Sarah Cunningham (actress)
Encyclopedia
Sarah Cunningham was an American film, stage and television actress.
, United States
. She was married to film and Tony award winning broadway actor John Randolph
from January 3, 1942 until her death on March 24, 1986. The couple had two children.
On March 24, 1986 while attending the Oscar telecast ceremony in Los Angeles, Miss Cunningham suffered a heart attack and died. Cunningham had suffered from emphysema for many years and had asthma as well since childhood. She had been in the hospital for her yearly emphysema treatment but had interrupted the treatment to attend the Academy Awards for the first time. Her untimely and unexpected death from heart attack caused her husband John Randolph to undergo an immediate full physical which discovered serious arterial blockage in his own heart. Mr. Randolph underwent immediate surgery which unquestionably saved his life. He went on to win a TONY award for best supporting actor for his role as the Grandfather in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound
.
's acting classes when she moved to New York from South Carolina after graduating Summa Cum Laude from Farrington College (University). At the time Mr. Randolph, an experienced actor and favorite student of Ms. Adler's was entrusted with teaching the newer students and John and Sarah fell in love during that time. They got married in Chicago in 1945, where he was working in the National touring production of Native Son
, directed and produced by Orson Welles
.
, Jack Gilford
and others were victims of the anti-communist blacklist
. They are believed to have been first named in 1951, possibly again in 1953 and were called before the House Un-American Activities Committee
in 1955 in New York. Both were unable to work in film, TV or radio well into the 1960s. The situation described below by another contributor was most likely caused by an advertiser or network pressure to fire anyone who had been or was on the "blacklist".
Cunningham was hired in 1964 to play Elizabeth 'Aunt Liz' Matthews on the newly created soap opera Another World
. She was fired after just one episode by creator Irna Phillips
along with actor John Beal
for no apparent reason. Sarah and John supported themselves and their family by working in the theater until the late 60's/early 70's when both were finally able to find work on TV and in films.
, between 1968 and 1972. They subsequently founded the Ensemble Studio Theater West in Los Angeles in 1980. Both branches have become well known for the quality of their productions and their programs for developing playwrights.
episode "The Curmudgeon", shown on March 18, 1986 just a week before she died. In it she and John played reunited lovers who finally marry. The love they shared is beautifully evident in the final kiss between them at the end.
Personal life
Sarah Cunningham was born Sarah Lucie Cunningham in Greenville, South CarolinaGreenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She was married to film and Tony award winning broadway actor John Randolph
John Randolph (actor)
John Randolph was an American film, television and stage actor.-Early life:Randolph was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants Dorothy , an insurance agent, and Louis Cohen, a hat manufacturer...
from January 3, 1942 until her death on March 24, 1986. The couple had two children.
On March 24, 1986 while attending the Oscar telecast ceremony in Los Angeles, Miss Cunningham suffered a heart attack and died. Cunningham had suffered from emphysema for many years and had asthma as well since childhood. She had been in the hospital for her yearly emphysema treatment but had interrupted the treatment to attend the Academy Awards for the first time. Her untimely and unexpected death from heart attack caused her husband John Randolph to undergo an immediate full physical which discovered serious arterial blockage in his own heart. Mr. Randolph underwent immediate surgery which unquestionably saved his life. He went on to win a TONY award for best supporting actor for his role as the Grandfather in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
.
Career
Sarah Cunningham met John Randolph at Stella AdlerStella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
's acting classes when she moved to New York from South Carolina after graduating Summa Cum Laude from Farrington College (University). At the time Mr. Randolph, an experienced actor and favorite student of Ms. Adler's was entrusted with teaching the newer students and John and Sarah fell in love during that time. They got married in Chicago in 1945, where he was working in the National touring production of Native Son
Native Son
Native Son is a novel by American author Richard Wright. The novel tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, an African American living in utter poverty. Bigger lived in Chicago's South Side ghetto in the 1930s...
, directed and produced by Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
.
Blacklisted
Miss Cunningham together with her husband John Randolph the actor, actress Madeline Lee GilfordMadeline Lee Gilford
Madeline Lee Gilford was an American film and stage actress and social activist, who later enjoyed a career as a theatrical producer. Gilford was the widow of actor Jack Gilford, whom she married in 1949...
, Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...
and others were victims of the anti-communist blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
. They are believed to have been first named in 1951, possibly again in 1953 and were called before the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
in 1955 in New York. Both were unable to work in film, TV or radio well into the 1960s. The situation described below by another contributor was most likely caused by an advertiser or network pressure to fire anyone who had been or was on the "blacklist".
Cunningham was hired in 1964 to play Elizabeth 'Aunt Liz' Matthews on the newly created soap opera Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
. She was fired after just one episode by creator Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips was an American actress and most notably writer who created and scripted many of the first American soap operas.Phillips created radio and TV soap operas including:...
along with actor John Beal
John Beal (actor)
-Life and career:Beal was born James Alexander Bliedung in Joplin, Missouri. He originally went to New York to study art but a chance to understudy in a play made him change his mind. He began acting in the 1930s, opposite Katharine Hepburn , among others; one of his notable screen appearances was...
for no apparent reason. Sarah and John supported themselves and their family by working in the theater until the late 60's/early 70's when both were finally able to find work on TV and in films.
Ensemble Studio Theater
John and Sarah were original founding members of the Ensemble Studio Theater in New York City, together with Artistic Director Curt Dempster and actor Jon VoightJon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
, between 1968 and 1972. They subsequently founded the Ensemble Studio Theater West in Los Angeles in 1980. Both branches have become well known for the quality of their productions and their programs for developing playwrights.
