CHERUBS is very grateful for the autographed photo donated by Patricia Neal.
Biography from IMDB.com
Date of Birth
20 January 1926, Packard, Kentucky, USABirth Name
Patsy Louise NealHeight
5' 8" (1.73 m)Spouse
| Roald Dahl | (2 July 1953 - 17 November 1983) (divorced) 5 children |
Trivia
Grandmother of model/actress Sophie Dahl and Luke Kelly.Her struggle back from a debilitating stroke in the mid-1960s was chronicled in the film, The Patricia Neal Story (1981) (TV), starring Glenda Jackson.
Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1986.
She was offered the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967) but she was nervous about doing such a demanding role so soon after her stroke.
Roald was credited with helping her rehabilitate after her strokes. He designed her recovery routines.
Grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Her own stroke recovery experiences led to her becoming a champion in the rehabilitation field. Her commitment to the rehabilitation center at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center (in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee) led the Center to dedicate it in 1978 as The Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center.
Enrolled in speech and drama at Northwestern University.
"Variety", the entertainment newspaper, mistakenly reported in their February 22, 1965 headline that Patricia Neal had died from her multiple strokes five days earlier. In truth, she remained in a coma for 21 days. Pregnant at the time, her daughter, Lucy Dahl, was born healthy.
After moving to New York, she earned her first job as a Broadway understudy after only two-and-a-half months of pounding the pavement in the production of "The Voice of the Turtle."
Has a summer home in Martha's Vineyard.
Mother of Ophelia Dahl, Lucy Dahl, Theo Dahl and Tessa Dahl.
Daughter, Olivia Twenty Dahl (born April 20, 1955 - d. November 17, 1962), died suddenly of complications from measles at the age of seven.
Member of Pi Beta Phi sorority
In 1947, the first time that Broadway's Tony Awards were presented, she won the Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) Award for "Another Part of the Forest."
Is portrayed by Glenda Jackson in The Patricia Neal Story (1981) (TV)
Her classmates at Northwestern University included Cloris Leachman, Paul Lynde, Charlotte Rae, Charlton Heston, Martha Hyer, and Agnes Nixon.
Began a relationship with Gary Cooper on the set of The Fountainhead (1949). He was forty-seven, she was twenty-two. In 1951 Cooper separated from his wife with the intention of marrying Neal, however he never filed for divorce and in 1954 they reconciled. Meanwhile the affair with Neal had fizzled out, and she married Roald Dahl.
On March 4, 2007, she received one of the two Lifetime Achievement Awards presented annually by the SunDeis Film Festival at Brandeis University, following a screening of her classic film A Face in the Crowd (1957) (Roy Scheider was the other honoree).
In Italy, most of her films were dubbed by Clelia Bernacchi. She was occasionally dubbed by Franca Dominici -in The Fountainhead (1949); Giovanna Scotto -in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951); Tina Lattanzi -in Diplomatic Courier (1952); as well as Anna Miserocchi.
Has performed at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia.
She has a grandchild from daughter, Ophelia Dahl, and Ophelia's partner, Lisa Frantzis.
Grandchildren Sophie Dahl (September 15,1977), Clover Martha Patricia Kelly (September 21,1984), Luke James Roald Kelly (July 17,1986), Ned Dahl Donovan (January 7,1994) from daughter Tessa; Phoebe Patricia Rose Faircloth (November 4,1988),Chloe Michaela Faircloth (September 12,1990) from daughter Lucy; Alexa Isabella Dahl (June 26,2005) from son Theo.
Personal Quotes
"In 1949, we stayed with one of my friends who had a book in which people were asked to write down their secret ambitions. Ronald Reagan wrote he'd like to be president. All those years ago!".I think I was born stubborn, that's all.
"John Wayne had enormous appeal for the public, but I did not find him appealing in the least. I think my charms were lost on him too. He was going through marital problems, which kept him in a bad humor all the time. Duke was at odds with the director and could be a bully, particularly with a gay publicity man, who seemed to draw his wrath at every turn." - On Operation Pacific (1951)
[On Gary Cooper] He was the most gorgeously attractive man. Bright, too, though some people didn't think so.
[when she heard Paul Newman died] Somebody came in and told me that Paul had died, and I was heartbroken, because he was a beautiful man. I knew that he was a little ill, and I knew that he was probably going to die, but you know it's just so heartbreaking when one hears it.
