Gaunt and incisive, this distinguished, red-haired character player was a stage actress of formidable experience, trained in the classics. Beatrice Straight began doing occasional feature film and TV work in the early 1950s, but was almost entirely unknown to the nationwide public when she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her stellar work in "Network" (1976).Related to America's most socially prominent families (she was a Whitney on her mother's side), Straight made her Broadway debut in "Bitter Oleander" in 1935 and subsequently acted on stage in "The Possessed" (1939), "Twelfth Night" (1941), as Viola, "The Heiress" (1948), in the title role, and "Heartbreak House" (1952). She won a Tony as featured dramatic actress for her performance as Elizabeth Proctor, a Puritan woman accused of witchcraft, in the original production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" (1953). Straight remained active in the theater into the 70s, earning praise as Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1969-70), the mother in Miller's "All My Sons" (1974) and as Gertrude in "Hamlet" in 1979.
Despite good roles in the prestigious dramas "Patterns" (1956) and, especially, "The Nun's Story" (1959), Straight had made only a handful of features when she was chosen to play the wife of a TV executive (William Holden) who finds out he has fallen for a younger woman (Faye Dunaway) in the dark Sidney Lumet-Paddy Chayefsky satire, "Network". She had basically only one long scene with Holden as her character's world falls apart, but her intensely played few minutes were rewarded with an Academy Award. Straight has subsequently been cast as strong-willed, matriarchs or professionals, in such features as "The Promise" (1979), "Endless Love" (1981), "Poltergeist" (1982), "Power" (1986) and "Deceived" (1991).
Her small screen roles have included guest appearances on such series as "Mission: Impossible" and "Ben Casey". Straight was a butler's wife in 20s-era Boston in the low-rated "Beacon Hill" (CBS, 1975), had the recurring role of the Queen Mother in the comic book-inspired "Wonder Woman" (CBS, 1977-79) and played a socially prominent woman on the short-lived "King's Crossing" (ABC, 1982). In 1978, she earned an Emmy nomination for her turn as the woman whose family may be responsible for "The Dain Curse" (CBS, 1978). Her dignified, quietly skillful, sometimes imperious presence marked nearly all her roles and made her a good choice to play Rose Kennedy in the miniseries "Robert Kennedy and His Times" (CBS, 1985).
Profession(s):
Actor, acting teacher
Sometimes Credited As:
Beatrice Whitney Straight
Oscar Best Supporting Actress "Network" 1976
Tony Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) "The Crucible" 1953
1991 Final screen appearance as Goldie Hawn's mother in the thriller "Deceived"
1990 Co-starred in NBC miniseries "People Like Us"
1985 Played Rose Kennedy in the CBS miniseries "Robert Kennedy and His Times"
1982 Played Louisa Beauchamp on the short-lived ABC primetime serial drama, "King's Crossing"
1976 Returned to feature films with "Network"; won Best Supporting Actress Oscar
1975 Played Emmaline Hacker, the butler's wife, on the short-lived CBS primetime serial drama, "Beacon Hill"
1973 Co-starred in TV version of "The Borrowers" (NBC)
1964 Last feature film for twelve years, "The Young Lovers"
1954 - 1955 Was a panelist on the game show, "One Minute Please"
1953 Played Elizabeth Proctor in the Broadway premiere of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"; won Tony Award
1952 Feature film debut, "Phone Call from a Stranger"
1945 Co-founded the producing organization Theater Inc.
1935 Made Broadway debut in "Bitter Oleander"
Ran her own radio program on station WMCA in NYC during WWII
Played Mrs. Phillips on the long-running CBS daytime drama, "Love of Life"
Produced a series of children's plays, including "Who Am I?"
Made recurring appearances as the Queen Mother (of Paradise Island) on the ABC adventure-fantasy series, "Wonder Woman"
Had recurring role on the NBC soap "Santa Barbara"
