Eleanor Parker obit

She was not on the list.

Eleanor Parker, Versatile Film Actress, Dies at 91

Eleanor Parker, a film actress known for her versatility and wide variety of portrayals, died Dec. 9 at a medical facility near her home in Palm Springs. She was 91.

She was a prison inmate in "Caged" (1950); the needy, wheelchair-bound wife of heroin-addicted drummer Frank Sinatra in "The Man With the Golden Arm" (1952); an opera singer struck down by polio in "Interrupted Melody" (1955); and, in what is perhaps her best-known role, the classy but chilly Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the 1965 film adaptation of "The Sound of Music."

The varied nature of Parker's career, and her ability to melt into a portrayal, arguably kept her from being a better-remembered star than her contemporaries. Indeed, the name of Donald McClelland's biography of her was "Woman of a Thousand Faces." Parker admitted as much, saying in a 1988 interview, "I'm primarily a character actress. I've portrayed so many diverse individuals on the screen that my own personality never emerged."

Nonetheless, she was respected by her peers and nominated for three Academy Awards in the early '50s, for her breakthrough role in "Caged," "Detective Story" and "Interrupted Melody." She won the award for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for "Caged."

Her other films included the 1946 "Of Human Bondage," "The Voice of the Turtle," "The Woman in White," "The Naked Jungle," "Valley of the Kings," "The King and Four Queens," "A Hole in the Head," "Return to Peyton Place," "The Oscar" and "Warning Shot."

Parker began to turn to television in the 1960s, doing guest appearances in "Convoy," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "Kraft Suspense Theatre." She won an Emmy Award for an episode of the medical drama "The Eleventh Hour." In 1969, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in the short-lived series "Bracken's World," set in a movie studio run by the unseen Bracken. By the 1980s, her guest appearances included "The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island," "Hotel" and "Murder, She Wrote." Her final acting role was in 1991.

She was born Eleanor Jean Parker in Cedarville, Ohio, on June 26, 1922. Parker began acting in plays while still in school and attended the Rice Summer Theatre on Martha's Vineyard when 15. The classically beautiful redhead was spotted by a talent scout while at Rice and offered a screen test at 20th Century Fox, but she opted to finish high school and gain some stage experience first. While at the Pasadena Playhouse, she was offered another screen test, this one by Warner Brothers. She accepted, but only after finishing her year at the Playhouse.

On Broadway, Parker played small roles in the original productions of Brigadoon and Where's Charley? She was cast as socialite Vera Simpson in a 1976 revival of Pal Joey but quit the show in previews, shortly after the departure of the production's Joey, Edward Villella.

She was married four times, to Fred Losee, Bert E. Friedlob, Paul Clemens and Raymond Hirsch. The first three ended in divorce. Hirsch predeceased her in 2001. She is survived by four children, three with Friedlob and one with Clemens. Her granddaughter is actor Chase Parker.

Filmography

Year       Title       Character            Notes

1941      They Died with Their Boots On   Bit Part Scenes deleted

1942      The Big Shot       Telephone Operator       Voice, uncredited

Busses Roar        Norma

Soldiers in White              Nurse Ryan         Short subject

Men of the Sky Mrs. Frank Bickley            Short subject

Vaudeville Days                 Colleen                 Uncredited

Short subject

1943      The Mysterious Doctor Letty Carstairs  

Mission to Moscow         Emlen Davies    

Destination Tokyo            Mike's Wife on Record   Voice, uncredited

1944      Between Two Worlds     Ann Bergner      

Atlantic City        Bathing Beauty Uncredited

Crime by Night Irene Carr           

The Last Ride      Kitty Kelly           

The Very Thought of You               Janet Wheeler  

Hollywood Canteen         Herself Cameo

1945      Pride of the Marines       Ruth Hartley      

1946      Of Human Bondage         Mildred Rogers

Never Say Goodbye        Ellen Gayley       

1947      Escape Me Never             Fenella MacLean             

Always Together               Herself Cameo, uncredited

The Voice of the Turtle Sally Middleton                

1948      The Woman in White      Laurie Fairlie

Ann Catherick   

1949      It's a Great Feeling           Herself Cameo, uncredited

1950      Chain Lightning Joan "Jo" Holloway         

Caged    Marie Allen         Won – Volpi Cup

Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress

Three Secrets     Susan Adele Connors Chase        

1951      Valentino             Joan Carlisle

Sarah Gray         

A Millionaire for Christy                 Christabel "Christy" Sloane          

Detective Story Mary McLeod    Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress

