Judy Holliday
Biography
An American actress and comedian who also sang and wrote songs, Judy Holliday began performing in the late 1930s with the nightclub act The Revuers. She made her Broadway debut in Kiss Them for Me in 1945. Cast as Billie Dawn in the stage version of Born Yesterday in 1946, she repeated the part on screen in 1950 and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for best actress. She played a key role in Adam's Rib (1949) and starred opposite Jack Lemmon in It Should Happen to You (1954) and Phffft (1954), drawing BAFTA nominations for both. Her Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing earned her a Tony Award, and she reprised the role in the 1960 film. She also starred in The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956).
43years old at death
- Born New York City
- Died New York City
- Star sign: CancerFirst day of the sign, on the Gemini cusp
- Judith Tuvim (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 8
- Career span
- 64 years1949 to 2013
First and latest
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A change of course
At the Mercury Theatre, which Orson Welles and John Houseman administered, Holliday worked her first job as an assistant switchboard operator.
Behind the award
Holliday earned the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for the film Born Yesterday.
Big break
Garson Kanin wrote Born Yesterday for Jean Arthur, but when Arthur left New York, Kanin chose Holliday, two decades younger, to replace her.
A role that slipped away
Columbia studio boss Harry Cohn initially refused to consider Holliday for the film version of Born Yesterday, despite her rave Broadway reviews.
Judy Holliday movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
George Cukor directed four of these films. Three actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Jack Lemmon's page
Fred Clark's page
Madge Blake's page
All films by George Cukor
Awards
Five awards and honors from 1945 to 1957, two of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | |||
| 1951 | Best Actress | Born Yesterday | Won |
| Tony Awards | |||
| 1957 | Best Actress in a Musical | Won | |
| Other honors | |||
| 1945 | Theatre World Award | Won | |
| Donaldson Awards | Won | ||
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.