Patricia Neal (1926 - 2010)

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Made an appearance at the 2008 Nashville Film Festival in which she was given the festival's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.
Unhappy with her roles in Hollywood, she was suspended by Warner Bros. for refusing to co-star with Randolph Scott in a western. That and her torrid but futile affair with married actor Gary Cooper, which led to an abortion and nervous collapse, quickened her decision to leave Hollywood and return to New York City where she refocused on theater.
Her father, William Burdette Neal, was a transportation manager for a coal company; her mother, Eura Mildred Petrey, was a bookkeeper.
Following her two-year illness and rehabilitation, the Oscar-winning Patricia made her first public appearance in March 1967, in which she spoke to 2,000 people in New York City at a benefit for the New York Association for Brain Injured Children. She also showed up at the 1967 Academy Awards ceremony to present the award for "Best Foreign Film" and received a standing ovation.
On February 5, 1965, while on location filming 7 Women (1966), a pregnant Patricia was bathing daughter Tessa Dahl at a rented home when she suffered a massive, paralyzing stroke, followed by two more. Baby Lucy Dahl was later born healthy but in its aftermath, the actress suffered from partial paralysis, partial blindness, she lost her memory and was unable to speak. Husband Roald Dahl had her undergo extensive therapy back in England, including swimming, walking, memory games and crossword puzzles.
Her 5-month-old baby son Theo Dahl suffered severe neurological damage on December 5, 1960, when his carriage (which was being pushed by a nurse) was accidentally crushed between a taxi and a bus in New York City. He survived following several operations.
After he played such a strong and devoted role in her physical and mental recovery from her paralytic illness, Patricia divorced her husband, writer Roald Dahl, after discovering his romantic affair with her close friend, Felicity ("Liccy") d'Abreu Crossland (aka Liccy Dahl). The couple married shortly after Roald and Patricia's divorce became final.
Returned to work 6 months after giving birth to her daughter Olivia to begin performing in "A Roomful of Roses" on Broadway.
Was in a story segment of The Third Secret (1964) which was removed from the film.
Was 5 months pregnant with her son Theo Dahl when she completed her run of the Broadway play "The Miracle Worker".
Was 3 months pregnant with her daughter Tessa Dahl when she completed filming A Face in the Crowd (1957).
Was supposed to continue playing the female lead role as Olivia Walton in The Waltons (1971) after the pilot episode, but her health problems prevented this.
Was unable to attend The 36th Annual Academy Awards (1964), where she won the Best Actress Oscar for Hud (1963), as she was 8 months pregnant with her daughter Ophelia Dahl.
Her upset at being knocked unconscious in order to give birth to her first child, Olivia, led her to vow never to give birth in New York City again.
Shared an apartment with Jean Hagen in New York City whilst working on Broadway.
Mildred Dunnock served as her matron of honor at her wedding to Roald Dahl on July 2, 1953.
Returned to work 2 months after giving birth to her daughter Ophelia Dahl to begin filming In Harm's Way (1965).
Has appeared on WABC-TV Consumer Line in New York City to deal with a botched contracting job in her bathroom. [March 2009]
Is one of 6 actresses to have been pregnant at the time of winning the Academy Award; the others are Eva Marie Saint, Meryl Streep, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman. Neal is the only to have not accepted her award in person as a result of her pregnancy. Neal was 8 months pregnant with her daughter Ophelia Dahl when she won the Best Actress Oscar for Hud (1963).
Is one of 14 Best Actress Oscar winners to have not accepted their Academy Award in person, Neal's being for Hud (1963). The others are Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Judy Holliday, Vivien Leigh, Anna Magnani, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Anne Bancroft, Elizabeth Taylor, Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson and Ellen Burstyn.
Was the 59th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Hud (1963) at The 36th Annual Academy Awards (1964) on April 13, 1964.
Patricia's great grandfather Abraham Thomas Neal served the South as a private in Company G of the 53rd Virginia Infantry during the Civil War. The Neal family lived in Pittsylvania County, Virginia at the time. Abraham's unit was involved in Gettysburg and was present at Appomattox.
The role that made Neal a star, at age 20, was Regina in "Another Part of the Forest" in 1946 as one critic called her "a young Tallulah Bankhead. She was visited backstage by Tallulah Bankhead, who had played the middle-aged Regina in "The Little Foxes" and said "Dahling, you were as good as I was - and if I said you were half as good, it would have been a hell of a compliment!".
Less than two years after being stricken with a serious stroke, she appeared at New York's Waldorf Astoria in a one-woman show, "An Evening with Patricia Neal".
Before rehearsals began for the 1952 Broadway revival of "The Children's Hour" starring Neal and Kim Hunter, playwright Lillian Hellman hosted a formal party. There, Neal first met author Roald Dahl, and they were married nine months later.
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on May 20, 2005.
Following her death, she was interred at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Litchfield County, Connecticut.
Patricia Neal always refused to reveal the name of her second husband, the man she married after her divorce with Roahl Dahl.
Was just 12 years older than Billy Gray, who played her son in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
Bottle-fed her daughter Olivia as a baby as a result of suffering from post-natal depression following Olivia's birth. She did go on, however, to breastfeed her other children Tessa Dahl, Theo Dahl, Ophelia Dahl and Lucy Dahl.
Never appeared in a film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
She was a lifelong Democrat.
Daughter of William (January 29, 1895-April 16, 1944) , born in the state of Virginia, and Eura (née Petrey) Neal (September 21, 1899-February 11, 2003), born in the state of Kentucky.
Maternal granddaughter of Paschal (January 8, 1865-May 12, 1936) and Flora (née Siler) Petrey (January 22, 1871-November 7, 1940). Both were born and raised in the state of Kentucky.
Maternal great granddaughter of Samuel (1822-1892) and Elizabeth (née Bryant) Petrey (1822-1905). Both were born and raised in the state of Kentucky.
Maternal great granddaughter of Green (1842-1913) and Susan (née Jones) Siler (1845-1913). Both were born and raised in the state of Kentucky.
Personal Quotes (10)
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.
[on Operation Pacific (1951)] 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 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.
Frequently, my life has been likened to a Greek tragedy, and the actress in me cannot deny that comparison.
[her last words while on her deathbed] I've had a lovely time.
[her immortal, earth-saving line uttered to the alien robot Gort in the classic sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)] Gort, Klaatu barata nikto.
[2008 interview] I loved Gary Cooper, for years and years and years. And I still love him. Of course, Becky (Cooper's wife, Veronica Balfe, (Sandra Shaw) was not very happy with me. And I don't blame her. Nor was her little daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, who I guess was about 11 when we started... And I was very sorry. But Gary... I just loved Gary very much.
[on John Wayne] I adored John Wayne. We got along fabulously! The first time we worked together, I didn't like him at all; but in Honolulu he was a much happier man.
See also