Joan Lorring is a Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

-born American actress.

Early life

Lorring fled with her mother in 1939 following the Japanese invasion

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began after the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the territory of Hong Kong to Japan on 25 December 1941 after 18 days of fierce fighting by British and Canadian defenders against overwhelming Japanese Imperial forces. The occupation lasted...

. The two of them settled in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, where young Mary began working in radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

.

Career

Her first film role (by which time the studio had changed her name to "Joan Lorring") was in Song of Russia

Song of Russia

Song of Russia is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by MGM Studios. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff collapsed near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by László Benedek, who completed principal photography; the credited...

in 1944. She made The Bridge of San Luis Rey

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944 film)

The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 1944 drama film made by Benedict Bogeaus Productions and released by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Rowland V. Lee with Benedict Bogeaus as co-producer. The screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Herman Weissman was adapted from the novel The Bridge of...

in the same year, and, in 1945, appeared opposite Bette Davis

Bette Davis

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...

 in The Corn Is Green

The Corn Is Green (1945 film)

The Corn Is Green is a 1945 drama film starring Bette Davis as a schoolteacher determined to bring education to a Welsh coal mining town, despite great opposition...

as Bessie Watty. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 for the role.

In 1950, Lorring appeared on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba (play)

Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St...

. She began performing on television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, acting in starring roles in the soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Valiant Lady and the sitcom Norby. She also had a small role in the 1970s soap opera Ryan's Hope

Ryan's Hope

Ryan's Hope is an American soap opera, revolving around 13 years of trials and tribulations within a large Irish American family in the Riverside district of New York City. It aired from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989 on ABC...

before retiring.

Personal life

Lorring was married to Martin Sonenberg, a New York endocrinologist, until his death on June 27, 2011. The couple has two daughters.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=martin-sonenberg&pid=152277227

