Madeleine Sherwood
Encyclopedia
Madeleine Sherwood is a Canadian actress of stage, film and television. She is widely known for her portrayals of Mae/Sister Woman and Miss Lucy in both the Broadway and film versions of Tennessee Williams
' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
and Sweet Bird of Youth
. She starred or featured in 18 original Broadway productions including Arturo Ui, Do I Hear a Waltz?
and Invitation to a March.
However, she may be best remembered as Reverend Mother Placido to Sally Field
's Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun
from 1967-1970.
, Quebec
, Canada
, the granddaughter of the Dean of Dentistry at McGill University
. Sherwood made her first stage appearance at the age of four in a church passion play. She started her professional career in Montreal when Rupert Kaplan cast her in CBC
dramas and soap operas.
in 1950 and made her first Broadway
appearance in Horton Foote
's, The Chase, replacing Kim Stanley
. In 1953 she originated the role of Abigail in Arthur Miller
’s, The Crucible
. Elia Kazan
cast her as Mae in Tennessee Williams Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
in 1954 and later in Sweet Bird of Youth
as Miss Lucy. She reprised both her roles in the film versions. She became a member of the Actors Studio
in 1957 working with Lee Strasberg
and is now a life member of the Studio.
Sherwood was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. During the Civil Rights Movement
she met and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr.
in the late 50’s and 60’s and went south to join CORE (Congress on Racial Equality). She was arrested during a Freedom Walk, jailed and sentenced to six months hard labor for "Endangering the Customs and Mores of the People of Alabama". Her lawyer, Fred Grey, was the first African-American lawyer to represent a white woman south of the Mason–Dixon Line. During this period, she lost most of her sense of hearing.
During the 1980s, she received a grant from A.F.I.
as one of the first women to direct short films for the A.F.I. (along with Cicely Tyson
, Joanne Woodward
, and others). She wrote, directed and acted in her film, Good Night Sweet Prince, which received excellent notices.
In the 1970s, she met Gloria Steinem
, Betty Dodson
and other activists at the First Women’s Sexual Conference at Barnard College
in New York City. From there she started consciousness raising groups and counseling workshops for Women and Incest.
In the early 1990s, she returned to Canada
and resettled in Victoria, BC, and Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec
. Although she was a long time resident of the United States
, she has remained a Canadian citizen all her life. She has one daughter, two grandchildren and six great-grand children. She is an active member of the Society of Friends (Quakers).
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...
' 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...
and Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...
. She starred or featured in 18 original Broadway productions including Arturo Ui, Do I Hear a Waltz?
Do I Hear a Waltz?
Do I Hear a Waltz? is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Richard Rodgers, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was adapted from Laurents' 1952 play The Time of the Cuckoo, which was the basis for the 1955 film Summertime starring Katharine Hepburn.-Background:Laurents originally...
and Invitation to a March.
However, she may be best remembered as Reverend Mother Placido to Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
's Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun
The Flying Nun
The Flying Nun is an American sitcom produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican, by Tere Rios, which starred Sally Field as Sister Bertrille...
from 1967-1970.
Early life
Sherwood was born as Madeleine Louise Hélène Thornton in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the granddaughter of the Dean of Dentistry at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. Sherwood made her first stage appearance at the age of four in a church passion play. She started her professional career in Montreal when Rupert Kaplan cast her in CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
dramas and soap operas.
Career
Sherwood moved to New York CityNew 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...
in 1950 and made her first 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...
appearance 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, The Chase, replacing Kim Stanley
Kim Stanley
Kim Stanley was an American actress, primarily in television and theatre, but with occasional film performances....
. In 1953 she originated the role of Abigail in Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
’s, The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
. 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...
cast her as Mae in Tennessee Williams 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 1954 and later in Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...
as Miss Lucy. She reprised both her roles in the film versions. She became a member of 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 1957 working with 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"...
and is now a life member of the Studio.
Sherwood was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. During the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
she met and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
in the late 50’s and 60’s and went south to join CORE (Congress on Racial Equality). She was arrested during a Freedom Walk, jailed and sentenced to six months hard labor for "Endangering the Customs and Mores of the People of Alabama". Her lawyer, Fred Grey, was the first African-American lawyer to represent a white woman south of the Mason–Dixon Line. During this period, she lost most of her sense of hearing.
During the 1980s, she received a grant from A.F.I.
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
as one of the first women to direct short films for the A.F.I. (along with Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
, Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
, and others). She wrote, directed and acted in her film, Good Night Sweet Prince, which received excellent notices.
In the 1970s, she met Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, Betty Dodson
Betty Dodson
Betty Dodson is an American sex educator, author, and artist. Dodson held the first one-woman show of erotic art at the Wickersham Gallery in New York City in 1968. She left the art world to teach sex to women...
and other activists at the First Women’s Sexual Conference at Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
in New York City. From there she started consciousness raising groups and counseling workshops for Women and Incest.
In the early 1990s, she returned to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and resettled in Victoria, BC, and Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec
Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec
Saint-Hippolyte is a parish municipality within the La Rivière-du-Nord Regional County Municipality, Quebec and the administrative region of Laurentides in the Laurentian mountains about 45 km north of Montreal...
