Eileen Heckart

Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. Born Anna Eileen Herbert, her career spanned nearly 60 years. She first became known for her role as schoolteacher Rosemary Sydney in the original 1953 cast of William Inge's play Picnic on Broadway. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the overprotective mother of a blind adult son in Butterflies Are Free, a role she originated on Broadway before playing it in the film. She often played mothers, including Rocky Graziano's mother in Somebody Up There Likes Me; the mother of a murdered child in The Bad Seed; the elderly mother of an estranged son in the PBS production of the one-act play Save Me a Place at Forest Law; the overbearing mother of the detective portrayed by George Segal in No Way to Treat a Lady; the mother of reporter Jack Stein on the 1990s television sitcom Love & War; the mother of two separate characters on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live in the 1980s and 1990s; and the meddling mother of a jilted wife (played by Diane Keaton) in The First Wives Club, her last film role. She also had a recurring role on the 1970s sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as Mary's Aunt Flo Meredith, a famous woman reporter, which she repeated on the subsequent spin-off series, Lou Grant. In addition to her Academy Award, she also won two Emmy Awards for Save Me a Place at Forest Lawn and Love & War, and a Golden Globe Award for The Bad Seed. She also ...

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Burnt Offerings (1976)

A couple and their 12-year-old son move into a giant house for the summer. Things start acting strange almost immediately. It seems that every time someone gets hurt on the grounds, the beat-up house seems to repair itself.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Dan Curtis
CAST:  Karen Black  •  Oliver Reed  •  Burgess Meredith  •  Bette Davis

A couple and their 12-year-old son move into a giant house for the summer. Things start acting strange almost immediately. It seems that every time someone gets hurt on the grounds, the beat-up house seems to repair itself.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Dan Curtis
CAST:  Karen Black  •  Oliver Reed  •  Burgess Meredith  •  Bette Davis

Bus Stop (1956)

Cowboys Beauregard Decker and Virgil Blessing attend a rodeo in Phoenix, where Decker falls in love with beautiful cafe singer Cherie. He wants to take Cherie back to his native Montana and marry her, but she dreams of traveling to Hollywood and becoming famous. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joshua Logan
CAST:  Marilyn Monroe  •  Don Murray  •  Arthur O'Connell  •  Betty Field

Cowboys Beauregard Decker and Virgil Blessing attend a rodeo in Phoenix, where Decker falls in love with beautiful cafe singer Cherie. He wants to take Cherie back to his native Montana and marry her, but she dreams of traveling to Hollywood and becoming famous. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Joshua Logan
CAST:  Marilyn Monroe  •  Don Murray  •  Arthur O'Connell  •  Betty Field

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

A hard-nosed, hard-living Marine gunnery sergeant clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Clint Eastwood
CAST:  Clint Eastwood  •  Marsha Mason  •  Everett McGill  •  Moses Gunn

A hard-nosed, hard-living Marine gunnery sergeant clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Clint Eastwood
CAST:  Clint Eastwood  •  Marsha Mason  •  Everett McGill  •  Moses Gunn

The First Wives Club (1996)

After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, three mid-life Manhattanites have been dumped for a newer, curvier model. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Hugh Wilson
CAST:  Bette Midler  •  Goldie Hawn  •  Diane Keaton  •  Maggie Smith

After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, three mid-life Manhattanites have been dumped for a newer, curvier model. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Hugh Wilson
CAST:  Bette Midler  •  Goldie Hawn  •  Diane Keaton  •  Maggie Smith

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

The story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Wise
CAST:  Paul Newman  •  Pier Angeli  •  Everett Sloane  •  Eileen Heckart

The story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Wise
CAST:  Paul Newman  •  Pier Angeli  •  Everett Sloane  •  Eileen Heckart

Butterflies Are Free (1972)

Thought provokingCharmingClassicInsightful

Striving to be independent, the blind but determined Don Baker moves away from his overprotective mother. After settling into his new San Francisco digs, Don meets kooky neighbor Jill Tanner. Don's quick wit and good looks disarm the free-spirited Jill, and before ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Milton Katselas
CAST:  Goldie Hawn  •  Edward Albert  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Paul Michael Glaser

