Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth (January 21, 1934 – November 16, 2017) was an American character actress, known for her roles as Lana Shields in Three's Company, Hilda Hensley in Sweet Dreams, and Merleen Elldridge in Evening Shade. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Chapter Two (1978).
Early life
Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth was born in Abilene, Texas. She graduated from Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas, where she was a childhood friend and high school classmate of Jayne Mansfield. She dropped her first name after graduating from the University of Texas in 1957, and moved to New York City. After auditioning several times, she was admitted to The Actors Studio.
Career
Theatre
Wedgeworth made her Broadway debut in the play Make a Million in 1958. In 1978, she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Chapter Two.
Wedgeworth appeared off-Broadway at New York's Promenade Theatre from December 5, 1985, until June 1, 1986, in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, co-starring Harvey Keitel and Geraldine Page; coincidentally, Page, a decade Wedgeworth's senior, had married actor Rip Torn after his divorce from Wedgeworth. Wedgeworth appeared in just nine episodes of the series before her character was written out without any explanation and never referred to again.
In 1982, Wedgeworth worked with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason in her first comedy series, Filthy Rich, playing ditsy, good-natured Bootsie Westchester. The series was canceled after two seasons in 1983. In 1989, she guest-starred as Audrey Conner, the emotionally fragile mother of Dan Conner (played by John Goodman) on the ABC sitcom, Roseanne. Her longest role was on the CBS sitcom Evening Shade as Merleen Eldridge. The series aired from 1990 to 1994. In 1994, Wedgeworth starred in the unsuccessful Evening Shade spin-off, Harlan & Merleen.
Personal life
Wedgeworth married Rip Torn in 1955. They had a daughter, actress Danae Torn. The couple divorced in 1961.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1965
|Andy
|Margie
|
|-
|1973
|Scarecrow
|Frenchy
|
|-
|1973
|Bang the Drum Slowly
|Katie
|
|-
|1974
|Law and Disorder
|Sally
|
|-
|1974
|'
|Kit Loring
|
|-
|1976
|One Summer Love
|Pearlie
|
|-
|1976
|Birch Interval
|Marie
|
|-
|1977
|Thieves
|Nancy
|
|-
|1977
|Handle with Care
|Dallas Angel
|National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
|-
|1977
|The War Between the Tates
|Danielle Zimmerman
|TV movie
|-
|1980
|Bogie
|Mayo Methot
|TV movie
|-
|1981
|Elvis and the Beauty Queen
|Aunt Betty
|TV movie
|-
|1981
|Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.
|Dusty Wheeler
|
|-
|1981
|Killjoy
|Rosie
|TV movie
|-
|1984
|No Small Affair
|Joan Cummings
|
|-
|1985
|Right to Kill?
|Eve Whitcomb
|TV movie
|-
|1985
|My Science Project
|Dolores
|
|-
|1985
|Sweet Dreams
|Hilda Hensley
|Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
|-
|1986
|The Men's Club
|Jo
|
|-
|1987
|A Stranger Waits
|Susan Berger
|TV movie
|-
|1987
|A Tiger's Tale
|Claudine
|
|-
|1987
|Made in Heaven
|Annette Shea
|
|-
|1988
|Far North
|Amy
|
|-
|1989
|Miss Firecracker
|Miss Blue
|
|-
|1989
|Steel Magnolias
|Aunt Fern
|
|-
|1990
|Green Card
|Party Guest #1
|
|-
|1991
|Hard Promises
|Chris's Mom
|
|-
|1993
|Cooperstown
|Lila Kunznick
|TV movie
|-
|1994
|Love and a .45
|Thaylene Cheatham
|
|-
|1994
|A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story
|Mrs. O'Flaherty
|TV movie
|-
|1995
|Fight for Justice: The Nancy Conn Story
|Mary Howell
|TV movie
|-
|1996
|The Whole Wide World
|Mrs. Howard
|
|-
|1999
|The Hunter's Moon
|Borlene
|
|-
|2006
|The Hawk Is Dying
|Ma Gattling
|(final film role)
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1957
|Kraft Theatre
|Ruth Cashel
|Episode: "Vengeance"
|-
|1964
|The Defenders
|Sally Bernard
|Episode: "Hero of the People"
|-
|1966–1967
|The Edge of Night
|Angela 'Angie' Talbot
|Unknown episodes
|-
|1966
|Hawk
|Helen Rainey
|Episode: "Death Comes Full Circle"
|-
|1967–1970
|Another World
|Lahoma Vane Lucas
|Unknown episodes
|-
|1970
|Somerset
|Lahoma Vane Lucas
|Episode: "#1.1"
|-
|1975
|Bronk
|Kate
|Episode: "The Gauntlet"
|-
|1979
|Three's Company
|Lana Shields
|9 episodes
|-
|1980
|When the Whistle Blows
|Sheila Norris
|Episode: "Wildcatters"
|-
|1982–1983
|Filthy Rich
|Bootsie Westchester
|15 episodes
|-
|1985
|One Life to Live
|Charlie Barnes
|Unknown episodes
|-
|1986
|The Twilight Zone
|Clerk
|Episode: "The After Hours"
|-
|1987
|The Equalizer
|Irene Baylor
| Episode: "Suspicion of Innocence"
|-
|1989
|Roseanne
|Audrey Conner
|Episode: "We Gather Together"
|-
|1990–1994
|Evening Shade
|Merleen Elldridge
|98 episodes<br/>Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Specialty Player
|}