Tammy Grimes obit

 

Tammy Grimes, the Original ‘Unsinkable Molly Brown,’ Dies at 82

 She was not on the list.

Tammy Grimes, Broadway's original "Unsinkable Molly Brown" and ever a critical darling who won a Tony for that role at 26, as well as the mother of actress Amanda Plummer, has died.

According to the New York Times and Variety, Crimes was 82.

Tammy Grimes had a long and storied stage career, starred in more than a dozen award-winning Broadway plays, her own short-lived sitcom with her name in the title and numerous movie credits where she usually played a mysterious woman she smoked. Who knows if Grimes did in real life -- her throaty and deep voice made her a natural for those kinds of roles.

When it came time for Hollywood to cast "Molly Brown" the movie, they went with the more conventional Hollywood film choice, popular and perky Debbie Reynolds.

The Times said Grimes died on Sunday in Englewood, New Jersey  The death was confirmed by Duncan MacArthur, her nephew. A cause of death was not disclosed.

Her second Tony came in a 1969 of Noel Coward's "Private Lives" where she played Amanda. While born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Grimes played Brits so well and so often, most of her fans thought she was British. She enjoyed the role so much, when it came time to name her daughter, Amanda seemed like a natural.

Grimes remained one of playwright Noel Coward's favorites. The feeling was mutual. She became the vice-president of his society about 10 years ago.

While never a starlet or the go-to star in movies or TV of her day, her singing and acting talent always distanced herself from the pack.

"I never looked like an ingénue," Grimes said matter-of-fact in a New York Times Magazine interview in 1960. In a business often obsessed with looks, the fact she had to work harder to get cast in Hollywood never got under her skin. "I don't want to be America's Sweetheart; I'd rather be something they don't quite understand."

Rumor had it she was offered the lead role in the TV series that would become "Bewitched" but turned it down for "The Tammy Grimes Show," a 1966 show that was yanked quickly.

In the mid 60s, Grimes also made headlines when she said she was beaten and injured (twice in a four -day period) by white racists who were audibly uncomfortable with her many associations with black performers like Sammy Davis Jr.

Her film credits include "The Last Unicorn," "Slaves of New York," "Somebody Killed Her Husband," and "Can't Stop the Music."

She was married three times. first to "Sound of Music" star Christopher Plummer, Amanda's father. Grimes was married to Plummer from 1956-1960. He fathered her only child.

Her second husband was actor Jeremy Slate. He was best known for playing a variety or recurring roles on TV Westerns like "Gunsmoke" and  "Bonanza" and Chuck Wilson on the soap "One Life to Live." They were married from 1966 to 1967.

She married Canadian composer Richard Bell in 1971 and remained married to him until his death in 2005.

 

Actress (59 credits)

 2005 Breathe (Short)

Narrator (voice)

 1999 The Portrait (Short)

Dora Gold

 1998 High Art

Vera

 1997 Trouble on the Corner

Mrs. K

 1995 A Modern Affair

Dr. Gresham

 1995 Loving (TV Series)

Mrs. Haversham

- Episode #1.2974 (1995) ... Mrs. Haversham

 1994 Backstreet Justice

Mrs. Finnegan

 1990 Mathnet (TV Series)

Lauren Bacchanal

- The Case of the Unkidnapping (1990) ... Lauren Bacchanal

 1990 The Young Riders (TV Series)

Margaret Herrick

- The Play's the Thing (1990) ... Margaret Herrick

 1990 Square One Television (TV Series)

Lauren Bacchanal

- Episode #3.36 (1990) ... Lauren Bacchanal

- Episode #3.20 (1990) ... Lauren Bacchanal

- Episode #3.19 (1990) ... Lauren Bacchanal

 1989 Slaves of New York

Georgette

 1989 Long Ago and Far Away (TV Series)

Narrator

- The Happy Circus (1989) ... Narrator

 1988 Mr. North

Sarah Baily-Lewis

 1986 America

Joy Hackley

 1986 The Equalizer (TV Series)

Julia Jacobs

- A Community of Civilized Men (1986) ... Julia Jacobs

 1985 Royal Match (TV Movie)

Queen Mother Estelle

 1985 The Stuff

Special Guest Star in Stuff Commercial

 1985 My Little Pony: Escape from Catrina (TV Short)

Catrina (voice)

