Elizabeth Hartman

Mary Elizabeth Hartman (December 23, 1943 – June 10, 1987) was an American actress of stage and screen. She debuted in the popular 1965 film A Patch of Blue, playing a blind girl named Selina D'Arcy, opposite Sidney Poitier, a role for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.

She appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now as Barbara Darling, for which she was nominated for a second Golden Globe Award. She also starred in Don Siegel's 1971 film The Beguiled, opposite Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page, and in 1973 film Walking Tall.

Hartman voiced Mrs. Brisby in Don Bluth's first animated feature, The Secret of NIMH (1982). This proved to be her last Hollywood film and TV role, as well as her only animated role.

On June 10, 1987, Hartman died after jumping from the window of her fifth floor apartment.<ref name="NYT"/> Earlier that morning, she had reportedly called her psychiatrist saying that she felt despondent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hartman was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the suburb of her hometown.<ref name="vind-yo-06-14-87">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Mary Elizabeth Hartman was born December 23, 1943,Template:Sfn in Youngstown, Ohio,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the daughter of Claire (née Mullaly) and B.C. Hartman.<ref>Claire Hartman death record Retrieved September 12, 2016</ref> She had a sister, Janet, and a brother, William.<ref>People Magazine Hartman Profile Retrieved September 12, 2016</ref><ref name="steely-yo-11-22-64">Template:Cite news</ref> She was a standout dramatic student at Boardman High School, where she graduated in 1961.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She won a statewide award for best actress in a high school production for her performance as Laura in The Glass Menagerie. She performed in several productions at the Youngstown Playhouse during her youth, including A Clearing in the Woods by Arthur Laurents and Our Town. She attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where she met her future husband, Gill Dennis, and spent her summers acting with the Kenley Players.Template:Sfn

Hartman also performed at the Cleveland Playhouse in several productions, including The Madwoman of Chaillot and Bus Stop. She was encouraged to move to New York City and begin auditioning for plays there. In 1964, Hartman was signed to play the ingénue lead in the comedy Everybody Out, the Castle is Sinking, which was not a success, however her performance was again positively received, and film producers took notice.<ref name="ot">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

Template:Quote box In 1964, Hartman was screen-tested by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Brothers.<ref name="steely-yo-11-22-64"/> In the early autumn of 1964, she was cast in the leading role in A Patch of Blue, opposite Sidney Poitier and Shelley Winters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hartman won widespread critical acclaim for her performance, a fact proudly noted by the news media in her hometown, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. During this time, her father, who worked in construction, died.<ref name="vind-yo-12-16-654">Template:Cite news</ref> At the time of her nomination in 1966, Hartman (who was 23 years old) was the youngest nominee ever in the Best Actress category. That same year, she received an achievement award from the National Association of Theatre Owners.<ref name="nyt-09-30-66">Template:Cite news</ref> Hartman also won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year for her performance.Template:Sfn<ref name=gg>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1966, she starred as Laura opposite Mercedes McCambridge as Amanda in a production of The Glass Menagerie in Pittsburgh.<ref name=glass>The Pittsburgh Press 1962 Retrieved September 12, 2016</ref>

In January 1967, columnist Dorothy Manners reported that Hartman had been cast in the role of Neely O'Hara in the movie version of Valley of the Dolls, beating out some more famous Hollywood actresses. She had allegedly made a successful screen test winning over director Mark Robson and producer David Weisbart, the former already enthralled with her performance in You're a Big Boy Now. However, the following month, it was announced that Oscar-winner Patty Duke had signed on to play Neely, albeit against her agent's advice. Duke's over the top performance almost ruined her career.Template:Citation needed

Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, Hartman appeared in three well-received films, two of which starred Broadway and Hollywood legend Geraldine Page, The Group (1966),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> You're a Big Boy Now (1966),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and The Beguiled (1971).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Portraying Pauline Mullins, the wife of former Sheriff Buford Pusser, she starred in the cult classic and major box office hit Walking Tall (1973).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1975, Hartman starred in the premiere of Thomas Rickman's play Balaam, a play about political intrigue in Washington, D.C. The production was mounted in Old Town Pasadena, California, by the Pasadena Repertory Theatre located in The Hotel Carver. It was directed by Hartman's husband, Gill Dennis. In 1981, she starred in a touring production of Morning's at Seven, but left the tour due to declining mental health.<ref name="hansen"/> Her last on-screen performance was in 1981's horror-spoof, Full Moon High, where she appeared as Miss Montgomery. In 1982, she appeared in Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH, where she portrayed the film's protagonist, Mrs. Brisby.Template:Sfn She was highly praised for the performance;Template:Citation needed however, this proved to be her last Hollywood film role, as well as her only animated role.

Later years and death

Throughout much of her life, Hartman suffered from depression.<ref name="NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1978, she was treated at The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1984, she divorced her husband, screenwriter Gill Dennis, after a five-year separation.Template:Cn In the last few years of her life, she quit acting and worked at a museum in Pittsburgh while receiving treatment for her condition at an outpatient clinic. In 1981, she returned to theater, portraying Myrtle Brown in a regional stage production of Morning's at Seven.<ref name=hansen/> Her sister and caretaker, Janet, told the Los Angeles Times:

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On June 10, 1987, Hartman died by suicide, leaping to her death from the window of her fifth-floor Pittsburgh apartment. She was 43 years old.<ref name="NYT"/> Earlier that morning, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office, she had reportedly called her psychiatrist saying that she felt despondent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hartman was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the suburb of her hometown.<ref name="vind-yo-06-14-87">Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director(s)	Notes	Template:Abbr
1965	A Patch of Blue	Selina D'Arcey	Template:Sortname		<ref name=afi>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1966	The Group	Priss Hartshorn	Template:Sortname		<ref name=afi/>
	You're a Big Boy Now	Barbara Darling	Template:Sortname		<ref name=afi/>
1968	The Fixer	Zinaida Lebedev	Template:Sortname		<ref name=afi/>
1971	The Beguiled	Edwina Dabney	Template:Sortname		<ref name=afi/>
1972	In Pursuit of Treasure		Template:Sortname
1973	Walking Tall	Pauline Pusser	Template:Sortname		<ref name=afi/>
1981	Full Moon High	Miss Montgomery	Template:Sortname
1982	The Secret of NIMH	Mrs. Brisby	Template:Sortname	Voice; final film role	<ref name=afi/>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1971	Night Gallery	Judith Timm	Episode: "The Dark Boy"
1973	Love, American Style	Wilma More	Segment: "Love and the Locksmith" Uncredited
1975	Wide World Mystery	Camilla	Episode: "A Little Bit Like Murder"
	Doctors' Hospital	Bobbie Marks	Episode: "Come at Last to Love"
1980	Willow B: Women in Prison	Helen	Template:Sortname	Also known as: A Matter of Survival Television movie

Stage credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1966	The Glass Menagerie	Laura Wingfield	Pittsburgh	<ref name=glass/>
1969	Our Town	Emily Webb	ANTA Playhouse	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1975	Balaam	Female lead	Pasadena Repertory Theatre (world premiere)	<ref name=hansen/>
1981	Morning's at Seven	Myrtle Brown	the national touring company	<ref name=hansen/>

Accolades

Award	Year	Category	Nominated work	Outcome	Template:Abbr
Academy Awards	1965	Best Actress	A Patch of Blue	Template:Nom	<ref name=hansen/>
Golden Globe Awards		Golden Globe for New Star of the Year		Template:Won	<ref name=gg/>
		Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama		Template:Nom
	1966	Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	You're a Big Boy Now	Template:Nom

See also

• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

Sources

• Template:Cite book

External links

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