Colleen Rose Dewhurst (June 3, 1924 – August 22, 1991) was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles. She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early dramas on live television, and performances in Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. One of her last roles was playing Marilla Cuthbert in the Kevin Sullivan television adaptations of the Anne of Green Gables series and her reprisal of the role in the subsequent TV series Road to Avonlea. In the United States, Dewhurst won two Tony Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards for her stage and television work. In addition to other Canadian honors over the years, Dewhurst won two Gemini Awards (the former Canadian equivalent of an Emmy Award) for her portrayal of Marilla Cuthbert; once in 1986 and again in 1988.
Dewhurst was a co-founder of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group.
Early life
Dewhurst was born June 3, 1924, in Montreal, Quebec, the only child of Frances Marie (nee Woods) and Ferdinand Augustus "Fred" Dewhurst. Fred Dewhurst was the owner of a chain of confectionery stores and had been a celebrated athlete in Canada, where he had played football with the Ottawa Rough Riders. The family became naturalized as U.S. citizens before 1940. Colleen Dewhurst's mother was a Christian Scientist, a faith Colleen also embraced.
The Dewhursts moved to Massachusetts in 1928 or 1929, staying in the Boston area neighborhoods of Dorchester, Auburndale, and West Newton. Later they moved to New York City and then to Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. Dewhurst attended Whitefish Bay High School for her first two years of high school, moved to Shorewood High School for her junior year, and graduated from Riverside High School in Milwaukee in 1942. About this time her parents separated. Dewhurst attended Milwaukee-Downer College for two years, then moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.
Career
One of her more significant stage roles was in the 1974 Broadway revival of O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten as Josie Hogan, for which she won a Tony Award. She previously won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in 1961 for All the Way Home. She later played Katharina in a 1956 production of Taming of the Shrew for Joseph Papp. She (as recounted in her posthumous obituary in collaboration with Tom Viola) wrote:
<blockquote>With Brooks Atkinson's blessing, our world changed overnight. Suddenly in our audience of neighbors in T-shirts and jeans appeared men in white shirts, jackets and ties and ladies in summer dresses. We were in a hit that would have a positive effect on my career, as well as Joe's, but I missed the shouting.</blockquote>
Dewhurst's Christian Science beliefs led to her refusal to accept any kind of surgical treatment. She died of cervical cancer at the age 67 at her South Salem home in 1991. She was cremated and her ashes were given to family and friends; no public service was planned.
Filmography
Films and television films
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1959
| data-sort-value="Nun's Story, The" | The Nun's Story
|Archangel Gabriel
|
|-
|1960
|Man on a String
|Helen Benson
|
|-
|1961
| data-sort-value="Foxes, The" | The Foxes
|
|rowspan=2|television film
|-
|1962
|Focus
|
|-
|1966
|data-sort-value="Fine Madness, A" | A Fine Madness
|Dr. Vera Kropotkin
|
|-
|1967
|data-sort-value="Crucible, The" | The Crucible
|Elizabeth Proctor
|television film (adaptation of the play The Crucible)
|-
|rowspan=2|1971
|data-sort-value="Price, The" | The Price
|Esther Franz
|television film
|-
| data-sort-value="Last Run, The" | The Last Run
|Monique
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1972
| data-sort-value="Cowboys, The" | The Cowboys
|Kate Collingwood
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Hands of Cormac Joyce, The" | The Hands of Cormac Joyce
|Molly Joyce
|rowspan=4|television film
|-
|1973
|Legend in Granite
|Marie Lombardi
|-
|rowspan=4|1974
|Parker Addison, Philosopher
|rowspan=2|Hostess
|-
|data-sort-value="Music School, The" | The Music School
|-
|McQ
|Myra
|
|-
|data-sort-value="Story of Jacob and Joseph, The" | The Story of Jacob and Joseph
|Rebekah
|television film
|-
|1975
|data-sort-value="Moon for the Misbegotten, A" | A Moon for the Misbegotten
|Josie Hogan
