Mary Sinclair
Encyclopedia
Mary Sinclair was an American television, film and stage actress and “a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s
” as a performer in numerous plays produced and broadcast live during the early days of television. Sinclair was also a painter and had in her youth been a Conover model. Her husband, for a time, was Broadway producer and director, George Abbott
.
. As a young woman she began modeling in Los Angeles
, and in 1944, she left Hollywood for Manhattan
, where she modeled for the Conover agency and acted in summer stock. "I was the arty type," she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times
. "I wanted to go to New York
and be a real actress.”
, she became friends with theater producer Hal Prince
and theater producer, playwright and director George Abbott
, her senior by thirty-five years, whom she married in April 1946 and divorced in 1951. And in the 40s
she began to acquire experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years. But it was CBS
board chairman William S. Paley
who singled Sinclair out, in 1951, by giving her a seven-year contract with CBS
, one of the first acting contracts granted by the network. The [New York] Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress "to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars."
, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew." "She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, 'I average two strangers a week.'"
Sinclair starred in the live drama programs popular in the 1950s
such as Playhouse 90
, Studio One, and The U.S. Steel Hour. She had guest roles on early series including The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, and Woman with a Past
. And she starred in productions of Wuthering Heights
, The Scarlet Letter
and Little Women
; also on the Sherlock Holmes
television series with British actor, Ronald Howard
.
She was nominated for a 4th Primetime Emmy Awatd
in 1951. In toto, Sinclair played in more than one hundred and twenty television shows and films during her career.
made in 1953, starring Charlton Heston
, Brian Keith
and Katy Jurado
, with Jack Palance
as an Apache chief, in which she played Lela Wilson. Paramount
wanted her to appear in other films but she explained that she preferred working in television and returned to New York
.
, as her television career faded, although attending the Actor's Studio in Manhattan
, headed by Lee Strasberg
, and appearing on the stage, Sinclair, in the main, retired from acting, and devoted most of her creative energies to painting. She studied with artist Fleur Cowles
and specialized in oil canvases of flowers and animals, and portraits of friends.
for a few years, in the 1970s
she returned to Los Angeles
, where she directed local theater productions. Later she moved to Phoenix, Arizona
and lived there until her death in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
” as a performer in numerous plays produced and broadcast live during the early days of television. Sinclair was also a painter and had in her youth been a Conover model. Her husband, for a time, was Broadway producer and director, George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
.
Early life and modeling
Sinclair was born Ella Delores Cook and raised in San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. As a young woman she began modeling 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...
, and in 1944, she left Hollywood for Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, where she modeled for the Conover agency and acted in summer stock. "I was the arty type," she recalled in a 1951 interview with 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...
. "I wanted to go to New York
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...
and be a real actress.”
Acting career
In 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...
, she became friends with theater producer Hal Prince
Hal Prince
Harold Smith Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century...
and theater producer, playwright and director George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
, her senior by thirty-five years, whom she married in April 1946 and divorced in 1951. And in the 40s
1940s
File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
she began to acquire experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years. But it was CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
board chairman William S. Paley
William S. Paley
William S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.-Early life:...
who singled Sinclair out, in 1951, by giving her a seven-year contract with CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, one of the first acting contracts granted by the network. The [New York] Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress "to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars."
Television
" Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew." "She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, 'I average two strangers a week.'"
Sinclair starred in the live drama programs popular in the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
such as Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
, Studio One, and The U.S. Steel Hour. She had guest roles on early series including The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, and Woman with a Past
Woman with a Past
Woman with a Past is an American daytime soap opera that aired on CBS from February 1, 1954 to July 2, 1954.-Synopsis:The soap focuses on Lynn Sherwood , a Manhattan dress designer and her tribulations.-Cast:...
. And she starred in productions of Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
, The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...
and Little Women
Little Women
Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869...
