Kim Stanley
Encyclopedia
Kim Stanley was an American actress, primarily in television and theatre, but with occasional film performances.
She began her acting career in theatre, and subsequently attended the Actors Studio
in New York City
, New York
. She received the 1952 Theatre World Award
for her role in The Chase
(1952), and starred in the Broadway productions of Picnic
(1953) and Bus Stop
(1955). Stanley was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
for her roles in A Touch of the Poet
(1959) and A Far Country
(1962).
During the 1950s, Stanley was a prolific performer in television, and later progressed to film, with a well-received performance in The Goddess (1959). She was the narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird
(1962) and starred in Séance on a Wet Afternoon
(1964), for which she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
. She was less active during the remainder of her career; two of her later film successes were as the mother of Frances Farmer
in Frances
(1982), for which she received a second Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, and as Pancho Barnes
in The Right Stuff (1983). She received an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie for her performance as Big Mama in a television adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
(1985).
She did not act during her later years, preferring the role of teacher, in Los Angeles
, California
, and later Santa Fe
, New Mexico
, where she died in 2001, of uterine cancer
.
, New Mexico
, the daughter of Ann (née Miller), an interior decorator, and J. T. Reid, a professor of philosophy and education at the University of New Mexico
, located in Albequerque. Her father was of Irish or Scottish descent, born and raised in Texas
, where he met her mother (of German and English ancestry). She had three brothers (Howard Clinton Reid, a psychiatrist; Kenneth Reid, killed in pilot training during World War II
; and Justin Truman Reid, a lawyer); and a half-sister, Carol Ann Reid.
She was a drama major at the University of New Mexico and later studied at the Pasadena Playhouse
in Pasadena
, California. She took her maternal grandmother's surname as her stage name.
actress with only a few film roles. She was singled out by The New York Times
critic Brooks Atkinson
for her early work. She eventually attended the Actors Studio, studying under Elia Kazan
and Lee Strasberg
. She received the 1952 Theatre World Award
for her performance as Anna Reeves in The Chase
, and starred in such Broadway hits as Picnic
(1953), playing Millie Owens (which she never felt received the credit it deserved) and Bus Stop
(1955), playing Cherie.
She was nominated for the 1959 Tony Award
for Best Actress in a Play
for A Touch of the Poet
and the 1962 Tony for Best Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Elizabeth von Ritter in Henry Denker
's A Far Country
.
Stanley also portrayed Maggie "The Cat" in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
in the original London production of the play.
She was also the leading lady of live television drama, which flourished in New York City during the 1950s. Among her many starring roles was Wilma, a star-struck 15-year-old girl from the U.S. Gulf Coast of Texas
in Horton Foote
's A Young Lady of Property, which aired on The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
on April 5, 1953.
Following a savaging by English critics after her London
performance of "Masha" in an Actors Studio production of Anton Chekhov
's play The Three Sisters (1965) she vowed never to perform on stage again, a vow she kept for the rest of her life.
(though she and director, John Cromwell, would forever deny Marilyn's influence, using Rita Hayworth
as being more accurate). She starred in Séance on a Wet Afternoon
(1964), winning both the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
.
A filmed version of Strasberg-directed Three Sisters
(1966) opened with Stanley reprising the role of Masha, and is the only time one can see her perform in a film alongside Geraldine Page
, Sandy Dennis
, Shelley Winters
and other well-known names of the Actors Studio.
She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her performance as Frances Farmer
's possessive mother in Frances
(1982). She also played Pancho Barnes
in The Right Stuff (1983).
Stanley was the uncredited narrator in the drama film To Kill a Mockingbird
(1962). As the narrator, she represents the character Jean Louise Finch ("Scout") as an adult. Mary Badham
portrays Scout as a child in the film.
She received an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her appearance in the episode, "A Cardinal Act of Mercy" (1963), of the television series, Ben Casey
(1961–1966), and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for her appearance in Tennessee Williams
's Southern melodrama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
(1985), this time as Big Mama.
(1949– 1956), Alfred Ryder
(1958–1964) and Joseph Siegel (1964–1967) – with all four marriages ending in divorce.
She had three children, one by Conway, one by Brooks Clift (brother of Montgomery Clift
) while she was married to Conway, and one by Ryder. During her marriage to Ryder, Stanley converted to Judaism
.
Stanley died of uterine cancer
while living in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, nursing home at the age of 76. She was survived by her first husband, Bruce Hall, her brother Justin, her three children, and several nephews and nieces.
A biography, Female Brando: the Legend of Kim Stanley (2006), by Jon Krampner, was published by Back Stage Books, a division of Watson-Guptill
.
She began her acting career in theatre, and subsequently attended the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She received the 1952 Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her role in The Chase
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television...
