Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 New York City – August 8, 2005 Northeast Harbor, Maine) was an Oscar-nominated American actress, best known for her role on the hit CBS drama, Dallas, as its strong and reasoned matriarch, Miss Ellie Ewing. Career Bel Geddes began her career as a stage actress at the age of 18, going on to star in fifteen major Broadway productions. Her most notable stage performances included the role of Maggie "the cat" in Elia Kazan's original production of Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway in 1956, and the title role in the long-running Jean Kerr comedy Mary,