Patricia Neal
| Patricia Neal | |
|---|---|
Publicity photo from 1952
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|
| Born |
Patsy Louise Neal January 20, 1926 Packard, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 2010 (aged 84) Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Lung cancer |
| Resting place | Abbey of Regina Laudis |
| Residence | Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Knoxville High School |
| Alma mater | Northwestern University |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1945–2009 |
| Home town | Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Roald Dahl (m. 1953; div. 1983) |
| Children | 5, including Tessa, Ophelia, and Lucy Dahl |
Patsy Louise "Patricia" Neal (January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and the worn-out housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud (1963), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She played Olivia Walton in the 1971 made-for-television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, a role played in the regular series by actress Michael Learned.
Patsy Louise Neal was born in Packard, Whitley County, Kentucky, to William Burdette Neal (1895–1944) and Eura Mildred (née Petrey) Neal (1899–2003). She had two siblings. She grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she attended Knoxville High School, and studied drama at Northwestern University. At Northwestern, she was crowned Syllabus Queen in a campus-wide beauty pageant.
Neal gained her first job in New York as an understudy in the Broadway production of the John Van Druten play The Voice of the Turtle. Next she appeared in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest (1946), winning the 1947 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, in the first presentation of the Tony awards.
Neal made her film debut in John Loves Mary, followed by a role with Ronald Reagan in The Hasty Heart, and then The Fountainhead (all 1949). The shooting of the last film coincided with her affair with her married co-star, Gary Cooper, with whom she worked again in Bright Leaf (1950).
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