1952      Scaramouche     Lenore

Above and Beyond          Lucey Tibbets    

1953      Escape from Fort Bravo Carla Forester   

1954      The Naked Jungle             Joanna Leiningen             

Valley of the Kings           Ann Barclay Mercedes  

1955      Many Rivers to Cross      Mary Stuart Cherne        

Interrupted Melody        Marjorie Lawrence          Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress

The Man with the Golden Arm   Zosh Machine   

1956      The King and Four Queens           Sabina McDade                

1957      Lizzie     Elizabeth

Lizzie

Beth Richmond

The Seventh Sin                Carol Carwin      

1959      A Hole in the Head           Eloise Rogers     

1960      Home from the Hill          Hannah Hunnicutt          

The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio      Sister Cecelia     

1961      Return to Peyton Place Connie Rossi      

Madison Avenue              Anne Tremaine

1962      Checkmate         Marion Bannion

Gussie Hill           Episode: "The Renaissance of Gussie Hill"

1963      The Eleventh Hour           Connie Folsom   Episode: "Why Am I Grown So Cold?"

Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre                Fern Selman       Episode: "Seven Miles of Bad Road"

1964      Panic Button      Louise Harris     

Kraft Suspense Theatre Dorian Smith      Episode: "Knight's Gambit"

1965      The Sound of Music         The Baroness Elsa Schraeder      

Convoy Kate Fowler        Episode: "Lady on the Rock"

1966      The Oscar            Sophie Cantaro

An American Dream        Deborah Kelly Rojack     

1967      Warning Shot     Mrs. Doris Ruston           

The Tiger and the Pussycat           Esperia Vincenzini           

1968      The Man from U.N.C.L.E.              Margitta Kingsley             Episode: "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair"; released in cinemas as How to Steal the World

1969      Eye of the Cat    Aunt Danny       

Hans Brinker      Dame Brinker    

Bracken's World               Sylvia Caldwell   Episodes 1–16

Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama

1971      Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring        Claire Miller       

Vanished             Sue Greer            TV movie

1972      Circle of Fear      Paula Burgess    Episode: "Half a Death"

Home for the Holidays   Alex Morgan      

1973      The Great American Beauty Contest        Peggy Lowery    TV movie

1975      Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Christine Drayton             TV movie

1978      Hawaii Five-O    Mrs. Kincaid       Episode: "The Big Aloha"

The Bastard        Lady Amberly    

1979      Sunburn               Mrs. Thoren      

She's Dressed to Kill        Regine Danton   TV movie

1980      Once Upon a Spy              The Lady              TV movie

Vega$    Laurie Bishop     Episode: "A Deadly Victim"

1981      Madame X          Katherine Richardson    

1979–1982          The Love Boat    Rosie Strickland

Alicia Bradbury Episode: "A Dress to Remember"

Episode: "Buddy and Portia's Story/Julie's Story/Carol and Doug's Story/Peter and Alicia's Story"

1977–1983          Fantasy Island    Peggy Atwood

Eunice Hollander Baines                Episode: "Nurses Night Out"

Episode: "Yesterday's Love/Fountain of Youth"

Episode: "Pilot"

1983      Hotel     Leslie     Episode: "The Offer"

1984      Finder of Lost Loves        Nora Spencer     Episode: "The Gift"

1986      Murder, She Wrote         Maggie Tarrow Episode: "Stage Struck"

1991      Dead on the Money        Catherine Blake                 TV movie

Theatre credits

    Applause (1972)

    The Night of the Iguana (1976) – Ahmanson Theatre

    Pal Joey (1976) – replaced during previews