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Judy Holliday
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THERE WERE MANY authentic dumb blondes in the movies, but Judy Holliday wasn't one of them. The comedienne, who can be seen in a four-film retrospective at the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto Aug. 6-11, is possibly the brainiest of all actresses to put on the curls and negligee of the blonde clown. The yellow hair was supposedly her own, as was the fluffy name--a translation of her birth name, Judith Tuvic ("Tuvic" means "holiday" in Hebrew). When she died (early, at age 43, of cancer) the New York Times pointed out that Holliday had an IQ of 172. Holliday has a comic scene in 1950's Born Yesterday (Aug. 8-11) in which her character, Billie Dawn, tries to soak up some culture by listening to symphonies.
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Judy Holliday (June 21, 1921 - June 7, 1965) was an American actress. Born Judith Tuvim in New York City, she began her career on the stage. Her first movie was Greenwich Village in 1944. She had a few more minor roles, before moving back to New York and the stage.
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Judy Holliday won an Academy Award for her performance in George Cukor's Born Yesterday, and it was no small feat — that year she beat out both Bette Davis in All About Eve and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. Adapted from Garson Kanin's sparkling stage play by Albert Mannheimer, Holliday stars in the 1950 Born Yesterday as Billie Dawn (a role she performed on stage more than 1,200 times), a former chorus-line girl who is engaged to Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford), a gruff scrap-yard tycoon with social-climbing ambitions. Passing through Washington, D.C., where Harry hopes to win some political favors, Billie bides her time by listening to the radio and signing various legal contracts (why Harry wants her to sign them she's not sure, but she does). But she ... blunders through social situations with her common ways and thick New Jersey accent, which causes Harry to hire a "tutor" for her in the hopes of "smartening her up." Local journalist Paul Verrall (William Holden) is offered the job at $200 per week, but the bull-headed Harry can't predict where their newfound relationship will lead — or how it will affect his business empire. Holliday's performance has become a lauded piece of Hollywood history — probably no actress has ever been so smart at being stupid.
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When Emily Rocco (Judy Holliday) waddles into view at the beginning of Full of Life, her appearance marked a cinematic breakthrough; seldom had so pregnant a leading lady ever appeared on an American movie screen. With her baby's birthdate only a month away, Emily and her husband Nick (Richard Conte) prepare for first-time parenthood. What they aren't prepared for is Nick's Italian-bricklayer father (Salvatore Baccaloni) who descends upon their humble household with the intention of ruling the roost. Most of all, Papa wants Nick and Emily to go through a proper Catholic wedding, since he doesn't consider their civil ceremony valid. This situation is good for a few laughs, but far funnier is the all-too-typical erratic behavior of expectant mother Emily. Adapted by John Fante from his own novel, Full of Life effortlessly runs the gamut from warm family comedy to outrageous slapstick and back again.
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Baritone-saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and actress Judy Holliday were an "item" around the time of this recording. Their one meeting on record features Holliday doing some effective singing on eleven songs, mostly lesser-known standards plus four songs co-written by the two leaders. Unfortunately Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band is largely wasted, being restricted to anonymous accompaniment of Holliday, making this CD of greater historical value than of interest to jazz listeners. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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Baritone-saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and actress Judy Holliday were an "item" around the time of this recording. Their one meeting on record features Holliday doing some effective singing on eleven songs, ...Read full review
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Judy Holliday