Birth Date : June 3, 1926When Colleen Dewhurst was born in Montreal on June 3, 1924, radio was just five years old, movies were silent and television not much more than a theory. If you wanted to be an actor in those days you set your sights on the stage and that's exactly what Colleen did. Her family had moved to the United States and Colleen ended up studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1946. Just one year later she married James Vickery, a fellow acting student, and the two of them spent the next ten years doing mostly regional theatre and summer stock and perhaps that's where the story would have ended except for the chance meeting with another actor.
It was 1958 and both Colleen and George C. Scott had been cast in the play Children of Darkness. They fell in love, acquired divorces from their respective spouses and married each other in 1959. But things didn't go smoothly and Colleen and George went their separate ways in 1965, only to marry again. Whatever it was between them that didn't work the first time, it didn't work this time either and she obtained another divorce from Scott in 1972.
Colleen's career mirrored that of many actors. After working for 27 years she finally achieved that elusive breakthrough role and became an "overnight success" in 1974 when she appeared in the play A Moon for the Misbegotten. Although she became extremely successful in movies and television, her first love remained the stage, and she often returned to it, not only to perform, but to direct as well. She also served the members of her craft very well serving as President of Actor's Equity, the theatre union for actors in the United States, from 1985 until 1991.
In Canada, Colleen Dewhurst is best remembered as Marilla Cuthbert in the various "Anne of Green Gables" productions from Sullivan Entertainment. She was the first choice of producer Kevin Sullivan when he was casting the role, and she accepted it immediately, even before reading the script. Anne of Green Gables was special to Colleen and she often told people how she remembered her mother reading it to her when she was a little girl. In addition to appearing regularly on Road to Avonlea as Marilla, Colleen had a recurring role as Candice Bergen's mother on the CBS series "Murphy Brown", for which she won her third Emmy. Over the course of her 45 year career, she won a total of four Emmys, two Tonys, two Obies and two Gemini Awards.
During the last years of her life, Ms. Dewhurst lived on a farm in South Salem, New York, and had a summer home on Prince Edward Island. Colleen Dewhurst died of cancer at age sixty-seven.
Filmography:
Features & TV Movies:
The Count of Monte Cristo (TV-1958)
The Nun's Story (1959)
Medea (TV-1959)
Burning Bright (TV-1959)
I, Don Quixote (TV-1959)
Man on a String (1960)
A Fine Madness (1966)
The Crucible (TV-1967)
The Last Run (1971)
The Price (TV-1971)
The Cowboys (1972)
The Story of Jacob and Joseph (TV-1974)
McQ (1974)
A Moon for the Misbegotten (TV-1975)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Third Walker (1978)
Ice Castles (1978)
When a Stranger Calls (1979)
Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story (TV-1979)
And Baby Makes Six (TV-1979)
Mary and Joseph: A Story of Faith (TV-1979)
The Woman's Room (TV-1980)
The Third Walker (1980)
A Perfect Match (TV-1980)
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (TV-1980)
Escape (TV-1980)
Death Penalty (TV-1980)
Final Assignment (1980)
Tribute (1980)
A Few Days in Weasel Creek (TV-1981)
Between Two Brothers (TV-1981)
Alice in Wonderland (TV-1983)
The Dead Zone (1983)
You Can't Take it With You (TV-1984)
The Glitter Dome (TV-1984)
Anne of Green Gables (TV-1985)
Sword of Gideon (TV-1986)
Johnny Bull (TV-1986)
The Boy Who Could Fly (1986)
Between Two Women (TV-1986)
As Is (TV-1986)
Hitting Home (TV-1987)
Anne of Avonlea (TV-1987)
Bigfoot (TV-1987)
Obsessed (1988)
Termini Station (1989)
Those She Left Behind (TV-1989)
Kaleidoscope (TV-1990)
Lantern Hill (TV-1990) Dying Young (1991)
Bed and Breakfast (released in 1992)
TV Series - Cast:
Studs Lonigan (mini-series, 1979)
The Blue and the Gray (mini-series, 1982)
A.D. (mini-series, 1985)
Murphy Brown (1989 - 1990)
Road to Avonlea (1989-1992)
The Civil War (voice, mini-series, 1990)
Relations:
Mother of Alexander Scott
Mother of Campbell Scott
Wife of James Vickery (1947 - 1959) divorced
Wife of George C. Scott (1959 - 1965) divorced; remarried (1967 - 1972) divorced
Comments:
President of Actors' Equity Association (1985-1991)