(1952), and starred in the Broadway productions of Picnic
Picnic (play)
Picnic is a 1953 play by William Inge. The play premiered at the Music Box Theatre, Broadway on 19 February 1953 in a Theatre Guild production, directed by Joshua Logan, which ran for 477 performances....
(1953) and Bus Stop
Bus Stop (play)
Bus Stop is a 1955 play by William Inge. The 1956 film is only loosely based upon it.-Characters:Bus Stop is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take...
(1955). Stanley was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
This is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...
for her roles in A Touch of the Poet
A Touch of the Poet
A Touch of the Poet is a play by Eugene O'Neill.It and its sequel, More Stately Mansions, were intended to be part of a nine-play cycle entitled A Tale of Possessors Self-Dispossessed...
(1959) and A Far Country
A Far Country
A Far Country is a play by Henry Denker. The work premiered on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on April 4, 1961 where it closed on November 25, 1961 after 271 performances. Produced by Roger L. Stevens and Joel Schenker, the production was directed by Alfred Ryder and used sets by Donald...
(1962).
During the 1950s, Stanley was a prolific performer in television, and later progressed to film, with a well-received performance in The Goddess (1959). She was the narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
(1962) and starred in Séance on a Wet Afternoon
Seance on a Wet Afternoon
Séance on a Wet Afternoon is a 1964 British film directed by Bryan Forbes, based on the novel by Mark McShane in which an unstable medium convinces her husband to kidnap a child so she can help the police solve the crime and collect the ransom...
(1964), for which she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading 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...
. She was less active during the remainder of her career; two of her later film successes were as the mother of Frances Farmer
Frances Farmer
Frances Elena Farmer was an American actress of stage and screen. She is perhaps better known for sensationalized and fictional accounts of her life, and especially her involuntary commitment to a mental hospital...
in Frances
Frances
Frances is a 1982 American drama film starring Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley, and Sam Shepard. When it was released this film was advertised as a purportedly true account of actress Frances Farmer's life but the script was largely fictional and sensationalized...
(1982), for which she received a second Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, and as Pancho Barnes
Pancho Barnes
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was a pioneer aviator, the founder of the first test pilots union and the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant. She broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record in 1930...
in The Right Stuff (1983). She received an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie for her performance as Big Mama in a television adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
(1985).
She did not act during her later years, preferring the role of teacher, in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, 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...
, and later Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, where she died in 2001, of uterine cancer
Uterine cancer
The term uterine cancer may refer to any of several different types of cancer which occur in the uterus, namely:*Uterine sarcomas: sarcomas of the myometrium, or muscular layer of the uterus, are most commonly leiomyosarcomas.*Endometrial cancer:...
.
Early life
Stanley was born Patricia Beth Reid in TularosaTularosa, New Mexico
Tularosa is a village in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. It shares its name with the Tularosa Basin, in which the town is located. To the east, Tularosa is flanked by the western edge of the Sacramento Mountains. The population was 2,864 at the 2000 census...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, the daughter of Ann (née Miller), an interior decorator, and J. T. Reid, a professor of philosophy and education at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
, located in Albequerque. Her father was of Irish or Scottish descent, born and raised in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where he met her mother (of German and English ancestry). She had three brothers (Howard Clinton Reid, a psychiatrist; Kenneth Reid, killed in pilot training during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; and Justin Truman Reid, a lawyer); and a half-sister, Carol Ann Reid.
She was a drama major at the University of New Mexico and later studied at the Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.-History:...
in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California. She took her maternal grandmother's surname as her stage name.
Career
Stanley was a successful BroadwayBroadway 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...
actress with only a few film roles. She was singled out by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
critic Brooks Atkinson
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson was an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960...
for her early work. She eventually attended the Actors Studio, studying under Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
and Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
. She received the 1952 Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her performance as Anna Reeves in The Chase
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television...
, and starred in such Broadway hits as Picnic
Picnic (play)
Picnic is a 1953 play by William Inge. The play premiered at the Music Box Theatre, Broadway on 19 February 1953 in a Theatre Guild production, directed by Joshua Logan, which ran for 477 performances....
(1953), playing Millie Owens (which she never felt received the credit it deserved) and Bus Stop
Bus Stop (play)
Bus Stop is a 1955 play by William Inge. The 1956 film is only loosely based upon it.-Characters:Bus Stop is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take...
(1955), playing Cherie.
She was nominated for the 1959 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
This is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...
for A Touch of the Poet
A Touch of the Poet
A Touch of the Poet is a play by Eugene O'Neill.It and its sequel, More Stately Mansions, were intended to be part of a nine-play cycle entitled A Tale of Possessors Self-Dispossessed...
and the 1962 Tony for Best Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Elizabeth von Ritter in Henry Denker
Henry Denker
Henry Denker is an American novelist and playwright.Denker was admitted to the New York Bar in 1935, at the height of the Depression, and he soon left law practice to earn his living by writing. His legal training is reflected in many of his works...
