Rita Gam obit

Rita Gam, Midcentury Hollywood Actress, Dies at 88

She was not on the list.

Rita Gam, who made her eye-catching Hollywood debut without saying a word and played a real-life bridesmaid at the fairy-tale wedding of her former roommate Grace Kelly, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. She was 88.

The cause was respiratory failure, said Nancy Willen, a spokeswoman for the family.

Ms. Gam, who was once married to the film director Sidney Lumet, made her Broadway debut in Ben Hecht’s 1946 play “A Flag Is Born” and, after three more Broadway roles, made her first movie six years later, opposite Ray Milland in “The Thief,” a suspense film without dialogue.

Life magazine featured her on its cover that year as a “silent and sexy” star who “can express herself eloquently without words.” In just a few moments on the screen, the magazine said, Ms. Gam “makes a striking movie debut without uttering a word.”

She also appeared in two movies with Gregory Peck, “Night People” (1954) and “Shoot Out”(1971); “Sign of the Pagan” (1954), with Jack Palance and Jeff Chandler; “Hannibal” (1959), with Victor Mature; “King of Kings” (1961), in which she played Queen Herodias; and “Klute” (1971), with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.

Ms. Gam won a Silver Bear as best actress at the 1962 Berlin Film Festival for her performance in Tad Danielewski’s adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit.” She also acted on television and in regional theater and produced two documentary series, “World of Film” and “World of Beauty.”

Rita Eleanore Mackay was born in Pittsburgh on April 2, 1927, to Milton A. Mackay, a native of Alsace-Lorraine who died when she was 4, and the former Belle Fately, who was born in Romania
She took the name of her stepfather, Benjamin J. Gam, a dress manufacturer, who was born in Russia. (As a synonym for glamorous legs, “gams” predates her film career.)

Raised in Manhattan, she attended the private Fieldston School in the Bronx and at 17 ran away from home (about 25 blocks, to a Midtown hotel), finding work modeling hats and selling stuffed pandas while pursuing an acting career.

She was married and divorced twice, first to Mr. Lumet (from 1949 to 1955) and then to Thomas Guinzburg (1956-63), a book publisher and co-founder of The Paris Review. She is survived by her daughter, Kate Guinzburg, a film producer; her son, Michael Guinzburg, a novelist; and two granddaughters. Thomas Guinzburg died in 2010 and Sidney Lumet in 2011.

As an actress, Ms. Gam befriended and roomed with Grace Kelly and was a bridesmaid at her wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956, a union of European aristocracy and Hollywood glamour that was one of the biggest social events of the decade.

An early participant at the Actors Studio, Ms. Gam also played a leading role, along with Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Zoe Caldwell and others, with the Minnesota Theater Company in 1963 during the opening season of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

After generally being typecast in supporting roles in two dozen films for what Life described as “her sultry face and insinuating voice,” she recalled in 1992, “I looked into the black pit at 40 and wondered, what do I do for an encore?”
Before producing documentaries, she learned to type and wrote two books: “Actress to Actress” (1986), which included a chapter on Grace Kelly, and “Actors: A Celebration” (1988).

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes

1952 The Thief The Girl

1953 Saadia Saadia

1954 Night People Ricky Cates

1954 Sign of the Pagan Kubra

1956 Magic Fire Cosima Liszt

1956 Mohawk Onida

1958 Sierra Baron Felicia Delmonte

1959 Wild Cats on the Beach Rita Eldmont

1959 Hannibal Sylvia

1961 King of Kings Herodias

1962 Sinners Go to Hell Estelle

1971 Klute Trina

1971 Shoot Out Emma

1971 Such Good Friends Doria

1974 The Gardener Helena Boardman

1974 Law and Disorder Woman in Cab

1987 Distortions Mildred Tyson

1989 Midnight Heidi

1996 Rowing Through Iris Biglow

1997 Monaco Short, Voice, (final film role)



Television

Year Title Role Notes

1950 Believe It or Not "The Secret of Nefertiti"

1951 Lights Out Girl "The Pattern"

1951 Trapped "The Nobody"

1951 Somerset Maugham TV Theatre "Appearances and Reality"

1951 Danger "Marley's Ghost", "Inherit Murder"

1951 Lux Video Theatre Leah "A Child Is Born"

1952 Cameo Theatre "Dark of the Moon"

1952 Casey, Crime Photographer "Blackmail"

1952 The Adventures of Fu Manchu: The Zayat Kiss TV film

1954 The Motorola Television Hour Anna "Nightmare in Algiers"

1954 The Jack Benny Program Woman in Commercial "The Jam Session Show", "San Diego Naval Training Center Show"

1955 Ford Theatre Mimi "Mimi"

1955 Kraft Television Theatre "Trucks Welcome"

1956 Front Row Center Anna Deasy "Deadlock"

1956 Screen Directors Playhouse Lotti "Affair in Sumatra"

1956 Westinghouse Studio One Rain "The Laughter of Giants"

1957 The Steve Allen Show Comedian "3.11"

1958 DuPont Show of the Month "The Bridge of San Luis Rey"

1958 Armchair Theatre Elsie "Time of Your Life"

1960 The United States Steel Hour Polly Chalmers "The Women of Hadley", "Revolt in Hadley"

1964 Festival Yelena "Uncle Vanya"

1964 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Detta "The Mist of Silence"

1966 The Jackie Gleason Show Rosita "The Honeymooners: You're in the Picture"

1966 Family Affair Louise Marshall "Beware the Other Woman"

1968 Hidden Faces Mimi Jaffe TV series

1973 McMillan & Wife Pam Crane "The Devil You Say"

1974 Mannix Dr. Ernestine Waldo "Race Against Time: Parts 1 & 2"

1975 Matt Helm "Now I Lay Me Down to Die"

1976 Harry O Naomi Cline "Book of Changes"

1977 Love of Life Nita Ray TV series

1978 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Xantha "The Story of Noah: Parts 1 & 2"

1979 The Rockford Files Cynthia Zakarian "Guilt"

1981 Tales of the Unexpected Lisa Brisson "Completely Foolproof"

1983 Romance Theatre Mitzi "Love in the Present Tense: Parts 1-5"

1983 Tucker's Witch Beatrice "Formula for Revenge"

1983 The Edge of Night Dora Coburn TV series