Polly Bergen
{{Short description|American actress, singer, entrepreneur (1930–2014)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Polly Bergen
| image = Polly Bergen 1953.JPG
| caption = Bergen in 1953
| birth_name = Nellie Paulina Burgin
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|7|14}}
| birth_place = Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|9|20|1930|7|14}}
| death_place = Southbury, Connecticut, U.S.
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Actress
- singer
- writer
}}
| years_active = 1949–2014
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Jerome Courtland|1950|1955|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Freddie Fields|1957|1975|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Jeffrey Endervelt|1982|1990|end=divorced}} }}
| children = 3, including Kathy Fields (stepchild)
}}
Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer, and entrepreneur.
She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in Helen Morgan (Playhouse 90). For her stage work, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Carlotta Campion in Follies in 2001. Her film work included Cape Fear (1962) and The Caretakers (1963), for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She hosted her own weekly variety show for one season (The Polly Bergen Show), was a regular panelist on the TV game show To Tell the Truth, and later in life had roles in The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives. She wrote three books on beauty, fashion, and charm. She is also the inspiration behind Mother Goose in The Land of Stories.
Early life
Bergen was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Lucy (née Lawhorne; 1909–1985) and William Hugh Burgin (1909–1982), a construction engineer.{{cite web| url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/10/Polly-Bergen.html| title=Polly Bergen profile| website=filmreference.com| access-date=March 5, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205200340/http://www.filmreference.com/film/10/Polly-Bergen.html| archive-date=February 5, 2010| url-status=live}} Bill Bergen, as he was later known, had singing talent and appeared with his daughter in several episodes of her 18-episode comedy/variety show The Polly Bergen Show, which aired during the 1957–1958 television season to much fanfare. They released a duet Columbia LP, Polly and Her Pop.
Career
Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear (1962) opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. She had roles as the romantic interest in three Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy films in the early 1950s: At War with the Army, That's My Boy, and The Stooge. She was featured in a number of Westerns during the 1950s, including Warpath, Arena, and Escape from Fort Bravo. She starred in the horse-racing comedy Fast Company; she starred as the first female commander-in-chief in Kisses for My President; and as the wife of James Garner in the romantic comedy Move Over, Darling, which also starred Doris Day. Bergen's later roles included Mrs. Vernon-Williams in Cry-Baby, a John Waters film.
Bergen received an Emmy Award for her portrayal of the true-life title subject in the episode "Helen Morgan" of the 1950s television series Playhouse 90.{{cite web| url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=polly+bergen| title=Emmy Awards Search – Polly Bergen| website=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences| access-date=September 21, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921124113/http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=polly+bergen| archive-date=September 21, 2014| url-status=live}} Signed to Columbia Records, she also enjoyed a successful recording career during this era. She recorded an album in 1957 titled, Bergen Sings Morgan, which included the song "Bill".
In the 1950s, she became known as "the Pepsi Cola Girl", having done a series of commercials for this product.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/arts/polly-bergen-dies-at-84-emmy-winning-actress.html| title=Polly Bergen Dies at 84; Emmy-Winning Actress| newspaper=The New York Times| date=September 20, 2014| access-date=September 23, 2014| url-access=subscription}}
She was a regular panelist on the game show To Tell the Truth during its original run. She was an occasional panelist and appeared three times as the mystery guest on What's My Line?. She appeared on the interview program Here's Hollywood. She earned two Emmy Award nominations for her role as Rhoda Henry, wife of Captain "Pug" Henry (played by Robert Mitchum), in two miniseries: The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance.
Bergen starred in a 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/mmx-11870_lgcy-story.html#page=1| title=2001 Tony Award Nominations| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=May 8, 2001| access-date=September 21, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921123301/http://www.latimes.com/mmx-11870_lgcy-story.html#page=1| archive-date=September 21, 2014| url-status=dead}} In 2003, she starred at the same theatre in Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks opposite Mark Hamill in a role she took over from Rue McClanahan.{{cite news| url=http://www.playbill.com/article/rue-mcclanahan-bows-out-of-bways-six-dance-lessons-hamill-ready-to-dance-com-114008| title=Rue McClanahan Bows Out of Bway's Six Dance Lessons; Hamill Ready to Dance| first=Kenneth| last=Jones| date=June 27, 2003| access-date=September 29, 2016| magazine=Playbill}}{{cite news| url=http://www.playbill.com/article/six-dance-lessons-in-six-weeks-to-close-nov-23-com-116500| title=Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks to Close Nov. 23| first=Andrew| last=Gans| date=November 21, 2003| access-date=September 29, 2016| magazine=Playbill}}
In 2004, Bergen played Fran Felstein on HBO's The Sopranos, the former mistress of Johnny Soprano and John F. Kennedy. From 2007 to 2011, Bergen had a guest role in Desperate Housewives as Stella Wingfield, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination.{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000917/awards?ref_=nm_awd |title=Polly Bergen: Awards| website=IMDb}}{{better source needed|date=February 2023}}
She was a semiregular cast member of Commander-in-Chief (2006) as the mother of Mackenzie Allen, the fictional president of the United States, played by Geena Davis. Bergen had once played the first female president of the United States in Kisses for My President (1964). Another late appearance came in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation Candles on Bay Street (2006), in which she played the assistant to a husband-and-wife team of veterinarians.