's A Far Country
A Far Country
A Far Country is a play by Henry Denker. The work premiered on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on April 4, 1961 where it closed on November 25, 1961 after 271 performances. Produced by Roger L. Stevens and Joel Schenker, the production was directed by Alfred Ryder and used sets by Donald...
.
Stanley also portrayed Maggie "The Cat" in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
in the original London production of the play.
She was also the leading lady of live television drama, which flourished in New York City during the 1950s. Among her many starring roles was Wilma, a star-struck 15-year-old girl from the U.S. Gulf Coast of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in Horton Foote
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television...
's A Young Lady of Property, which aired on The Philco-Goodyear 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...
on April 5, 1953.
Following a savaging by English critics after her London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
performance of "Masha" in an Actors Studio production of Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's play The Three Sisters (1965) she vowed never to perform on stage again, a vow she kept for the rest of her life.
Film
Stanley's first film was The Goddess (1958), playing a tragic movie star modeled on Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
(though she and director, John Cromwell, would forever deny Marilyn's influence, using Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
as being more accurate). She starred in Séance on a Wet Afternoon
Seance on a Wet Afternoon
Séance on a Wet Afternoon is a 1964 British film directed by Bryan Forbes, based on the novel by Mark McShane in which an unstable medium convinces her husband to kidnap a child so she can help the police solve the crime and collect the ransom...
(1964), winning both the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actress is one of the annual film awards given by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.-1940s:-1950s:- 1960s :- 1970s :- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :-2010s:...
and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading 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...
and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
.
A filmed version of Strasberg-directed Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
(1966) opened with Stanley reprising the role of Masha, and is the only time one can see her perform in a film alongside Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
, Sandy Dennis
Sandy Dennis
Sandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis was an American theater and film actress. In 1966, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.-Early life:...
, Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
and other well-known names of the Actors Studio.
She was nominated for an 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...
and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her performance as Frances Farmer
Frances Farmer
Frances Elena Farmer was an American actress of stage and screen. She is perhaps better known for sensationalized and fictional accounts of her life, and especially her involuntary commitment to a mental hospital...
's possessive mother in Frances
Frances
Frances is a 1982 American drama film starring Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley, and Sam Shepard. When it was released this film was advertised as a purportedly true account of actress Frances Farmer's life but the script was largely fictional and sensationalized...
(1982). She also played Pancho Barnes
Pancho Barnes
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was a pioneer aviator, the founder of the first test pilots union and the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant. She broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record in 1930...
in The Right Stuff (1983).
Stanley was the uncredited narrator in the drama film To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
(1962). As the narrator, she represents the character Jean Louise Finch ("Scout") as an adult. Mary Badham
Mary Badham
Mary Badham is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird , for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. At the time, Badham was the youngest actress ever nominated in this category...
portrays Scout as a child in the film.
She received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her appearance in the episode, "A Cardinal Act of Mercy" (1963), of the television series, Ben Casey
Ben Casey
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...
(1961–1966), and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for her appearance in Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
's Southern melodrama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
(1985), this time as Big Mama.
Personal life
Stanley was married four times – Bruce Hall (1945–1946), Curt ConwayCurt Conway
Curt Conway was an American actor. He was sometimes billed as Curtis Conway or Kurt Conway.Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Conway began his career with small parts in films of the late 1940s, but appeared principally on TV from 1960 until his death...
(1949– 1956), Alfred Ryder
Alfred Ryder
Alfred Ryder was an American film, radio and television actor. Ryder may best be remembered for appearing in over one hundred television shows, including the 1959 starring role as a British criminal who could not be killed in Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond episode 'The Devil's Laughter'...
(1958–1964) and Joseph Siegel (1964–1967) – with all four marriages ending in divorce.
She had three children, one by Conway, one by Brooks Clift (brother of Montgomery Clift
Montgomery Clift
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....
) while she was married to Conway, and one by Ryder. During her marriage to Ryder, Stanley converted to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
.
Stanley died of uterine cancer
Uterine cancer
The term uterine cancer may refer to any of several different types of cancer which occur in the uterus, namely:*Uterine sarcomas: sarcomas of the myometrium, or muscular layer of the uterus, are most commonly leiomyosarcomas.*Endometrial cancer:...
while living in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, nursing home at the age of 76. She was survived by her first husband, Bruce Hall, her brother Justin, her three children, and several nephews and nieces.
A biography, Female Brando: the Legend of Kim Stanley (2006), by Jon Krampner, was published by Back Stage Books, a division of Watson-Guptill
Watson-Guptill
Watson-Guptill is an American publisher of instructional books in the arts. The company was founded in 1937 by Ernest Watson and Arthur L. Guptill. They also published the magazine American Artist....
.
See also
External links
- Biographer Jon Krampner KimStanley.net Website