Sandy Dennis
Encyclopedia
Sandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis (April 27, 1937 – March 2, 1992) 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?
.
, the daughter of Yvonne, a secretary, and Jack Dennis, a postal clerk. She had a brother, Frank. A high school classmate of Dick Cavett
, she attended the Nebraska Wesleyan University
and University of Nebraska. Dennis grew up in Kenesaw and Lincoln, Nebraska
, appearing in the Lincoln Community Theater Group and moving to New York City
at the age of 19.
(1961). However, she was more committed to following a career in the theater. She won consecutive Tony Award
s for her performances in A Thousand Clowns
(1963) and Any Wednesday
(1964). She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress
for her role as Honey, the fragile, neurotic young wife of George Segal
, in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(1966). She followed this with well-received performances in Up the Down Staircase
(1967), The Fox (1967), Sweet November
(1968) and The Out-of-Towners
(1970). In 1963, she appeared in the television episode "The Other Side of the Mountain" in The Fugitive which starred David Janssen
. In 1964, she appeared in the television episode "Don't Mention My Name in Sheboygan
" of Craig Stevens
's CBS drama
, Mr. Broadway
.
An advocate of method acting
, Dennis was often described as neurotic and mannered in her performances; her signature style included running words together and oddly stopping and starting sentences, suddenly going up and down octave
s as she spoke, and fluttering her hands. Walter Kerr
famously remarked that she treated sentences as "weak, injured things" that needed to be slowly helped "across the street"; John Simon
said that she acted with "a postnasal drip." Nonetheless, William Goldman
, in his book The Season, referred to her as a quintessential "critics' darling" who got rave reviews no matter how unusual her acting and questionable her choice of material. During her stint in Any Wednesday
, Kerr said the following: "Let me tell you about Sandy Dennis. There should be one in every home."
Her last significant film role was in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). In 1991, she played a leading role in the film The Indian Runner
, which marked Sean Penn
's debut as a film director, and he also wrote the screenplay.
from 1965 until they split up in 1976. Although Mulligan often referred to Dennis as his second wife, Dennis later revealed that they had never married. She also lived with actor Eric Roberts
from 1980 to 1985.
Christopher Dennis, a Superman look-alike working on Hollywood Blvd and who resembles Ms. Dennis quite a bit, appears in Matthew Ogen's documentary Confessions of a Superhero claiming that Sandy Dennis is his mother. In the movie, her family questions these claims.
In an interview with People magazine in 1989, Dennis revealed she and Gerry Mulligan had suffered a miscarriage in 1965 and went on to say, "if I'd been a mother, I would have loved the child, but I just didn't have any connection with it when I was pregnant...I never ever wanted children. It would have been like having an elephant." There is no mention of any other pregnancies or children.
Sandy Dennis died from ovarian cancer
in Westport, Connecticut
, aged 54.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theater and film actress. In 1966, she won 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 her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee...
.
Early life
Dennis was born in Hastings, NebraskaHastings, Nebraska
Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...
, the daughter of Yvonne, a secretary, and Jack Dennis, a postal clerk. She had a brother, Frank. A high school classmate of Dick Cavett
Dick Cavett
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American television talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of issues...
, she attended the Nebraska Wesleyan University
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Nebraska Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational university located in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2007, it has 1,600 full-time students and 300 faculty and staff. The school teaches in the tradition of a liberal arts college education....
and University of Nebraska. Dennis grew up in Kenesaw and Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
, appearing in the Lincoln Community Theater Group and moving to 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...
at the age of 19.
Career
Dennis made her television debut in 1956 in The Guiding Light and her film debut in Splendor in the GrassSplendor in the Grass
Splendor in the Grass is a 1961 romantic drama film that tells a story of sexual repression, love, heartbreak, and manic-depression, which the character Deanie suffers from...
(1961). However, she was more committed to following a career in the theater. She won consecutive 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...
s for her performances in A Thousand Clowns
A Thousand Clowns
A Thousand Clowns is a 1962 American play by Herb Gardner, which tells the story of a young boy who lives with his eccentric uncle Murray, who is forced to conform to society in order to keep custody of the boy. A 1965 movie version was adapted from the play by Gardner and directed by Fred Coe.-...
