Patricia Neal, a Tony- and Oscar-winning actress who embarked on a remarkable career comeback after suffering three strokes at age 39 that left her in a coma for three weeks, died on Sunday at her home in Edgartown, Mass., according to the New York Times. She was 84. Neal emerged in her early 20s on Broadway, winning a Tony for her debut in Lillian Hellman’s Another Part of the Forest before moving to Hollywood.
She is best known for her Oscar-winning turn in 1963′s Hud, playing the rare woman able to resist the adulterous appeals of Paul Newman’s callous title character. After suffering three strokes in 1965, she learned to walk and talk again and returned to work despite an impaired memory. She earned another Oscar nomination for 1968′s The Subject Was Roses. Other notable roles include the 1951 sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still, Elia Kazan’s 1957 drama A Face in the Crowd, 1961′s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the original Broadway production of The Miracle Worker (as Helen Keller’s mother).
Neal’s personal life was often as dramatic as anything she did onscreen. At 23, she embarked on a three-year affair with Gary Cooper, her costar in The Fountainhead, who ultimately decided to stay with his wife and daughter. She then wed the British children’s book author Roald Dahl, resulting in a difficult 30-year marriage that produced five children and more than its share of tragedy. Their oldest, Olivia, died of measles at age 7, and son Theo suffered major brain damage at four months when his baby carriage was crushed between a taxi and bus in New York City.
Why is it that the New York Times wouldn’t mention her role in “The Day The Earth Stood Still?” One of the best SciFi movies ever made? Sad.
Rest in Peace, Ms. Neal. You’ve earned it.
I just watched (and loved) her in A Face in the Crowd. I wondered why that wasn’t mentioned either.
Its mentioned in the second paragraph.
I hadn’t seen her in much, but the minute I saw her face I knew she was in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. You weren’t supposed to like her character, but she sure had a way of making her presence known. I’ll have to go check out Fountainhead and Hud now. Love me some Gary Cooper and Paul Newman.
@jade: I you actually read what i wrote, I said the New York Times article. The film isn’t mentioned there.
An awesome, awesome actress — no one comes close to her today. You will be missed.
How sad. So right–they just don’t have actresses of her calibre today. A jem. RIP.
Great actress, yes, but no need to disparage today’s performers. don’t forget Meyrl Streep is out there. Anyway, RIP Ms. Neal
I agree, and would also add Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench, both outstanding actresses.
And don’t forget Jessica Simpson and her haunting rendition of Daisy Duke in the classic remake of “Dukes of Hazzard”.
not funny, maff
I must say that it actuall is funny — I laughed at loud at Maff’s comment. Maybe not appropriate here, but certainly funny…
Ms. Neal kept patching up John Wayne in “In Harm’s Way”.
As Patricia Neal’s character, on a classic episode of “Little House On The Prairie” left behind for her eulogy, stated: “Remember me with smiles and laughter
for that is how I will remember you all.
If you can only remember me with tears,
then don’t remember me at all.
Thanks for the memories, Patricia
Bawww!!!! get a life!!!
Get a heart, and how about stop trolling?
How lovely, Booggit! Thanks for posting this.
I had met Ms. Neal several years ago. Very nice, very gracious. A class act, who treated everyone well, and talked to the average person, as if you were her neigbor. She will be missed.
In HUD – what a performance!
Great actress.
She is great in The Day the Earth Stood Still. RIP, even though I have only seen one of your movies, I still know that you were an amazing actress!
She was also the original mother in the film The Waltons. I really liked her work. Didn’t realize she was married to Roald Dahl! RIP Ms. O’Neil!
He was the one who brought her back from her strokes, and became her Svengali.
And then cheated on her with her friend. All of which is part of the “difficult marriage” mentioned above.
Patricia Neal was fantastic in the original “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and in “The Walton’s.” I’ll never forget her character in that show saying “How I wish it were Spring again, with lilacs blooming on the fence.” She was wonderful to watch on screen.
That’s how I best remember her too–on LHOTP. And Kirby–get a heart!!! It’s actually all right to show emotion these days.
An amazing actress and an inspiring person in real life. This lady overcame so much heartbreak and trauma with courage and fortitude. She had plans when she passed. RIP lovely lady.
I’ll always remember watching her when I was a kid as the original Olivia Walton in ‘The Homecoming’
It doesn’t get any better than “Fountainhead”.
Such a fantastic actress — and a truly indomitable character.