Biografie

Received her Bachelor's degree in Acting from the Catholic University of America.

Has been directing since age 15, when she adapted scripts and staged them for the Catholic Actors Guild in Los Angeles, California.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1956 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for "Catch a Star".

Spent some time touring with United States Army productions as a "civilian actress technician" in post-war years.

Performed in nearly 200 stock and regional theater productions before she made her Broadway debut in 1955.

[About Ursula in Arielle, die Meerjungfrau (1989)] Many people call her an octopus and I'm so knowledgeable, I have to correct. She is not an octopus, she is a squid. And they ask what that means. She has six tentacles instead of eight which makes it less expensive to draw.

(About Arielle, die Meerjungfrau (1989)) I had wanted all my life to work in a Disney film. So when I was contacted by the agent and he asked if I would like to audition I said "That's an answer to prayer. Of course I would!".

[on Irwin Corey] Oh my, there was no one like Irwin Corey. And he's still going strong in his 90s. He had the most unusual act in the entire theatrical heaven. The man was audacious. That's all I can tell you, absolutely audacious. I would watch him work and I couldn't figure him out. The audiences adored him because he was a constant surprise. He was an intellectual irritant. He would make you think whether you wanted to or not. He was amazing and he still is.

[on John Carradine] Carradine would work at anything if it turned a buck. He was an admirable guy. He drank too much, God bless him. So did a lot of people in those days. But the man was a good actor, he loved poetry and he loved [William Shakespeare]. I could not discount him. I enjoyed him. I found him a great raconteur. A very interesting man and a wonderful actor.

[on Jimmy Durante] I was sitting in a restaurant with him in New York when we were rehearsing the [Max Liebman] show and people were coming in off the street when they heard Durante was in there. Cops, taxi drivers, businessmen, mothers with kids. He just sat and held court for all these people.