(1963) and Any Wednesday
Any Wednesday
Any Wednesday is a 1966 comedy film directed by Robert Ellis Miller, starring Jane Fonda, Jason Robards, and Dean Jones. The story centers around a Manhattan woman who is trying to decide between two suitors on the day of her 30th birthday.On August 18, 2009, Warner Brothers released the movie...
(1964). She won the Oscar 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 her role as Honey, the fragile, neurotic young wife of George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
, in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee...
(1966). She followed this with well-received performances in Up the Down Staircase
Up the Down Staircase (film)
Up the Down Staircase is a 1967 drama film about the first, trying assignment for a young, idealistic teacher played by Sandy Dennis. Tad Mosel wrote the screenplay adaptation of the novel of the same name by Bel Kaufman.-Cast:...
(1967), The Fox (1967), Sweet November
Sweet November (1968 film)
Sweet November is a 1968 romantic drama film written by Herman Raucher and starring Sandy Dennis, Anthony Newley and Theodore Bikel. The film had originally been written as a stage play by Raucher, but before it was even performed, Universal Pictures got wind of the project and paid Raucher...
(1968) and The Out-of-Towners
The Out-of-Towners (1970 film)
The Out-of-Towners is a 1970 comedy film written by Neil Simon, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. It was released by Paramount Pictures on May 28, 1970....
(1970). In 1963, she appeared in the television episode "The Other Side of the Mountain" in The Fugitive which starred David Janssen
David Janssen
David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
. In 1964, she appeared in the television episode "Don't Mention My Name in Sheboygan
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
-Airport:Sheboygan is served by the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, which is located several miles from the city.-Roads:Interstate 43 is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S...
" of Craig Stevens
Craig Stevens (actor)
Craig Stevens was an American motion picture and television actor.-Early and personal life:Born Gail Shikles, Jr., in Liberty, Missouri, his father was a high school teacher....
's CBS drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, Mr. Broadway
Mr. Broadway
Mr. Broadway is a 13-episode CBS adventure and drama television series starring Craig Stevens , formerly of Peter Gunn, as New York City public relations specialist Mike Bell. The program aired at 9 p.m. Eastern time Saturdays from September 26 to December 26, 1964...
.
An advocate of method acting
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
, Dennis was often described as neurotic and mannered in her performances; her signature style included running words together and oddly stopping and starting sentences, suddenly going up and down octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s as she spoke, and fluttering her hands. Walter Kerr
Walter Kerr
For the RN admiral see Lord Walter KerrWalter Francis Kerr was an American writer and Broadway theater critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals.-Biography:...
famously remarked that she treated sentences as "weak, injured things" that needed to be slowly helped "across the street"; John Simon
John Simon (critic)
John Ivan Simon is an American author and literary, theater, and film critic.-Personal life:Simon was born in Subotica, Bačka, County of Bačka, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later, known as Yugoslavia . He is of Hungarian descent...
said that she acted with "a postnasal drip." Nonetheless, William Goldman
William Goldman
William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
, in his book The Season, referred to her as a quintessential "critics' darling" who got rave reviews no matter how unusual her acting and questionable her choice of material. During her stint in Any Wednesday
Any Wednesday
Any Wednesday is a 1966 comedy film directed by Robert Ellis Miller, starring Jane Fonda, Jason Robards, and Dean Jones. The story centers around a Manhattan woman who is trying to decide between two suitors on the day of her 30th birthday.On August 18, 2009, Warner Brothers released the movie...
, Kerr said the following: "Let me tell you about Sandy Dennis. There should be one in every home."
Her last significant film role was in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). In 1991, she played a leading role in the film The Indian Runner
The Indian Runner
The Indian Runner is a 1991 drama film written and directed by Sean Penn. It is based on Bruce Springsteen's song, "Highway Patrolman".-Plot:...
, which marked Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
's debut as a film director, and he also wrote the screenplay.
