Barbara Bel Geddes

Barbara Bel Geddes was an American actress of stage and screen who worked for nearly five decades. She first gained notice in the 1946 Broadway production Deep Are the Roots, earning the Clarence Derwent, Theatre World and Donaldson awards. From 1951 to 1953 she appeared 924 times in the comedy The Moon Is Blue. Her 1955 Broadway turn as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof brought a Tony nomination, as did her 1961 title role in Mary, Mary. In Hollywood she starred opposite Henry Fonda in The Long Night (1947), received an Academy Award nomination for I Remember Mama (1948), acted in Panic in the Streets (1950), and played Midge in Vertigo (1958). She was the first actor signed for Dallas, playing Miss Ellie Ewing in 276 episodes from 1978 to 1990, and was the show's lone cast member to take an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She retired in 1990.