|television film (adaptation of the play A Moon for the Misbegotten)
|-
|1977
|Annie Hall
|Mrs. Hall
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1978
| data-sort-value="Third Walker, The" | The Third Walker
|Kate Maclean
|
|-
|Ice Castles
|Beulah Smith
|
|-
|rowspan=4|1979
|Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story
|Patsy O'Neil
|television film
|-
|When a Stranger Calls
|Tracy Fuller
|
|-
|And Baby Makes Six
|Anna Kramer
|rowspan=4|television film
|-
|Mary and Joseph: A Story of Faith
|Elizabeth
|-
|rowspan=8|1980
|Death Penalty
|Elaine Lipton
|-
|Escape
|Lily Levinson
|-
|Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
|Myrtle Kennedy
|miniseries
|-
|data-sort-value="Women's Room, The" | The Women's Room
|Val
|television film (based on the book The Women's Room)
|-
| data-sort-value="Perfect Match, A" | A Perfect Match
|Meg Larson
|rowspan=2|television film
|-
|Baby Comes Home
|Anna Kramer
|-
|Final Assignment
|Dr. Valentine Ulanova
|
|-
|Tribute
|Gladys Petrelli
|
|-
|1981
|data-sort-value="Few Days in Weasel Creek, A" | A Few Days in Weasel Creek
|Cora Jackfield
|television film
|-
|rowspan=2|1982
|Split Cherry Tree
|Mrs. Sexton
|
|-
|Between Two Brothers
|
|rowspan=2|television film
|-
|rowspan=2|1983
|Sometimes I Wonder
|Grandma
|-
|data-sort-value="Dead Zone, The" | The Dead Zone
|Henrietta Dodd
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1984
|You Can't Take It with You
|Grand Duchess Olga Katrina
|television film (adaptation of the play You Can't Take It with You)
|-
|data-sort-value="Glitter Dome, The" | The Glitter Dome
|Lorna Dillman
|rowspan=5|television film
|-
|1985
|Anne of Green Gables
|Marilla Cuthbert
|-
|rowspan=5|1986
|Between Two Women
|Barbara Petherton
|-
|Johnny Bull
|Marie Kovacs
|-
|As Is
|Hospice Worker
|-
|data-sort-value="Boy Who Could Fly, The" | The Boy Who Could Fly
|Carolyn Sherman
|
|-
|Sword of Gideon
|Golda Meir
|rowspan=4|television film
|-
|rowspan=3|1987
|Hitting Home
|Judge
|-
|Bigfoot
|Gladys Samco
|-
|Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel
|Marilla Cuthbert
|-
|1988
|Woman in the Wind
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1989
|Those She Left Behind
|Margaret Page
|television film
|-
|Termini Station
|Molly Dushane
|
|-
|rowspan=3|1990
|data-sort-value="Exorcist III, The" | The Exorcist III
|Pazuzu
|Voice, Uncredited
|-
|Kaleidoscope
|Margaret Gorham
|rowspan=2|television film
|-
|Lantern Hill
|Elizabeth
|-
|rowspan=2|1991
|Dying Young
|Estelle Whittier
|
|-
|Bed & Breakfast
|Ruth Wellesly
|final film role
|-
|}
Television work (excluding television films)
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1957
|Studio One
|
|teleplay: First Prize for Murder
|-
|rowspan=3|1958
|Kraft Television Theatre
|
|teleplay: Presumption of Innocence
|-
|Decoy
|Taffy
|episode: "Deadly Corridor"
|-
|rowspan=2|DuPont Show of the Month
|
|teleplay: The Count of Monte Cristo
|-
|rowspan=3|1959
|Aldonza Lorenzo/Dulcinea del Toboso
|teleplay: I, Don Quixote
|-
|data-sort-value="Play of the Week, The" | Play of the Week
|Mordeen Saul / Woman
|teleplays: Burning Bright; Medea
|-
|data-sort-value="United States Steel Hour, The" | The United States Steel Hour
|Vera Brandon
|teleplay: The Hours Before Dawn
|-
|rowspan=2|1961
|data-sort-value="Play of the Week, The" | Play of the Week
|Inèz Serrano
|teleplays: No Exit; The Indifferent Lover
|-
|Ben Casey
|Phyllis Anders
|episode: "I Remember a Lemon Tree"
|-
|rowspan=3|1962
|data-sort-value="Eleventh Hour, The" | The Eleventh Hour
|Joanne Novak
|episode: "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted House"
|-
|data-sort-value="Virginian, The" | The Virginian
|Celia Ames
|episode: "The Executioners"
|-
|data-sort-value="Nurses, The" | The Nurses
|Grace Milo
|episode: "Fly, Shadow"
|-
|rowspan=2|1963
|data-sort-value="United States Steel Hour, The" | The United States Steel Hour
|Francie Broderick
|teleplay: Night Run to the West
|-
|DuPont Show of the Month
|Karen Holt
|teleplay: Something to Hide
|-
|1964
|East Side/West Side
|Shirley
|episode: "Nothing but the Half Truth"
|-
|rowspan=2|1965
|Dr. Kildare
|Eleanor Markham
|episode: "All Brides Should Be Beautiful"
|-
|data-sort-value="Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The" | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
|Nurse Ellen Hatch
|episode: "Night Fever"
|-
|rowspan=2|1966
|data-sort-value="F.B.I., The" | The F.B.I.
