Shirley Booth

SHIRLEY BOOTH

American actress.

She was born August 30, 1898, in New York City, USA.

Passed away on October 16, 1992, in North Chatham, Massachusetts, USA.

She was born into the family of Albert J. Ford, a New York City merchant and entrepreneur. At age 12 she joined the amateur theater troupe Hartford Stock Company, and six years later finally decided to devote his life to the acting profession. In 1925, she made her Broadway debut as Thelma Booth Ford in a partnership with Humphrey Bogart in the production of "Hell's Bell" (Hell's Bell), and subsequently went down in the history of American theater as an actress with one of the longest careers: the last show with her participation was in 1970. All in all, on the account of the actress more than 600 theatrical roles.

Shirley Booth's name is practically forgotten by film fans today. And it can be accepted, because despite her outstanding career in the theater, Shirley Booth played only 4 roles in movies. Meanwhile, this is a unique theatrical actress, about whom critics spoke enthusiastically, noting that in the biography of Booth was not a single passing role. Three other actresses were Academy Award nominees for roles that Booth played on stage but chose not to act in movies in her time: Ruth Hussey in The Philadelphia Story (1940), Rosalind Russell in My Sister Eileen (1942) and Katharine Hepburn in Summertime (1955). Before the spread of television, Booth was widely known for her work in radio plays.

But she still won an Oscar for her big screen debut when she was already 54 years old. She was also the first American actress to win America's major theatrical and cinematic Tony Awards and an Oscar for her performance of one role - Lola Delaney, an aging and careless housewife who has lost her good face in a crumbling marriage to an alcoholic, in productions of W. Inge's play Come Back, Little Sheba, respectively in theater in 1950 and in film in 1952. Winning an Oscar at that age was exceptional in those years. Thanks to the film adaptation of the play "Come Back, Little Sheba," Shirley Booth was also the first actress in history, marked for the same role award at the Cannes Film Festival and the "Oscar".

In addition, Shirley Booth was one of the actors to have three major acting awards to her credit. In addition to the cinematic Oscar and acting "Tony" (which, incidentally, she had three - also for "Goodbye, My Fancy" (1949) and "Time of the Cuckoo" (1953), she twice won the "Emmy", awarded for achievements in television: in 1962 and 1963, she was honored for her comedic role as the aging but not bored waitress Hazel on the television series Hazel.

Her subsequent famous roles were brilliantly performed in the theater in the plays "Desk Set" (Desk Set, 1955), "Juno and the Peacock" (Juno, 1959) by O'Casey, "Nina" (Nina, 1960), "The Torchbearers" (The Torchbearers, 1970). In her personal life, Shirley Booth was married twice.

PRIZES AND AWARDS

Academy Award (1952):

Best Actress ("Come Back, Little Sheba").

Golden Globe Award (1952):

Best Actress, Drama ("Come Back, Little Sheba").

BAFTA Nomination (1954):

Best Foreign Actress ("Oh, Mrs. Leslie")

Tony Award:

1949 - Best Supporting Actress in a Play ("Goodbye, My Fantasy")

1950 - Best Actress in a Play ("Come Back, Little Sheba")

1953 - Best Actress in a play.