Eleanor Parker

She made some memorable films – her impressive role as a recluse in No Remission remains one to remember – and drew the attention of critics and audiences alike. However, Eleanor Parker never ended up being considered a movie star, she was there, yes, her face sounded, but she didn’t look like a claim in the movies. And so, despite her class and talent, she ended up almost tiptoeing by, until she retired early at fifty.

Eleanor Jean Parker was born on June 26, 1922 in Cedarville, Ohio. She was the third daughter of a marriage formed by a mathematics professor and his wife. She very soon began to act in school plays and her precocity materialized when she entered the Rice Summer Theater in Massachusetts at the age of 15. She was offered to do a test for Fox, but at that time she preferred to continue training. After moving to California, she began acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, where she was soon discovered by a Warner’s talent scout. She was again offered a contract but she turned it down again. It wasn’t until after finishing her first year in the theater that she decided to contact Warner and sign with them. Eleanor Parker made her film debut at the age of 19, in no less than the filmThey Died With Their Boots On , by Raoul Walsh , although his scenes were eventually cut.

During the first forties it was gradually entering the distribution lists, with an increasing presence. Thus, the historical drama Mission to Moscow (1943), directed by Michael Curtiz ; the thriller Crime by Night (1944), opposite Jane Wyman ; the fantastic drama Between Two Worlds (1944) and the romantic The Very Thought of You (1944), a film directed by Delmer Daves in which Eleanor Parker got her first major role. And soon she was the headliner in the notable war film The Pride of the Marines (1945), a great success among the public, and together with the protagonist Paul Henreid .in Captive of Desire (1946) . Meanwhile, in 1943 Eleanor Parker had married, but divorced the following year, and then she would marry two more times and divorce again each time until she found the man who would be with her until the end, Raymond Hirsch, whom she married. in 1966. Eleanor Parker had 3 children from those marriages. In the 1940s, after some mild romantic comedies in which she co-starred with Errol Flynn , the blonde actress shone again as the fascinating lead in The Woman in White , a romantic intrigue drama devised by nineteenth-century writer Wilkie Collins .

Then began Eleanor Parker’s most famous decade, kicking off with her impeccable Best Actress Oscar nomination for her memorable composition as an inmate in No Remission (1950), a moving prison drama. The Academy did not grant her the prize but the following year she nominated her again for the wonderful “film noir” Brigade 21 , along with Kirk Douglas . Eleanor Parker demonstrated by the hand of the great William Wyler that she knew very well how to move the public with feelings on the surface. This film was followed by others of more than interesting repercussion that further exploited her profile as an adventurer: Scaramouche (1952), Fort Bravo (1953), When the Marabunta Roars(1954) or The Valley of the Kings (1954) are good examples of this facet of Eleanor Parker. In 1955 she changed register and dared with an unpleasant role, that of the handicapped and envious woman who made life miserable for Frank Sinatra in The Man with the Golden Arm . Her third and final Oscar nomination came to Eleanor Parker in the role of her lead in Interrupted Melody (1955), a biopic of opera singer Marjorie Lawrence . She was later featured in one of Frank Capra ‘s last films , Millionaire Illusions , again with Sinatra, and in 1960 she was seen with the tough Robert Mitchum ofWith him came the scandal , which undoubtedly meant the last great role for the actress. Eleanor Parker was only 38 years old, but her career was incomprehensibly declining. In the absence of leading roles, she began to appear in television movies and in different episodes of ordinary television series until the 1990s, and Eleanor Parker only returned sporadically to the cinema, such as in her appearance as Baroness Schraeder in The Sound of Music , or films by lesser consideration, such as The Oscar (1966), the thriller Justified Homicide or the friendly comedy A tiger in the net , both from 1967.