|Amy Doucette
|episode: "The Baby Sitter"
|-
|data-sort-value="Big Valley, The" | The Big Valley
|Annie Morton
|episode: "A Day of Terror"
|-
|rowspan=2|1971
|ITV Sunday Night Theatre
|rowspan=2|Esther Franz
|rowspan=2|teleplay: The Price
|-
|rowspan=2|Hallmark Hall of Fame
|-
|1972
|Molly Joyce
|teleplay: The Hands of Cormac Joyce
|-
|1973
|Wide World Mystery
|Margery Landing
|episode: "A Prowler in the Heart"
|-
|1979
|Studs Lonigan
|Mary Lonigan
|miniseries
|-
|rowspan=2|1982
|Quincy, M.E.
|Dr. Barbara Ludow
|episode: "For Love of Joshua"
|-
|data-sort-value="Blue and the Gray, The" | The Blue and the Gray
|Maggie Geyser
|miniseries
|-
|1983
|Great Performances
|Red Queen
|teleplay: Alice in Wonderland
|-
|rowspan=2|1984
|Finder of Lost Loves
|Rachel Green
|episode: "Echoes"
|-
|data-sort-value="Love Boat, The" | The Love Boat
|Maud
|episode: "Welcome Aboard: Part 1 and 2"
|-
|1985
|A.D.
|Antonia Minor
|miniseries
|-
|1988
|data-sort-value="Twilight Zone, The" | The Twilight Zone
|Hallie Parker
|episode: "There Was an Old Woman"
|-
|1989
|Moonlighting
|Betty Russell
|episode: "Take My Wife, for Example"
|-
|1989–1990
|Murphy Brown
|Avery Brown Sr.
|3 episodes:<br>-"Brown Like Me: Part 1 and Part II" (1989)<br>-"Mama Said" (1989)<br>-"Bob & Murphy & Ted & Avery (1990)
|-
|1990–1992
|Road to Avonlea
|Marilla Cuthbert
|4 episodes: "Of Corsets and Secrets and True, True Love", "The Materializing of Duncan McTavish", <br> "The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's" and "Old Friends New Wounds (Marilla's Death)"
|}
Theatre
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Year
! Play
! Role
|-
|1952
|Desire Under the Elms
|Neighbor
|-
|1956
|Tamburlaine the Great
|Virgin of Memphis / Turkish Concubine
|-
|1957–1958
|data-sort-value="Country Wife, The" | The Country Wife
|Mrs. Squeamish
|-
|1960
|Caligula
|Milonia Caesonia
|-
|1960–1961
|All the Way Home
|Mary Follet
|-
|1962
|Great Day in the Morning
|Phoebe Flaherty
|-
|1963–1964
|data-sort-value="Ballad of the Sad Café, The" | The Ballad of the Sad Café
|Miss Amelia Evans
|-
|1967–1968
|More Stately Mansions
|Sara Melody
|-
|1970
|data-sort-value="Good Woman of Setzuan, The" | The Good Woman of Setzuan
|Shen Te
|-
|1971
|All Over
|The Mistress
|-
|1972
|Mourning Becomes Electra
|Christine Mannon
|-
|1973–1974
|data-sort-value="Moon for the Misbegotten, A" | A Moon for the Misbegotten
|Josie Hogan
|-
|1976
|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
|Martha
|-
|1977–1978
|An Almost Perfect Person
|Irene Porter
|-
|1982
|data-sort-value="Queen and the Rebels, The" | The Queen and the Rebels
|Argia
|-
|1983–1984
|You Can't Take It with You
|Grand Duchess Olga Katrina
|-
|rowspan=2|1982
|Long Day's Journey into Night
|Mary Cavan Tyrone
|-
|Ah, Wilderness!