Striving to be independent, the blind but determined Don Baker moves away from his overprotective mother. After settling into his new San Francisco digs, Don meets kooky neighbor Jill Tanner. Don's quick wit and good looks disarm the free-spirited Jill, and before ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Milton Katselas
CAST:  Goldie Hawn  •  Edward Albert  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Paul Michael Glaser

Sunshine Christmas (1977)

A musician, brooding over the marriage of his sometime girlfriend, decides to take his adopted daughter to his home in Texas to celebrate Christmas with his family. While there, he begins to rekindle the relationship he once had with his childhood girlfriend.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Glenn Jordan
CAST:  Cliff DeYoung  •  Elizabeth Cheshire  •  Bill Mumy  •  Corey Fischer

A musician, brooding over the marriage of his sometime girlfriend, decides to take his adopted daughter to his home in Texas to celebrate Christmas with his family. While there, he begins to rekindle the relationship he once had with his childhood girlfriend.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Glenn Jordan
CAST:  Cliff DeYoung  •  Elizabeth Cheshire  •  Bill Mumy  •  Corey Fischer

Joe Dancer: The Big Black Pill (1981)

The first of three private-eye movies created by Robert Blake about rugged Joe Dancer as the forerunner to a prospective but unrealized series after the retirement of his "Baretta" character. In the initial outing, Blake, as Dancer, follows a trail of bodies ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Reza Badiyi
CAST:  Robert Blake  •  JoBeth Williams  •  Neva Patterson  •  Wilford Brimley

The first of three private-eye movies created by Robert Blake about rugged Joe Dancer as the forerunner to a prospective but unrealized series after the retirement of his "Baretta" character. In the initial outing, Blake, as Dancer, follows a trail of bodies ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Reza Badiyi
CAST:  Robert Blake  •  JoBeth Williams  •  Neva Patterson  •  Wilford Brimley

The Victim (1972)

A woman is trapped during a storm in a house with no electricity or phone. A killer has murdered her sister, stuffed the body in the basement, and is now after her.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Herschel Daugherty
CAST:  Elizabeth Montgomery  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Sue Ane Langdon  •  George Maharis

A woman is trapped during a storm in a house with no electricity or phone. A killer has murdered her sister, stuffed the body in the basement, and is now after her.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Herschel Daugherty
CAST:  Elizabeth Montgomery  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Sue Ane Langdon  •  George Maharis

Zandy's Bride (1974)

Zandy Allan purchases a mail-order bride, Hannah Lund. He treats her as a possession, without respect or humanity, until their shared ordeal as they struggle to survive develops in him a growing love.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jan Troell
CAST:  Gene Hackman  •  Liv Ullmann  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Susan Tyrrell

Zandy Allan purchases a mail-order bride, Hannah Lund. He treats her as a possession, without respect or humanity, until their shared ordeal as they struggle to survive develops in him a growing love.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jan Troell
CAST:  Gene Hackman  •  Liv Ullmann  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Susan Tyrrell

Hot Spell (1958)

Alma Duval, a middle-aged housewife, trying to hide how much she suffers from her husband's amorous excursions while trying to help her children solve their problems and doing her best to keep her family together as it's slowly falling apart. Meanwhile, daughter ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  George Cukor  •  Daniel Mann
CAST:  Shirley Booth  •  Anthony Quinn  •  Shirley MacLaine  •  Earl Holliman

Alma Duval, a middle-aged housewife, trying to hide how much she suffers from her husband's amorous excursions while trying to help her children solve their problems and doing her best to keep her family together as it's slowly falling apart. Meanwhile, daughter ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  George Cukor  •  Daniel Mann
CAST:  Shirley Booth  •  Anthony Quinn  •  Shirley MacLaine  •  Earl Holliman

F.D.R.: The Last Year (1980)

Though visibly frail and weary, President Franklin D. Roosevelt runs for a precedent-setting fourth term. He also oversees plans for the D-Day Invasion and engages in tempestuous summit meetings with his wartime allies Stalin and Churchill.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Anthony Page
CAST:  Jason Robards  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Edward Binns  •  Kim Hunter

Though visibly frail and weary, President Franklin D. Roosevelt runs for a precedent-setting fourth term. He also oversees plans for the D-Day Invasion and engages in tempestuous summit meetings with his wartime allies Stalin and Churchill.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Anthony Page
CAST:  Jason Robards  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Edward Binns  •  Kim Hunter

Breathing Lessons (1994)

A married couple review their lives and renew their love for one another while driving to a friend's funeral.  (more)