; also on the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV Series)
The first and only American television series of Sherlock Holmes adventures aired in syndication in the fall of 1954. The 39 half-hour mostly original stories were produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed in France by Guild Films, starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson...
television series with British actor, Ronald Howard
Ronald Howard (British actor)
Ronald Howard was an English actor and writer best known in the U.S. for starring in a weekly Sherlock Holmes television series in 1954. He was the son of actor Leslie Howard.- Life and work :...
.
She was nominated for a 4th Primetime Emmy Awatd
4th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 4th Annual Emmy Awards, retroactively known as the 4th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards after the debut of the Daytime Emmys, were presented at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, California on February 18, 1952. The ceremonies were hosted by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.This was the first year that...
in 1951. In toto, Sinclair played in more than one hundred and twenty television shows and films during her career.
Film
The one major motion picture that Mary Sinclair acted in was ArrowheadArrowhead (film)
Arrowhead is a 1953 western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Charlton Heston and Jack Palance. The film is based on the novel Adobe Walls by W.R.Burnett. The screenplay was also by Charles Marquis Warren.-Plot synopsis:...
made in 1953, starring Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, Brian Keith
Brian Keith
Brian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and...
and Katy Jurado
Katy Jurado
Katy Jurado , born María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García in Mexico, D.F., was a Mexican actress who had a successful film career both in Mexico and in Hollywood....
, with Jack Palance
Jack Palance
Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
as an Apache chief, in which she played Lela Wilson. Paramount
Paramount
-Companies:*Paramount Motion Pictures Group, a motion picture holding company owned by Viacom*Paramount Pictures, a motion picture studio*Paramount Vantage, specialty film division of Paramount Pictures*CBS Paramount Television, a television studio and library...
wanted her to appear in other films but she explained that she preferred working in television and returned to New York
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...
.
A shift in focus to painting
In the 1960s1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, as her television career faded, although attending the Actor's Studio in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, headed by 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 appearing on the stage, Sinclair, in the main, retired from acting, and devoted most of her creative energies to painting. She studied with artist Fleur Cowles
Fleur Cowles
Fleur Fenton Cowles was an American writer, editor and artist best known as the creative force behind the short-lived Flair magazine.-Personal:...
and specialized in oil canvases of flowers and animals, and portraits of friends.
Sojourn in Europe and a return
After leaving the U.S and living in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
for a few years, in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
she returned to 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...
, where she directed local theater productions. Later she moved to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
and lived there until her death in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.
External links
- Filmography by Genre
- New York Times
- Los Angeles Times
- Rusty White's Film World
- Playbill
- Moviefone
- The Suspense of Suspense
- Golden Age of TelevisionGolden Age of TelevisionThe Golden Age of Television in the United States began sometime in the late 1940s and extended to the late 1950s or early 1960s.-Evolutions of drama on television:...
- 4th Primetime Emmy Awards4th Primetime Emmy AwardsThe 4th Annual Emmy Awards, retroactively known as the 4th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards after the debut of the Daytime Emmys, were presented at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, California on February 18, 1952. The ceremonies were hosted by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.This was the first year that...
- Studio One
- Playhouse 90Playhouse 90Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
- CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
- Memories (The Twilight Zone)Memories (The Twilight Zone)"Memories" is the forty-first episode "Memories" is the forty-first episode "Memories" is the forty-first episode (the sixth episode of the third season (1988–1989) of the television series The New Twilight Zone.-Opening narration:-Synopsis:...
- Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV series)Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV Series)The first and only American television series of Sherlock Holmes adventures aired in syndication in the fall of 1954. The 39 half-hour mostly original stories were produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed in France by Guild Films, starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson...
- The Web (TV series)The Web (TV series)The Web is an American dramatic anthology series that aired live on CBS for four seasons from July 11, 1950 to September 26, 1954. The series was also revived briefly by NBC in the summer durning 1957...
- List of Tales of the Unexpected episodes
- Arrowhead (film)Arrowhead (film)Arrowhead is a 1953 western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Charlton Heston and Jack Palance. The film is based on the novel Adobe Walls by W.R.Burnett. The screenplay was also by Charles Marquis Warren.-Plot synopsis:...