 1984 St. Elsewhere (TV Series)

Fairy Godmother

- Playing God: Part 2 (1984) ... Fairy Godmother

 1983 A Matter of Cunning (TV Movie)

Sylvia Markham

 1983 No Big Deal (TV Movie)

Mrs. Norberry

 1983 An Invasion of Privacy (TV Movie)

Paula

 1982 The Last Unicorn

Molly Grue (voice)

 1980 The Practical Princess (Short)

Princess (voice)

 1980 Can't Stop the Music

Sydne Channing

 1980 CBS Library (TV Series)

Princess

- The Incredible Book Escape (1980) ... Princess (voice)

 1979 You Can't Go Home Again (TV Movie)

Amy Carlton

 1979 The Runner Stumbles

Erna Webber

 1979 The Love Boat (TV Series)

Christine

- Second Chance/Don't Push Me/Like Father, Like Son (1979) ... Christine

 1978 Tartuffe (TV Movie)

Elmire

 1978 Somebody Killed Her Husband

Audrey Van Santen

 1974 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (TV Short)

Albert (voice)

 1974 The Snoop Sisters (TV Series)

Amanda Bastion

- A Black Day for Bluebeard (1974) ... Amanda Bastion

 1974 The Wide World of Mystery (TV Series)

Cynthia

- The Spy Who Returned from the Dead (1974) ... Cynthia

 1973 The Borrowers (TV Movie)

Homily Clock

 1973 The Horror at 37, 000 Feet (TV Movie)

Mrs. Pinder

 1972 Play It As It Lays

Helene

 1971 Love, American Style (TV Series) (segment "Love and the Love Potion")

- Love and the Heist/Love and the Love Potion/Love and the Teddy Bear (1971) ... (segment "Love and the Love Potion")

 1970 The Other Man (TV Movie)

Denise Gray

 1969 Arthur? Arthur!

Lady Joan Mellon

 1969 The Outcasts (TV Series)

Polly

- Hung for a Lamb (1969) ... Polly

 1967 Tarzan (TV Series)

Polly Larkin

- Man Killer (1967) ... Polly Larkin

 1967 Three Bites of the Apple

Angela Sparrow

 1966 The Tammy Grimes Show (TV Series)

Tammy Ward

- George Washington Didn't Sleep Here (1966) ... Tammy Ward

- A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Studio (1966) ... Tammy Ward

- Positively Made in Paris (1966) ... Tammy Ward

- Tammy Takes Las Vegas, or Vice Versa (1966) ... Tammy Ward

- How to Steal a Girl Even If It's Only Me (1966) ... Tammy Ward

1965 The Trials of O'Brien (TV Series)

Mother Superior

- A Gaggle of Girls (1965) ... Mother Superior

 1964 Mr. Broadway (TV Series)

Nella

- The He-She Chemistry (1964) ... Nella

 1964 Destry (TV Series)

Patience Dailey

- The Solid Gold Girl (1964) ... Patience Dailey

 1964 Burke's Law (TV Series)

Jill Marsh

- Who Killed Jason Shaw? (1964) ... Jill Marsh

 1963 Route 66 (TV Series)

Greta Inger Gruenschaffen / Celli Brahms

- Come Home Greta Inger Gruenschaffen (1963) ... Greta Inger Gruenschaffen

- Where Are the Sounds of Celli Brahms? (1963) ... Celli Brahms

 1963 The Virginian (TV Series)

Angie Clark

- The Exiles (1963) ... Angie Clark

 1960 Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (TV Series)

Daisy Strong

- The Datchet Diamonds (1960) ... Daisy Strong

 1960 Play of the Week (TV Series)

Mehitabel

- Archy and Mehitabel (1960) ... Mehitabel

 1960 Sunday Showcase (TV Series)

- Hollywood Sings (1960)

 1959 Omnibus (TV Series)

Mary Jane Jenkins

- Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway (1959) ... Mary Jane Jenkins

 1958 The Gift of the Magi (TV Movie)

 1957 Kraft Theatre (TV Series)

- Sextuplets (1957)

 1957 Studio One (TV Series)

Gloria Loman

- Babe in the Woods (1957) ... Gloria Loman

 1956 Max Liebman Spectaculars (TV Series)

Cafe Singer

- Holiday (1956) ... Cafe Singer

 1955 The United States Steel Hour (TV Series)

Hazel Corey

- The Bride Cried (1955) ... Hazel Corey