In 1965, Bergen created the Polly Bergen Company cosmetics line, also known as Oil of the Turtle. She also created lines of jewelry and shoe brands, and wrote three books on beauty. She had retail stores in Knoxville and Gatlinburg bearing her name.{{cite web | url=https://archive.knoxnews.com/entertainment/life/gay-lyons-people--parties-polly-bergen-recalls-career-knoxville-connections-ep-403451673-357612031.html/ | title=Gay Lyons' People & Parties: Polly Bergen recalls career, Knoxville connections }}
Personal life
Bergen was married to actor Jerome Courtland from 1950 to 1955. In 1957, she married Hollywood agent-producer Freddie Fields, with whom she had two adopted children, Pamela Kerry Fields and Peter William Fields, and stepdaughter, Kathy Fields. Bergen converted from Southern Baptist to Judaism upon marrying Fields.{{cite news| url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/307090052| title=Acting, Just for The Fun of It| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=December 18, 1988| access-date=March 5, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323205430/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/doc/307090052.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AFT&type=current&date=Dec%2018%2C%201988&author=Patricia%20Brennan&pub=The%20Washington%20Post%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=Acting%2C%20Just%20for%20The%20Fun%20of%20It| archive-date=March 23, 2014| first=Patricia| last=Brennan| id={{ProQuest|307090052}}| url-status=live}} The couple divorced in 1975. She was married to entrepreneur Jeffrey Endervelt in the 1980s.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/22/polly-bergen1| title=Polly Bergen Obituary| newspaper=The Guardian| location=London| date=September 22, 2014| access-date=January 1, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020131039/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/22/polly-bergen1| archive-date=October 20, 2014| url-status=live}}{{cite news| url=http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/26584203/polly-bergen-versatile-actress-singer-dies-at-84| title=Polly Bergen, versatile actress, singer, dies at 84| agency=Associated Press| first=Jake| last=Pearson| work=KRIV News| date=September 20, 2014| access-date=September 22, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923031623/http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/26584203/polly-bergen-versatile-actress-singer-dies-at-84| archive-date=September 23, 2014| url-status=dead}}
In 1991, Bergen spoke about having had an abortion, for inclusion in the book The Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion.{{cite magazine| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/05/the-sanguine-sex/305780/| title=The Sanguine Sex| last=Flanagan| first=Caitlin| date=2007-05-01| magazine=The Atlantic| language=en-US| access-date=2019-05-27}}
On March 31, 1993, Brandon Lee died accidentally on the set of The Crow, and in early April, Bergen held a memorial at her home in Los Angeles with 200 of Lee's family, friends, and business associates attended.{{cite news| date=May 3, 1993| title=Shooting of a star| page=26| newspaper=The Observer}}{{full citation needed|date=February 2023}}
Bergen was a liberal-minded, politically active Democrat and feminist. She was an active advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment, women's education, and Planned Parenthood.{{cite magazine| url=https://people.com/archive/polly-bergen-who-doesnt-thinks-e-r-a-needs-a-facelift-vol-14-no-14/| title=Polly Bergen (who Doesn't) Thinks E.r.a. Needs a Facelift| magazine=People| date=October 6, 1980| access-date=February 9, 2023| first=Barbara| last=Rowes| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110330124710/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0%2C%2C20077574%2C00.html| archive-date=March 30, 2011| url-status=live}}{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-cape-fear-actress-polly-bergen-dies-at-84-20140920-story.html| title=Polly Bergen, dead at 84, was strong women's rights activist| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=September 20, 2014| access-date=September 21, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922013104/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-cape-fear-actress-polly-bergen-dies-at-84-20140920-story.html| archive-date=September 22, 2014| url-status=live| url-access=subscription}} Bergen's niece is television producer Wendy Riche.