Personal life
Dennis lived with prominent jazz musician Gerry MulliganGerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
from 1965 until they split up in 1976. Although Mulligan often referred to Dennis as his second wife, Dennis later revealed that they had never married. She also lived with actor Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
from 1980 to 1985.
Christopher Dennis, a Superman look-alike working on Hollywood Blvd and who resembles Ms. Dennis quite a bit, appears in Matthew Ogen's documentary Confessions of a Superhero claiming that Sandy Dennis is his mother. In the movie, her family questions these claims.
In an interview with People magazine in 1989, Dennis revealed she and Gerry Mulligan had suffered a miscarriage in 1965 and went on to say, "if I'd been a mother, I would have loved the child, but I just didn't have any connection with it when I was pregnant...I never ever wanted children. It would have been like having an elephant." There is no mention of any other pregnancies or children.
Sandy Dennis died from ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
in Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
, aged 54.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Splendor in the Grass Splendor in the Grass Splendor in the Grass is a 1961 romantic drama film that tells a story of sexual repression, love, heartbreak, and manic-depression, which the character Deanie suffers from... |
Kay | |
| 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee... |
Honey | 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... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
| 1967 | Up the Down Staircase Up the Down Staircase (film) Up the Down Staircase is a 1967 drama film about the first, trying assignment for a young, idealistic teacher played by Sandy Dennis. Tad Mosel wrote the screenplay adaptation of the novel of the same name by Bel Kaufman.-Cast:... |
Sylvia Barrett | |
| 1967 | Jill Banford | ||
| 1968 | Teach Me! | ||
| 1968 | Sweet November Sweet November (1968 film) Sweet November is a 1968 romantic drama film written by Herman Raucher and starring Sandy Dennis, Anthony Newley and Theodore Bikel. The film had originally been written as a stage play by Raucher, but before it was even performed, Universal Pictures got wind of the project and paid Raucher... |
Sara Deever | |
| 1969 | That Cold Day in the Park That Cold Day in the Park That Cold Day in the Park is a 1969 film directed by Robert Altman, shot in Vancouver, Canada. It stars Sandy Dennis and Michael Burns. It is based on the novel of the same name by Peter Miles. It was adapted to screen by Gillian Freeman... |
Frances Austen | |
| 1969 | Rosamund Stacey | Also known as Thank You All Very Much | |
| 1970 | Gwen Kellerman | ||
| 1974 | Mr. Sycamore Mr. Sycamore Mr. Sycamore is a play written by Ketti Frings that was published in 1942. It is about a meek mailman who becomes so obsessed with a particular sycamore tree on his delivery route that he leads himself to believe that the only way to end his troubles is to plant himself and become a tree. On... |
Jane Gwilt | |
| 1976 | God Told Me To God Told Me To God Told Me To is a 1976 science fiction/horror film written and directed by Larry Cohen... |
Martha Nicholas | |
| 1977 | Nasty Habits | Sister Winifred | |
| 1981 | Herself | ||
| 1981 | Anne Callan | ||
| 1982 | Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean | Mona | |
| 1988 | Another Woman Another Woman Another Woman is a 1988 film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Gena Rowlands and Mia Farrow and does not feature Allen in an acting role.-Plot:... |
Claire | |
| 1989 | Parents Parents (film) Parents is a 1989 horror-comedy film written by Christopher Hawthorne and directed by Bob Balaban. The film is about a suburban 50's boy living who suspects his parents of cannibalism. The film starred Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, and Bryan Madorsky... |
Millie Dew | |
| 1989 | 976-EVIL 976-EVIL 976-EVIL is a 1989 horror film directed by Robert Englund.The film's title refers to the 976 telephone exchange, a now mostly defunct premium-rate telephone number system that was popular in the late 1980s but has since been superseded by area code 900.... |
Aunt Lucy | |
| 1991 | Mrs. Roberts |
External links
- Sandy Dennis Foundation
- Sandy Dennis, Veteran Actress And Prize Winner, Is Dead at 54, New York Times, 5 March 1992