DIRECTION:  John Erman
CAST:  James Garner  •  Joanne Woodward  •  Kathryn Erbe  •  Joyce Van Patten

A married couple review their lives and renew their love for one another while driving to a friend's funeral.  (more)

DIRECTION:  John Erman
CAST:  James Garner  •  Joanne Woodward  •  Kathryn Erbe  •  Joyce Van Patten

The Tree (1969)

A directionless and emotionally scarred young man kidnaps his niece, the daughter of his sister with whom he has a difficult past.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Guenette
CAST:  Jordan Christopher  •  Eileen Heckart  •  James Broderick  •  George Rose

A directionless and emotionally scarred young man kidnaps his niece, the daughter of his sister with whom he has a difficult past.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Guenette
CAST:  Jordan Christopher  •  Eileen Heckart  •  James Broderick  •  George Rose

My Six Loves (1963)

A celebrated actress discovers six runaway children living on her country property.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gower Champion
CAST:  Debbie Reynolds  •  Cliff Robertson  •  David Janssen  •  Eileen Heckart

A celebrated actress discovers six runaway children living on her country property.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gower Champion
CAST:  Debbie Reynolds  •  Cliff Robertson  •  David Janssen  •  Eileen Heckart

Miracle in the Rain (1956)

Wartime romance about a lonely man and woman who meet one rainy afternoon in New York.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Rudolph Maté
CAST:  Jane Wyman  •  Van Johnson  •  Peggie Castle  •  Fred Clark

Wartime romance about a lonely man and woman who meet one rainy afternoon in New York.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Rudolph Maté
CAST:  Jane Wyman  •  Van Johnson  •  Peggie Castle  •  Fred Clark

No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)

Christopher Gill is a psychotic killer who uses various disguises to trick and strangle his victims. Moe Brummel is a single and harassed New York City police detective who starts to get phone calls from the strangler and builds a strange alliance as a result. Kate ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jack Smight
CAST:  Rod Steiger  •  Lee Remick  •  George Segal  •  Eileen Heckart

Christopher Gill is a psychotic killer who uses various disguises to trick and strangle his victims. Moe Brummel is a single and harassed New York City police detective who starts to get phone calls from the strangler and builds a strange alliance as a result. Kate ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jack Smight
CAST:  Rod Steiger  •  Lee Remick  •  George Segal  •  Eileen Heckart

Up the Down Staircase (1967)

Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher at New York's inner-city Calvin Coolidge High: her lit classes are overcrowded, a window is broken, there's no chalk, books arrive late. The administration is concerned mainly with forms and rules (there's an up and a down ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Mulligan
CAST:  Sandy Dennis  •  Patrick Bedford  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Ruth White

Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher at New York's inner-city Calvin Coolidge High: her lit classes are overcrowded, a window is broken, there's no chalk, books arrive late. The administration is concerned mainly with forms and rules (there's an up and a down ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Mulligan
CAST:  Sandy Dennis  •  Patrick Bedford  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Ruth White

White Mama (1980)

A poor, elderly white woman living in a tenement in a black ghetto is befriended by a neighborhood boy, and the two of them form a mutually beneficial relationship: he provides her companionship and protection, and she becomes the mother he never had.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jackie Cooper
CAST:  Bette Davis  •  Ernest Harden Jr.  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Virginia Capers

A poor, elderly white woman living in a tenement in a black ghetto is befriended by a neighborhood boy, and the two of them form a mutually beneficial relationship: he provides her companionship and protection, and she becomes the mother he never had.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jackie Cooper
CAST:  Bette Davis  •  Ernest Harden Jr.  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Virginia Capers

The Bad Seed (1956)

Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, dote on their daughter, Rhoda -- as does their lonely landlady, Monica Breedlove. But self-centered Rhoda has a secret tendency for selfishness and loves to accumulate gifts, whether given or stolen, in her ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mervyn LeRoy
CAST:  Patty McCormack  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Henry Jones  •  Nancy Kelly

Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, dote on their daughter, Rhoda -- as does their lonely landlady, Monica Breedlove. But self-centered Rhoda has a secret tendency for selfishness and loves to accumulate gifts, whether given or stolen, in her ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mervyn LeRoy
CAST:  Patty McCormack  •  Eileen Heckart  •  Henry Jones  •  Nancy Kelly
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