Who Am I? May 2019

I was born in the Motor City to Jewish parents of Russian-Polish-Jewish descent. Dad was a furniture dealer who moved us out to CA where I actually grew up. I graduated from Los Angeles High School. I was interested in an acting career so I enrolled in a local acting school. I was lucky enough to get some minor roles and believe or not, along the way, I had a fling with a future POTUS! (not Bill!)I bounced back and forth from CA to NYC. In N.Y. I also studied acting and landed some stage roles and TV work.

My breakout role came in 1961 when my screen nemesis, named” Bert,” led to my total downfall and self-destruction. That role also led to my Oscar nomination. I took a hiatus from acting for a dozen years or so to work in the civil rights movement and protest American involvement in the Vietnam War. Years later I was also nominated for another role as Best Supporting Actress. Strangely enough, I was one of the few actresses to be nominated for an Academy Award for a role in a horror movie.

Before my career ended I was to make a total of 60 films and win an Emmy. I was a regular on a TV series. My hobbies are art, drawing, painting, collecting rocks and enjoying nature. I was married for a time to a well known movie critic. I did author a book and early in 2012 I came to the Landmark Lowe’s Theater in Jersey City for a book-signing event. That’s me, the ingenue with the sultry voice in the photo below.

(1a)Who am I? (1b)Who was my movie critic husband? (2)Which POTUS was I referring to above? (3a)In what 1961 film did my breakout role occur? (3b)Who was “Bert”? (3c)Which well-known pugilist champion appeared in a cameo role in that film? (4)What TV series am I associated with? (5a)Finally, I made two feature length movies and a TV movie with an up and coming actress. In one of those feature films I played her mom and in one of them I played her sister. Who was that actress? (5b) What were the names of those 2 motion pictures?