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1944	Song of Russia Song of Russia Song of Russia is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by MGM Studios. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff collapsed near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by László Benedek, who completed principal photography; the credited...	Sonia
	The Bridge of San Luis Rey The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944 film) The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 1944 drama film made by Benedict Bogeaus Productions and released by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Rowland V. Lee with Benedict Bogeaus as co-producer. The screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Herman Weissman was adapted from the novel The Bridge of...	Pepita
1945	The Corn Is Green The Corn Is Green (1945 film) The Corn Is Green is a 1945 drama film starring Bette Davis as a schoolteacher determined to bring education to a Welsh coal mining town, despite great opposition...	Bessie Watty	Academy Award Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...  (nominated)
1946	Three Strangers Three Strangers Three Strangers is a Warner Bros. crime drama, starring Peter Lorre, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Sydney Greenstreet, featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. It was directed by Jean Negulesco from a script by John Huston and Howard Koch.-Plot:...	Icey Crane
	The Verdict The Verdict (1946 film) The Verdict is a 1946 film-noir drama directed by Don Siegel and written by Israel Zangwill and Peter Milne, based on Zangwill's novel The Big Bow Mystery. The film stars Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in one of their nine film pairings, as well as Joan Lorring and George Coulouris. Ian Wolfe...	Lottie Rawson
1947	The Other Love	Celestine
	The Lost Moment The Lost Moment The Lost Moment is a 1947 drama film made by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Martin Gabel and produced by Walter Wanger, from a screenplay by Leonardo Bercovici based on the novel The Aspern Papers by Henry James...	Amelia
	The Gangster The Gangster The Gangster is an American crime film noir directed by Gordon Wiles. The drama features Barry Sullivan, Belita, Joan Lorring and Akim Tamiroff...	Dorothy
1948	Good Sam Good Sam Good Sam is a 1948 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Gary Cooper as a Good Samaritan who is helpful to others at the expense of his own family. The film was directed by Leo McCarey and produced by McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions.-Cast:*Gary Cooper as Samuel R....	Shirley Mae
1951	The Big Night The Big Night The Big Night is a 1951 black-and-white film drama starring John Drew Barrymore . The film, directed by Joseph Losey, is considered to be film noir.- Reception :...	Marion Rostina
1952	Imbarco a mezzanotte	Angela
1974	The Midnight Man The Midnight Man (1974 film) The Midnight Man is a 1974 detective film directed by Burt Lancaster, who also starred with Susan Clark.-General information:Burt Lancaster shared directing credit with Roland Kibbee, and shared writing credit with Kibbee and author David Anthony upon whose novel The Midnight Lady and the Morning...	Judy
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950–1956	Robert Montgomery Presents Robert Montgomery Presents Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example,...		5 episodes
1952	The Philco Television Playhouse The Philco Television Playhouse The Philco Television Playhouse, a live television anthology series sponsored by Philco, was telecast from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the NBC series was seen on Sundays from 9:00pm to 10:00pm...		Episode: The Thin Air
	The Doctor The Doctor (1952 TV series) The Doctor is a half-hour medical anthology series that aired Sunday evenings on the NBC television network from 1952-1953. Hosted by Warner Anderson, the program revolved around emotional problems stemming from medical cases rather than the medical case itself. The show is notable for having Rod...		Episode: No Story Assignment
1954	The Motorola Television Hour The Motorola Television Hour The Motorola Television Hour was an hour-long anthology series which alternated bi-weekly with The United States Steel Hour on ABC. The show premiered on November 3, 1953 and was last aired on June 1, 1954. It was sponsored by Motorola.-External links:...		Episode: A Dash of Bitters
	Love Story		Episode: For All We Know
	Danger		Episode: The Big Man
	Suspense Suspense (US TV series) Suspense is an American television anthology series that ran on CBS Television from 1949 to 1954. It was adapted from the radio program of the same name which ran from 1942 to 1962. Like many early television programs, the show was broadcast live from New York City...		Episode: The Last Stand
	Center Stage	Terry Clayborn	Episode: The Day Before Atlanta
1953, 1955	Goodyear Television Playhouse Goodyear Television Playhouse The Goodyear Television Playhouse produced live television dramas from 1951 to 1957 during the "Golden Age of Television".Sponsored by Goodyear, the hour-long anthology series was telecast Sundays at 9pm on NBC...		Episode: The Rumor Episode: The Prizewinner
1954–1955	Valiant Lady	Bonnie Withers #1
	Westinghouse Studio One	Blair Terry	Episode: Castle in Spain Episode: Millions of Georges
1955	Norby	Helen Norby
	The Elgin Hour	Maggie	Episode: Black Eagle Pass
	Kraft Television Theatre Kraft Television Theatre Kraft Television Theatre is an American drama/anthology television series that began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. In January 1948, it moved to 9pm on Wednesdays, continuing in that timeslot until 1958. Initially produced by the J...		Episode: Coquette
	Appointment with Adventure		Episode: Return of the Stranger
1956	Star Stage		Episode: Of Missing Persons
	Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...	Emma Borden	Episode: The Older Sister
	General Electric Theater General Electric Theater General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...		Episode: The Shunning
1965	The Nurses The Nurses (Primetime CBS drama) The Nurses is a serialized primetime medical drama which aired on CBS from September 27, 1962 to May 11, 1965. It was originally called The Nurses when it premiered in 1962; for the second season, the title was expanded to The Doctors and the Nurses and it ran until 1965, when it was transformed...	Jean Bower	Episode: Act of Violence
	For the People	Jean Bow	Episode: Act of Violence (2)
1966	The Star Wagon	Martha	PBS Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....  TV-Movie Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
1979–1980	Ryan's Hope Ryan's Hope Ryan's Hope is an American soap opera, revolving around 13 years of trials and tribulations within a large Irish American family in the Riverside district of New York City. It aired from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989 on ABC...	Anna Pavel
1980	The Love Boat The Love Boat The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...	Mrs. Cummings	Episode: Tell Her She's Great...

Awards and nominations

Academy Award

• 1946: Nominated, "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" - The Corn is Green

External links