Eileen Herlie (8 March 1918 – 8 October 2008) was a Scottish actress.
Personal life
Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to an Irish Catholic father, Patrick Herlihy, and a Scottish Protestant mother, Isobel Cowden, in Glasgow, Scotland, and was one of five children. She attended Shawlands Academy, on the city's southside. Herlie was trained as a theatre actress. Among her West End London theatre successes were The Eagle Has Two Heads by Jean Cocteau. She was married twice, to Philip Barrett (m 1942) and Witold Kuncewicz (m 1951), both marriages ending in divorce. She had no children.
Her first role in the London theatre in 1942 was as the second Mrs de Winter in Daphne du Maurier's stage adaptation of her own novel Rebecca.
In the same year, Sir Alexander Korda placed her under contract to his London Films company. However, she would make only two films for him: The Angel with the Trumpet in 1949 and The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan in 1952. Her remaining three British films - Isn't Life Wonderful!, shot in 1952, For Better, for Worse, shot in 1954, and She Didn't Say No!, shot in 1957 - were made for the Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC). and also in the 1964 film version of the production.
On 19 December 2008, All My Children dedicated the episode to Herlie and her character Myrtle by having the characters closest to Myrtle celebrate her life in a room named after her. Toward the end, Agnes Nixon, All My Children's creator, entered and blew a kiss toward Myrtle's portrait.
Award nominations
Daytime Emmy Award nominations
- (1986) Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
- (1985) Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in a Daytime Drama Series for All My Children
- (1984) Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in a Daytime Drama Series for All My Children
Tony Award nominations
- (1960) Best Actress in a Musical for Take Me Along
References
External links
- Screencap from Hamlet
- Longtime 'All My Children' actress dies at 90 CNN
- Obituary in The Telegraph