Oppenheim

Husband

Musician, educator. Married on January 5, 1948; filed for divorce in 1957; divorced on March 1, 1958; for a number of years was the dean of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University; left in the early 1990s.

Sydney Chaplin

Companion

Actor, singer. Involved in 1956.

Gerry Mulligan

Companion

Jazz musician, composer. Involved in early 1960s.

Bibliography

"Judy Holliday: An Intimate Life Story"

Gary Carey, Seaview Books (1982)

"Judy Holliday"

Will Holtzman

Biography

This spirited, intelligent actress of stage and screen played variations of the squeaky-voiced 'dumb blonde' role in a number of breezy comedies of the 1940s and 50s. Under her own name, Judith Tuvim, she formed a comedy troupe called "The Revuers," with Betty Comden and Adolph Green. This led to bits in the films "Winged Victory" and "Greenwich Village" (both 1944) and "Something for the Boys" (1945). But it took two Broadway shows, "Kiss Them for Me" and, notably, as the intellectually ambitious moll in "Born Yesterday," to make the newly-renamed Judy Holliday a star.

She returned to films with a memorable supporting role in the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn comedy, "Adam's Rib" (1949), then vaulted to stardom the following year when she recreated her stage triumph of "Born Yesterday" in George Cukor's film adaptation. As the airheaded mistress of a shady and rather dull-witted tycoon who turns the tables on him once she's educated, Holliday won an Oscar as Best Actress of 1950 (beating out Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard" and Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in "All About Eve").

For the rest of the 50s, signed with Columbia, Holliday made a handful of films, delighting audiences as ditzy but surprisingly shrewd types in "The Marrying Kind" (1952), the delightful media satire "It Should Happen to You" and "Phfft!" (both 1953), "The Solid Gold Cadillac" and "Full of Life" (both 1956). Holliday's last film was recreating her stage role in the musical "Bells Are Ringing" (1960). She returned to the stage in the straight play "Laurette" (Taylor) and the musical "Hot Spot" (1952). A heavy smoker, Holliday died of throat cancer in 1965 at the age of 43.

Filmography

Life Events

1938

Rejected by Yale; went to work for Mercury Theater as a switchboard operator

1940

Co-founded, made stage acting debut with "The Revuers" cabaret group, featuring Adolph Green and Betty Comden, Al Hammer and John Frank

1944

The Revuers moved to L.A.

1944

Began in feature films with roles in "Greenwich Village", "Something for the Boys" and "Winged Victory"

1945

Broadway debut, "Kiss Them for Me", playing the first of her signature "dumb blonde" roles

1946

Breakthrough stage role replacing Jean Arthur as Billie Dawn in "Born Yesterday"

1949

Returned to films to play a supporting role in "Adam's Rib"

1950

First starring role in films, "Born Yesterday"; won Best Actress Oscar

1951

Starred in "Dream Girl" on Broadway

1952

Signed with Columbia

1952

Called to testify before HUAC

1954

Co-starred with Jack Lemmon in "It Should Happen to You"

1956

Returned to Broadway as the lead in the musical "Bells Are Ringing"; won Tony Award

1956

Starred in "The Solid Gold Cadillac"

1960

Last film, recreating stage role in "Bells Are Ringing"

1962

Final Broadway show, "Hot Spot"

Photo Collections

Bells Are Ringing - Series of Publicity Stills

Here is a group of Publicity Stills from Bells Are Ringing (1960), featuring Judy Holliday and Dean Martin in a series of gag telephone shots. Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.

Phffft - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Columbia's Phffft (1954), starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Born Yesterday - Movie Posters

Here are a few original-release movie posters from Born Yesterday (1950), directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Holliday, William Holden, and Broderick Crawford.

Bells Are Ringing - Behind-the-Scenes Stills

Here are a number of photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Bells Are Ringing (1960), starring Judy Holliday and Dean Martin, and directed by Vincente Minnelli.