Death
Bergen died of natural causes on September 20, 2014, at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, surrounded by family and close friends. She had been diagnosed with emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s.{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0921-polly-bergen-20140921-story.html#page=1| title=Polly Bergen dies at 84; Emmy-winning actress, nightclub singer| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| first=Steve| last=Chawkins|date=September 20, 2014| access-date=September 22, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924033105/http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-0921-polly-bergen-20140921-story.html#page=1| archive-date=September 24, 2014| url-status=live| url-access=subscription}} Upon her death, she was cremated.{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=Polly+Bergen+cremated&pg=PA58| title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons| edition=3d| first=Scott| last=Wilson| date=August 19, 2016| publisher=McFarland| isbn=978-1-4766-2599-7| via=Google Books}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=2 | 1949
| Champion | Singer | uncredited |
| Across the Rio Grande
| Singer | (as Polly Burgin) |
| rowspan=2 | 1950
| The Men | Singer | uncredited |
| At War with the Army
| Helen Palmer | a Martin & Lewis comedy |
| rowspan=2 | 1951
| Betty 'Babs' Hunter | a Martin & Lewis comedy |
| Warpath
| Molly Quade | |
| 1952
| Mary Turner | a Martin & Lewis comedy |
| rowspan=5 | 1953
| Janet Tunner | |
| Half a Hero
| herself - guest appearance | |
| Fast Company
| Carol Maldon | |
| Arena
| Ruth Danvers | |
| Escape from Fort Bravo
| Alice Owens | |
| 1954
| The Blue Angel | herself - host | |
| 1962
| Peggy Bowden | |
| rowspan=2 | 1963
| Lorna Melford | nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
| Move Over, Darling
| Bianca Steele | |
| 1964
| U.S. President Leslie Harrison McCloud | |
| 1967
| Technical Adviser (Clara Brown) | |
| 1984
| Velvet | Mrs. Vance | |
| 1987
| Estelle Stone | |
| 1989
| Mother, Mother | Barbara Cutler | short film |
| 1990
| Cry-Baby | Mrs. Vernon-Williams | directed by John Waters |
| rowspan=2 | 1995
| Mrs. Unterveldt | |
| Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
| Miss Maybry | |
| 2005
| Beverly Cameron | |
| 2006
| Mrs. A | |
| 2012
| Grandma | |
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1954
| singing ‘Mountain Scenery’ | aired October 16 |
| 1954–55
| herself / host | |
| 1956–61
| herself | 165 episodes |
| 1957
| "The Helen Morgan Story" (episode 33) |
| 1957–58
| The Polly Bergen Show | herself | 18 episodes |
| 1960
| herself | Guest |
| 1961
| Crystal Coe | Season 6 Episode 30: "You Can't Trust a Man" |
| 1961
| Kitty Allbright | Season 5 Episode 2: "The Kitty Allbright Story" |
| 1962
| herself | episode: January 28, 1962 |
| 1962
| Belle Sommers | Belle Sommers | TV movie |
| 1967
| Myrtle (Bolivar's Fiancee) | Season 17 Episode 12: "Red's Relatives" |
| 1973
| Thriller | Suzy Hunter | Season 1 Episode 4: "An Echo of Theresa" |
| 1974
| Sylvia Carter | TV movie |
| 1975
| Mona Briarly | TV movie |
| 1976
| Dina Carroll-Winer | Season 1 Episode 19: "The Tyrant of Tin Pan Alley" |
| 1977
| Vera Keppler | TV movie |
| 1977
| Telethon | Dorothy Goodwin | TV movie |
| 1978
| Dana Greenberg | TV movie |
| 1981
| The Million Dollar Face | Jo Burns | TV movie |
| 1982
| Born Beautiful | Marion Carmody | TV movie |
| 1982
| Dana Pierce | 3 episodes |
| 1983
| Rhoda Henry | miniseries (6 episodes) |
| 1984
| Esther Brandell | Season 7 Episode 14: "Lady of the House/Mrs. Brandell's Favorites" |
| 1985
| Hotel | Elizabeth Hastings | Season 2 Episode 19: "Images" |
| 1985
| Dr. Jocelyn Laird | Season 2 Episode 4: "School for Scandal" |
| 1988
| Addicted to His Love | Vivien Langford | TV movie |
| 1988
| She Was Marked for Murder | Laura Lee Webster | TV movie |
| 1988–89
| Rhoda Henry | miniseries (6 episodes) |
| 1988
| Evelyn Taylor | Season 1 Episode 13: "Joey's Mother-in-Law" |
| 1989
| Emma Julian | Season 3 Episode 18: "By Myself" |
| 1989
| Emily Stepford | TV movie |
| 1989
| My Brother's Wife | Myra Gilbert | TV movie |
| 1990
| Clairee Belcher | unsold pilot |
| 1991
| Carol | TV movie |
| 1991–92
