Tuesday, May 4, 2010

THE HAT SQUAD: LYNN REDGRAVE

Lynn Redgrave, a member of the distinguished British acting family who became an overnight sensation playing the title character in the 1966 film "Georgy Girl" and later achieved acclaim on stage as both an actress and a writer, has died. She was 67.

Redgrave died Sunday with her children at her side at her home in Kent, Conn., said her publicist, Rick Miramontez.

"Our beloved mother Lynn Rachel passed away peacefully after a seven-year journey with breast cancer," her children, Ben, Pema and Annabel, said in a statement Monday. "She lived, loved and worked harder than ever before."

Redgrave's death closely follows that of her actor brother, Corin, who died after a short illness last month. Her niece Natasha Richardson died of head injuries caused by a fall on a ski slope last year.

Her work in television included "House Calls," a 1980-82 CBS sitcom in which she played a hospital administrator opposite Wayne Rogers as a surgeon. She earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series but left the show in 1981.

In a $10.5-million lawsuit against MCA Inc. and Universal Television, Redgrave alleged that Universal fired her from the series because she planned to breast-feed her then-infant daughter Annabel during production hours. In 1987, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled that the dispute had been settled in an oral agreement reached by both parties.

Redgrave said the incident had a negative impact on her career."It wasn't exactly that I was blacklisted, but Hollywood is the smallest town in the world, and Universal is the most powerful studio in the world, and it just became more convenient not to hire me," she said in a 1994 Washington Post interview.

"It all stopped cold," she said. "What I did have was the theater, thank God, because the theater goes by its own rules."

She also served as spokeswoman for Weight Watchers from 1983 to 1991 and took what jobs she could get.
(By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times)

Here are the characters she brought to Toobworld:

STARRING ROLES
"Rude Awakening" (1998-2001) .... Trudy Frank "Chicken Soup" (1989) .... Maddie Peerce
[Seen here with co-star Jackie Mason]

"The Fainthearted Feminist" (1984) .... Martha

"Teachers Only" (1982-1983) .... Diana Swanson

"House Calls" (1979-1981) .... Ann Anderson

Beggarman, Thief (1979) .... Kate Jordache

"Centennial" (1978-1979) .... Charlotte Buckland Seccombe

"A Touch of Venus" (1968)

GUEST STARRING ROLES
"Ugly Betty" .... Olivia Guillemette - The Butterfly Effect: Part 1 (2009)

"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" .... Aunt Emily
- Folie a Deux (2009)

"Desperate Housewives" .... Dahlia Hainsworth
- Dress Big (2007)

"Screen Two" .... Pauline Williams - Death of a Son (1989)

"Hotel"
- Restless Nights (1986) .... Audrey Beck
- Relative Loss (1983) .... Cathy Knight

"Murder, She Wrote" .... Abby Benton Freestone
- It's a Dog's Life (1984)

"Fantasy Island"
- To Fly with Eagles/The High Cost of Living (1984)
- Everybody Goes to Gilley's/Face of Fire (1982)

"The Love Boat"
- Bewigged, Bothered and Bewildered/The Anniversary Gift/Honey Bee Mine (1982)
"CBS Afternoon Playhouse" .... Sarah Cotter

- The Shooting (1982)
[Seen here with co-star Lance Kerwin]

"Kojak" .... Claire
- A Hair-Trigger Away (1976)

"Vienna 1900" .... Berta Garlan
- The Spring Sonata (1974)

"Love Story" .... Mary Downey
- The Egg on the Face of the Tiger (1968)

"Armchair Theatre"
- I Am Osango (1967) .... Ivy Toft
- What's Wrong with Humpty Dumpty? (1967) .... Caroline
- Pretty Polly (1966) .... Polly Barlow

- Power and Glory (1963)

"Comedy Playhouse" .... Sheila
- The End of the Tunnel (1966)

TV MOVIES
Nurses (2007) .... Peggy Rice

My Sister's Keeper (2002) .... Helen Margaret Chapman

Varian's War (2001) .... Alma Werfel-Mahler

Different (1999) .... Amanda Talmadge

White Lies (1998) .... Inga Kolneder

Indefensible: The Truth About Edward Brannigan (1997) .... Monica Brannigan

Toothless (1997) .... Rogers

Calling the Shots (1993) .... Maggie Donnelly

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1991) .... Jane Hudson
[Seen here with her sister and co-star, Vanessa Redgrave]

Jury Duty: The Comedy (1990) .... Abby Greyhouwsky

A Woman Alone (1988) .... The Woman

Tales from the Hollywood Hills: The Old Reliable (1988) .... 'Bill' Shannon

My Two Loves (1986) .... Marjorie Lloyd

Walking on Air (1986) .... Mrs. Hepp

The Bad Seed (1985) .... Monica Breedlove
Rehearsal for Murder (1982) .... Monica Welles
[Seen here with co-star Lawrence Pressman]

The Seduction of Miss Leona (1980) .... Miss Leona de Vose

Gauguin the Savage (1980) .... Mette Gad

Sooner or Later (1979) .... The teacher

Daft As a Brush (1975)

The Turn of the Screw (1974) .... Miss Jane Cubberly

Sunday Out of Season (1965) (TV) .... Elaine

TV SPECIALS"Hallmark Hall of Fame" .... Hon. Judge Nancy Jakes
- A Season for Miracles (1999)

Antony and Cleopatra (1983) .... Cleopatra

Steve Martin's Best Show Ever (1981) .... Mrs. Kendal

Musical Comedy Tonight II (1981)

Linda in Wonderland (1980) (TV)

Disco Beaver from Outer Space (1978) .... Dr. Van Helsing

"BBC Play of the Month"
- Pygmalion (1973).... Eliza Doolittle
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1971) .... Helena

The Shape of Things (1973)

"ABC Afterschool Specials" .... Various Characters
- William: The Life, Works and Times of William Shakespeare (1973)

TOONIVERSE
"Me, Eloise" .... Nanny (2006-2007)

Silent Mouse (1990) (TV) .... Narrator

Good night and may God bless.

BCnU......

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