Dana Wynter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dana Wynter
Wynter in 1962
Born	Dagmar Winter (1931-06-08)8 June 1931 Berlin, Germany
Died	5 May 2011(2011-05-05) (aged 79) Ojai, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1951–1993
Spouse(s)	Greg Bautzer ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1981)​
Children	1

Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 1931 – 5 May 2011) was an actress from Britain, born in Germany. She grew up in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. Dana Wynter acted in movies and on TV for over 40 years, starting in the 1950s. She is best known for her role in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). She often played characters who faced danger, but she also played clever or tricky women in TV shows.

Early Life and Education

Dana Wynter was born in Berlin, Germany. Her father, Dr. Peter Winter, was a British doctor who performed operations. Her mother, Jutta Oarda, was from Hungary.

Dana grew up in Britain. When she was 16, her father moved to Southern Rhodesia (which is now Zimbabwe). He loved the country and brought Dana and her stepmother to live there.

In 1949, Dana Wynter (who pronounced her first name "Donna") went to Rhodes University in South Africa. She studied medicine but also loved acting in plays. After one year, she went back to Britain and decided to become a full-time actress.

Becoming an Actress

Starting in British Films

Dana Wynter began her movie career in 1951 when she was 20. She often played small roles that were not even listed in the movie credits. One of these was Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951), where other famous actresses like Kay Kendall and Joan Collins also had small parts.

While acting in a play called Hammersmith, an agent from America offered to represent her. She also had an uncredited role as Morgan Le Fay's servant in the MGM movie Knights of the Round Table (1953).

On November 5, 1953, Dana left for New York. This day is known as Guy Fawkes Night in Britain, a day with fireworks. She later said it felt like a special send-off for her trip to the "New World."

Success in New York

Dana Wynter found more success in New York than in London. She acted on stage and in many TV shows. She had main roles in popular shows like Robert Montgomery Presents (1953), Suspense (1954), and Studio One (1955). She also appeared in an episode of The Virginian (1963) and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1965), which won an award.

Working with 20th Century Fox

In 1955, Dana moved to Hollywood and signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, a big movie studio. That same year, she won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She shared this award with Anita Ekberg and Victoria Shaw.

She then started getting major roles in big movies. She starred with Kevin McCarthy in her most famous film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), where she played Becky Driscoll.

She also acted alongside many other famous actors:

• Robert Taylor in D-Day the Sixth of June (1956)
• Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier in Something of Value (1957)
• Mel Ferrer in Fräulein (1958)
• Robert Wagner in In Love and War (1958)
• James Cagney in Shake Hands with the Devil (1959)
• Kenneth More in Sink the Bismarck! (1960), which was her last film under her 20th Century Fox contract.

Acting in the 1960s and Beyond

After her contract, Dana Wynter continued to act in movies like On the Double (1961) with Danny Kaye and The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) with George C. Scott.

She and her husband, Greg Bautzer, bought a second home in Ireland. For the next 20 years, she appeared as a guest star in many TV series. These included several episodes of Wagon Train and roles in Twelve O'Clock High (1964–66). She also appeared in the movie Airport (1970).

In 1966–67, she co-starred in The Man Who Never Was, but the show only lasted one season. She also guest-starred in The Invaders (1968) and The Donald O'Connor Show (1969). On shows like Get Smart, The Rockford Files, and Hart to Hart, she often played elegant, upper-class characters who were sometimes tricky or villainous. She also appeared on an episode of The Love Boat.

Later in her career, she acted in the Irish TV show Bracken (1978–80). In 1993, she returned to TV to play the wife of Raymond Burr's character in The Return of Ironside. This was her final acting role.

Personal Life

Dana Wynter with her husband Greg Bautzer (1957)

Dana Wynter with her son Mark (1963)

In 1956, Dana Wynter married Greg Bautzer, a lawyer who worked with celebrities. They had one child, a son named Mark Ragan Bautzer, born in 1960. They divorced in 1981.

Dana Wynter was known for her elegance in Hollywood. She split her time between her homes in California and Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ireland. She was against apartheid, a system of racial separation in South Africa. She once refused to open a performance center there because she learned that black and white children would have to attend on different days. She even planned to make a movie criticizing this policy.

In the late 1980s, Dana Wynter wrote a column called "Grassroots" for The Guardian newspaper in London. She wrote about life in both Ireland and California, often using titles like Irish Eyes and California Eyes for her writings.

Death

Dana Wynter passed away on May 5, 2011, from heart problems at the Ojai Valley Community Hospital. She was 79 years old. Her son, Mark, said she passed away very peacefully.

Filmography

Awards

See also

In Spanish: Dana Wynter para niños