Joan Lorring

Joan Lorring born Mary Madeline Ellis is a Hong Kongborn American actress and singer known for her work in film and theatre Soon after her family moved to Los Angeles Madeleine known by her nickname Dellie began working as a child actress in radio and film she was credited as Dellie Ellis when she played the title role in the radio program A Date With Judy 1942 She eventually adopted Joan Lorring as her stage name Lorring made her Broadway debut in 1950 originating the role of Marie Buckholder opposite Shirley Booth in Come Back Little Sheba Terry Moore later played Marie in the 1952 film version For this role Lorring won a Donaldson Award for Most Outstanding Female Debut in the 19491950 Broadway season This success led to her performing in the 1951 Broadway production of the Lillian Hellman play The Autumn Garden In 1954 she performed in the play Dead Pidgeons and her last Broadway appearance was in 1957 originating the role of The Young Woman opposite Kim Stanley as The Woman in A Clearing in the Woods by Arthur Laurents In 1970 Lorring performed in an OffBroadway production of Awake and Sing as Bessie Berger Lorring made her film debut at age 18 in Song of Russia Her second film was the Oscarnominated drama The Bridge of San Luis Rey For her third film role as Bessy Watty in 1945s The Corn Is Green opposite Bette Davis as Miss Moffat Lorring at age 19 was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Thelma Schnee had originated the role of Bessy on Broadway opposite Ethel Barrymore in 1940 Lorring next had supporting roles in the 1946 dramas Three Strangers and The Verdict in which she plays Lottie Rawson and performs the song Give Me a Little Bit In 1947 she appeared in The Other Love a drama that stars Barbara Stanwyck and in The Lost Moment which stars Susan Hayward In 1948 she played a supporting role in Good Sam which stars Gary Cooper and was directed by Leo McCarey In the early 1950s Lorring began appearing often on television In 1955 she performed in 13 episodes of the television series Norby as Helen Norby The show lasted one season Also in 1956 she reprised her awardwinning role as Bessy in The Corn is Green on television opposite Eva Le Gallienne as Miss Moffat She appeared on one episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Older Sister 1956 about Lizzie Borden in which she portrayed her sister Emma Lorring performed infrequently in the 1960s and 1970s focusing on her family life Her last film role came in 1974 with The Midnight Man and her later television roles were gueststarring for several episodes as Anna Pavel in Ryans Hope and a 1980 episode of The Love Boat Lorring enjoyed a quiet retirement through the 1980s and 1990s She lived until May 30 2014 when she died in Sleepy Hollow New York at age 88 from natural causes Description above from the Wikipedia article Joan Lorring licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia