Cara Williams facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cara Williams
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Williams in 1960
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| Born |
Bernice Kamiat
June 29, 1925 New York City, U.S.
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| Died | December 9, 2021 (aged 96) |
| Other names | Bernice Kay |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1941–1982 |
| Spouse(s) |
Alan Gray
(m. 1945; div. 1947)Asher Dann
(m. 1964; died 2018) |
| Children | 2; including John Blyth Barrymore |
Cara Williams was an American actress who starred in many movies and TV shows. She was born Bernice Kamiat on June 29, 1925, and passed away on December 9, 2021.
Cara was especially known for her role as Billy's Mother in the 1958 movie The Defiant Ones. For this role, she was nominated for an Oscar. She also played Gladys Porter in the TV series Pete and Gladys from 1960 to 1962, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination. When she passed away, Cara Williams was one of the last living actors from the "Golden Age" of Hollywood.
Early Life and Family
Cara Williams was born Bernice Kamiat in New York City. Her mother was from Romania, and her father was from Austria. Both were Jewish. From a young age, Cara loved watching movies and would often pretend to be the stars she saw on screen. She knew she wanted to be an actress.
After her parents divorced, Cara and her mother moved to Los Angeles. There, she chose "Cara Williams" as her stage name and attended the Hollywood Professional School. She started acting on the radio and, by age 16 in 1941, she signed a movie contract. Her first small roles were credited under the name Bernice Kay.
Cara Williams was married three times. Her first marriage was to Alan Gray in 1945, and they had a daughter named Cathy. This marriage lasted two years. In 1952, she married actor John Drew Barrymore. They had a son, John Blyth Barrymore, who also became an actor. This marriage ended in 1959. Her third husband was Asher Dann, a real estate businessman. They stayed together for a long time, until he passed away in 2018.
Her Acting Career
Cara Williams's first credited movie role was in the Western film Wide Open Town in 1941. She then appeared in dramas like Girls Town (1942) and Happy Land (1943). She also had small parts in famous films such as Laura (1944). Around this time, she took a short break from acting to marry her first husband and have her daughter.
She continued to get supporting roles in well-known movies like Boomerang (1947) and Knock on Any Door (1949), which starred Humphrey Bogart.
In the early 1950s, Cara started appearing more often on television. She also had roles in musicals like The Girl Next Door (1953) and a comedy with Audrey Hepburn called Monte Carlo Baby (1951). During this period, she took another break to have her son, John Blyth Barrymore.
Cara Williams was cast in the film Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), where she even performed a song. She also appeared in The Helen Morgan Story (1957) with Paul Newman. A big moment in her career was playing Billy's mother in The Defiant Ones (1958). This movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and Cara herself was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for her performance. She also worked with famous actors like James Cagney in Never Steal Anything Small (1959) and Danny Kaye in The Man from the Diner's Club (1963).
On television, Cara appeared in four episodes of the popular show Alfred Hitchcock Presents between 1956 and 1960. From 1960 to 1962, she starred in the CBS comedy series Pete and Gladys with Harry Morgan. This show was a spin-off where Cara played Gladys, a character who had been talked about but never seen in another series. Her role as Gladys earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy.
CBS liked her so much that they kept showing reruns of Pete and Gladys in the mornings. In 1964, she got her own show, The Cara Williams Show. In this comedy, she and Frank Aletter played a married couple who had to keep their marriage a secret from their boss. This show lasted for one season.
During the 1970s, Cara Williams acted less often. She had a supporting role in the 1971 film Doctors' Wives. She also guest-starred in three episodes of the TV show Rhoda in 1975. Her last TV appearance was in a 1977 episode of Visions, and her final movie role was in The One Man Jury in 1978.
Later Life and Passing
After her acting career, Cara Williams started a new path as an interior designer, helping people decorate their homes. She lived in Los Angeles and was married to Asher Dann until his death in 2018. Cara Williams passed away on December 9, 2021, at the age of 96.
Images for kids
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Williams in 1960
See also
In Spanish: Cara Williams para niños