|Essie Miller
|-
|1989–1990
|Love Letters
|Melissa Gardner
|}
Awards and nominations
American Theater Hall of Fame
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1981
| American Theater Hall of Fame
|
|
| align="center"|
|}
CableACE Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1988
| rowspan="2"| Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
| Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1991
| Lantern Hill
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1992
| Actress in a Dramatic Series
| Road to Avonlea
|
| align="center"|
|}
Drama Desk Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1970
| rowspan="4"| Outstanding Performance
| Hello and Goodbye
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1971
| All Over
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1973
| Mourning Becomes Electra
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1974
| A Moon for the Misbegotten
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1983
| rowspan="2"| Outstanding Actress in a Play
| The Queen and the Rebels
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1989
| Long Day's Journey into Night
|
| align="center"|
|}
Gemini Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1986
| rowspan="2"| Best Performance by a Supporting Actress
| Anne of Green Gables
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1988
| Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1990
| Best Guest Performance in a Series by an Actor or Actress
| Road to Avonlea
|
| align="center"|
|}
Genie Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1980
| rowspan="2"| Best Actress in a Supporting Role
| Tribute
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1988
| Hitting Home
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1989
| Best Actress in a Leading Role
| Termini Station
|
| align="center"|
|}
Obie Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1957
| rowspan="2"| Distinguished Performance by an Actress
| The Taming of the Shrew / The Eagle Has Two Heads / Camille
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1963
| Desire Under the Elms
|
| align="center"|
|}
Primetime Emmy Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1962
| Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actress
| Focus
|
| align="center" rowspan="13"|
|-
| 1968
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama
| The Crucible
|
|-
| 1971
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
| Hallmark Hall of Fame
|
|-
| 1976
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special
| A Moon for the Misbegotten
|
|-
| 1979
| rowspan="2"| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special
| Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story
|
|-
| 1981
| The Women's Room
|
|-
| 1986
| rowspan="2"| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special
| Between Two Women
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1989
| Those She Left Behind
|
|-
| Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
| Murphy Brown
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1990
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special
| Lantern Hill
|
|-
| Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
| Road to Avonlea
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1991
| Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
| Murphy Brown
|
|-
| Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
| Road to Avonlea
|
|}
Sarah Siddons Awards
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1975
| Sarah Siddons Award
|
|
| align="center"|
|}
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1979
| Worst Supporting Actress
| Ice Castles
|
| align="center"|
|}
Theatre World Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1958
|
| Children of Darkness
|
| align="center"|
|}
Tony Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1961
| Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play
| All the Way Home
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1962
| rowspan="7"| Best Leading Actress in a Play
| Great Day in the Morning
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1964
| The Ballad of the Sad Café
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1968
| More Stately Mansions
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1972
| All Over
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1973
| Mourning Becomes Electra
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1974
| A Moon for the Misbegotten
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1977
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
|
| align="center"|
|}
Viewers for Quality Television Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1991
| Specialty Player
| Murphy Brown
|
| align="center"|
|}
Western Heritage Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| 1972
| Theatrical Motion Picture
| The Cowboys
|
| align="center"|
|}
Bibliography
- Dewhurst, Colleen; Viola, Tom (1997). Colleen Dewhurst - Her Autobiography. Scribner. .