| Doris Campbell | 23 episodes |
| 1992
| Lady Against the Odds | Cleo Storrs | TV movie |
| 1993
| Ruby Bee | TV movie |
| 1994
| Rachel Doucet | Season 1 Episode 1: "Who Killed the Starlet?" |
| 1995
| Sandy Gilman | TV movie |
| 1996
| Murial | TV movie |
| 1996
| For Hope | Molly Altman | TV movie |
| 1998
| Stella | Season 4 Episode 13: "Deconstructing Harry" |
| 2004
| Season 5 Episode 7: "In Camelot" |
| 2005–06
| Kate Allen | 10 episodes |
| 2006
| Rosemary | TV movie |
| 2007–11
| 10 episodes |
Radio appearances
Discography
Albums list adapted from AllMusic and Discogs.{{cite web| url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/polly-bergen-mn0000350025/discography| title=Polly Bergen - Discography| website=AllMusic| access-date=March 5, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311013730/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/polly-bergen-mn0000350025/discography| archive-date=March 11, 2014| url-status=live}}{{cite web| url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/725805-Polly-Bergen| title=Polly Bergen - Discography| website=Discogs| access-date=March 7, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317004620/http://www.discogs.com/artist/725805-Polly-Bergen| archive-date=March 17, 2014| url-status=live}}{{cite web| url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/polly-bergen-mn0000350025/awards| title=Polly Bergen - Billboard Charts| website=AllMusic| access-date=March 7, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311013801/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/polly-bergen-mn0000350025/awards|archive-date=March 11, 2014| url-status=live}}
= Albums =
- 1955: Little Girl Blue (10" LP)
- 1956: The Girls
- 1956: Today's Hits (EP)
- 1957: Bergen Sings Morgan (Billboard 200 – No. 10)
- 1957: The Party's Over (Billboard 200 – No. 20)
- 1958: Polly and Her Pop (accompanied on guitar & vocals by her father, Bill Bergen)
- 1959: My Heart Sings – Columbia #CS 8018 – orchestra conducted by Luther Henderson (re-released in 1996)
- 1959: All Alone by the Telephone
- 1959: First Impressions – with Farley Granger and Hermione Gingold
- 1960: Four Seasons of Love
- 1961: Sings the Hit Songs from Do-Re-Mi and Annie Get Your Gun
- 1963: Act One, Sing Too
=Singles=
- 1958: "Come Prima" (Billboard Hot 100 – No. 67)
Bibliography
- {{cite book |title=The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion, and Charm |first=Polly |last=Bergen |year=1962 |publisher=Prentice Hall |asin=B0007E27RS}}
- {{cite book |title=Polly's Principles: Polly Bergen Tells You how You Can Feel and Look as Young as She Does |first=Polly |last=Bergen |year=1974 |publisher=Bantam Books |asin=B000H4KY1Y}}
- {{cite book |title=I'd Love To, but What'll I Wear |first=Polly |last=Bergen |year=1978 |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |isbn=978-0-8722-3523-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/idlovetobutwhatl00berg}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{IMDb name|0000917}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{iobdb name}}
- {{AllMusic|id=polly-bergen-mn0000350025}}
- [http://www.meredy.com/pollybergen/ Polly Bergen – Madame President] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327144058/http://meredy.com/pollybergen/ |date=March 27, 2016 }}
- [http://www.knoxnews.com/galleries/polly-bergen-in-knoxville Gallery: Polly Bergen in Knoxville, TN]
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesLeadActress}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergen, Polly}}
Category:Actresses from Indiana
Category:Actresses from Tennessee
Category:American film actresses
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople
Category:American women memoirists
Category:American women in business
Category:Columbia Records artists
Category:Compton High School alumni
Category:Connecticut Democrats
Category:Converts to Judaism from Baptist denominations
Category:Jewish American actresses
Category:Jubilee Records artists
Category:American torch singers
Category:Traditional pop music singers
Category:Musicians from Richmond, Indiana
Category:People from Knoxville, Tennessee
Category:Writers from Richmond, Indiana
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:21st-century American women