A loving couple
Although both worked extensively in television and film their primary love was for the living theater. In 1983 they introduced playwright James G. Richardson's one act play Eulogy directed by Heidie Helen Davis. It was a two character play written especially for them as part of a trilogy of two character one-acts. They performed it in both New York and Los Angeles and it was the last work they performed together on stage before she died. However, their very last work together was in the Trapper John, M.D.Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....
episode "The Curmudgeon", shown on March 18, 1986 just a week before she died. In it she and John played reunited lovers who finally marry. The love they shared is beautifully evident in the final kiss between them at the end.
Filmography
- Jagged EdgeJagged Edge (film)Jagged Edge is a film starring Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, and Peter Coyote. Robert Loggia received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film. It is a courtroom thriller, written by Joe Eszterhas, and directed by Richard Marquand...
(1985) - FrancesFrancesFrances 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) - I Never Promised You a Rose GardenI Never Promised You a Rose Garden (film)I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a 1977 film based on the Joanne Greenberg novel of the same name.In the wake of the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Roger Corman was able to get funding for a movie version of Rose Garden. Bibi Andersson played Dr. Fried, while Kathleen Quinlan...
(1977) - The CowboysThe CowboysThe Cowboys is a 1972 Western motion picture starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Slim Pickens, A Martinez and Bruce Dern. Robert Carradine makes his film debut with fellow child actor Stephen R. Hudis. It was filmed at various locations in New Mexico, Colorado and at Warner Brothers Studio in...
(1972) - Black Like MeBlack Like MeBlack Like Me is a non-fiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Griffin was a white native of Mansfield, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama...
(1964)
Television
- Trapper John, M.D.Trapper John, M.D.Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....
(1981-1986) - DallasDallas (TV series)Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
as Aunt Maggie Monahan, Digger Barnes' sister (1978, 1980, 1984) - The Oklahoma City Dolls (1981)
- Belle Starr (1980)
- Nero Wolfe (1979)
- Vega$Vega$Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...
(1979) - How the West Was WonHow the West Was Won (TV series)How the West Was Won is an American western television series that featured an all star cast that included: James Arness, Eva Marie Saint, Fionnula Flanagan, Bruce Boxleitner, G. W. Bailey, Trisha Noble, William Shatner, Jack Elam, Woody Strode, Anthony Zerbe, Richard Kiley, Lloyd Bridges,...
(1979) - LucanLucan (TV series)The television drama Lucan aired on ABC from 1977 to 1978. The core cast was Kevin Brophy, John Randolph, and Don Gordon.A 20-year old man spent the first 10 years of his life running wild in the forest after being raised by wolves. Lucan is taken to a research institute and taught the ways of...
(1978) - The GatheringThe Gathering (1977 film)The Gathering is a 1977 ABC made for television drama film. A rare live-action drama film from the Hanna-Barbera studios, it was directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Edward Asner and Maureen Stapleton.-Plot:...
(1977) - Police WomanPolice Woman (TV series)Police Woman is an American television police drama starring Angie Dickinson that ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.-Synopsis:...
(1976) - Executive Suite (1976)
- Visions (1976)
- F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (1976)
- Starsky and HutchStarsky and HutchStarsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
(1975) - The RookiesThe RookiesThe Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It followed the exploits of three rookie police officers in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department .-History:...
(1975) - The Turning Point of Jim Malloy (1975)
- BarettaBarettaBaretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...
(1975) - The Family Kovack (1974)
- House of Evil (1974)
- The Rimers of EldritchThe Rimers of EldritchThe Rimers of Eldritch is a play by Lanford Wilson. Set in the mid-20th century in Eldritch, Missouri, a decaying Bible Belt town that once was a prosperous coal mining community, it focuses on the murder of aging hermit Skelly by a woman who mistakenly thought he was committing rape when he...
(1974) - Screaming Skull (1973)
- 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...
(1956) - Another WorldAnother World (TV series)Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
(1964) - Look Up and Live (1954)
- Nash Airflyte Theatre (1951)
- The Naked CityThe Naked CityThe Naked City is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The movie, shot partially in documentary style, was filmed on location on the streets of New York City, featuring landmarks such as the Williamsburg Bridge the Whitehall Building and an apartment building on West 83rd...
(1948)
Theater
- My Sweet CharlieMy Sweet CharlieMy Sweet Charlie is an American television movie directed by Lamont Johnson. The teleplay by Richard Levinson and William Link is based on the novel of the same name by David Westheimer. Produced by Universal Television and broadcast by NBC on January 20, 1970, it later had a brief theatrical...
(Original, Play) (1966) - The Zulu and the ZaydaThe Zulu and the ZaydaThe Zulu and the Zayda is a play-with-music by Howard Da Silva and Felix Leon, with music and lyrics by Harold Rome , and directed by Dore Schary. It was based on a story by Dan Jacobson...
(Original, Musical, Comedy) (1965) - Toys in the AtticToys in the Attic (play)-Plot:Set in New Orleans following the Great Depression, it focuses on the Berniers sisters, two middle-aged spinsters who have sacrificed their own ambitions to look after their ne'er-do-well younger brother Julian, whose grandiose dreams repeatedly lead to financial disasters...
(Original, Play, Drama) (understudy) (1960) - The VisitThe VisitThe Visit is a 1956 tragicomic play by Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt.-Plot summary:...
(Original, Play, Drama) (1958) - Fair Game (Original, Play, Comedy) (1957)
- The House of Bernarda Alba (Original, Play) (1951)
External links
- Sarah Cunningham at Internet Off-Broadway Database