. Although she was a long time resident of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, she has remained a Canadian citizen all her life. She has one daughter, two grandchildren and six great-grand children. She is an active member of the Society of Friends (Quakers).
Original Broadway productions
- The ChaseHorton FooteAlbert 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...
- The CrucibleThe CrucibleThe Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
- Cat on a Hot Tin RoofCat on a Hot Tin RoofCat 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...
- Sweet Bird of YouthSweet Bird of YouthSweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...
- The Night of the IguanaThe Night of the IguanaThe Night of the Iguana is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams, based on his 1948 short story. The play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name....
(succeeded Bette DavisBette DavisRuth 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...
) - Invitation To a March
- Arturo Ui
- Do I Hear a Waltz?Do I Hear a Waltz?Do I Hear a Waltz? is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Richard Rodgers, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was adapted from Laurents' 1952 play The Time of the Cuckoo, which was the basis for the 1955 film Summertime starring Katharine Hepburn.-Background:Laurents originally...
- Inadmissible Evidence
- All OverEdward AlbeeEdward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
Off-Broadway – original productions
- Getting Out
- Hey You, Light Man
- Brecht on Becket
- Older People (at Joseph PappJoseph PappJoseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
’s Public Theater)
Film & TV
- DangerDanger (TV series)Danger is an anthology series which brought half hour-long dramas to television from 1950 to 1955.-Television:It first aired on September 19, 1950 on CBS. The first episode, entitled "The Black Door", was directed by Yul Brynner with a story by Henry Norton and a teleplay by Irving Elman. It...
(1 episode, 1953) - You Are There (1 episode, 1955)
- Baby DollBaby DollBaby Doll is a 1956 black comedy /drama film directed by Elia Kazan. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton...
(1956) (uncredited) Nurse - Cat on a Hot Tin RoofCat on a Hot Tin Roof (film)Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a 1958 American drama film directed by Richard Brooks. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams adapted by Richard Brooks and James Poe...
(1958) Mae Flynn Pollitt - Way Out (series) (1 episode, 1961) Cora Tench
- Sweet Bird of YouthSweet Bird of YouthSweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...
(1962) Miss Lucy - The FugitiveThe Fugitive (TV series)The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
(2 episodes, 1963 & 1964) guest star - The Edge of NightThe Edge of NightThe Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
(1964) Ann Kelly #1 - Hurry SundownHurry Sundown (film)Hurry Sundown is a 1967 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Jane Fonda and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Horton Foote and Thomas C. Ryan is based on the 1965 novel of the same title by K.B...
(1967) Eula Purcell - The Flying NunThe Flying NunThe Flying Nun is an American sitcom produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican, by Tere Rios, which starred Sally Field as Sister Bertrille...
(1967–1970) Reverend Mother Superior Placido - Pendulum (film) (1969) Mrs. Eileen Sanderson
- The Guiding Light (1970–1971) Betty Eiler
- The ManhunterThe ManhunterThe Manhunter is an American crime drama that was part of CBS' lineup for the 1974 - 1975 television season. The series was produced by Quinn Martin and starred Ken Howard as Dave Barret, a 1930s-era private investigator from Idaho...
(1972) Ma Bocock - The Secret StormThe Secret StormThe Secret Storm is a soap opera which ran on CBS from February 1, 1954 to February 8, 1974. The series was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life...
(1972–1973) Carmen - Wicked, WickedWicked, WickedWicked, Wicked is a 1973 horror-thriller feature film starring David Bailey, Tiffany Bolling and Randolph Roberts that was presented in "Duo-Vision," a gimmick more commonly known as split-screen.-Plot:...
(1973) Lenore Karadyne - Columbo (1 episode, 1974) Miss Brady
- Rich Man, Poor Man Book IIRich Man, Poor Man Book IIRich Man, Poor Man Book II is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 9:00pm ET/PT on Tuesday nights between September 21, 1976 and March 8, 1977...
(1976) Mrs. Hunt - The ChangelingThe Changeling (film)The Changeling is a 1980 horror film directed by Peter Medak and starring George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere . The story is based upon events that writer Russell Hunter said he experienced while he was living in the Henry Treat Rogers Mansion of Denver, Colorado.-Plot:Scott stars as Dr...
(1980) Mrs. Norman - One Life to LiveOne Life to LiveOne Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
(1980) Bridget Leander - TeachersTeachers (film)# "Teacher, Teacher" - 38 Special# "Cheap Sunglasses" - ZZ Top# "Foolin' Around" - Freddie Mercury# "I Can't Stop the Fire" - Eric Martin# "Edge of a Dream" - Joe Cocker# " Teacher" - Ian Hunter# "One Foot Back in Your Door" - Roman Holliday...
(1984) Grace - HotelHotel (TV series)Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty....
(1 episode, 1986) - Nobody's Child (1986) Nurse Rhonda
- DynastyDynasty (TV series)Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
(1 episode, 1987) - Cagney & LaceyCagney & LaceyCagney & Lacey is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from October 8, 1981 to May 16, 1988...
(1 episode, 1987)