Eileen Heckart facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Eileen Heckart
Heckart in the 1950s
Born	Anna Eileen Herbert (1919-03-29)March 29, 1919 Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Died	December 31, 2001(2001-12-31) (aged 82) Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	Ohio State University (B.A.)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1943–2000
Spouse(s)	John Harrison Yankee, Jr. ​ ​ (m. 1942; died 1997)​
Children	3

Anna Eileen Heckart (born Herbert; March 29, 1919 – December 31, 2001) was a famous American actress. She worked on stage, in movies, and on television for almost 60 years. She was known for her strong performances and won many awards during her long career.

Early Life and Education

Eileen Heckart was born Anna Eileen Herbert in Columbus, Ohio. When she was young, she was adopted by her stepfather, J.W. Heckart. She used his last name for the rest of her life. She had two stepsisters named Anne and Marilyn.

Eileen loved drama and studied it in college. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from Ohio State University. She also continued her acting studies at HB Studio in New York City.

Eileen Heckart's Acting Career

Eileen Heckart had a very busy and successful acting career. She performed in many plays, movies, and TV shows.

On Stage: Broadway Plays

Eileen Heckart started her career on Broadway in 1943. Broadway is a famous theater district in New York City. She began as an assistant stage manager and an understudy. An understudy is an actor who learns a role so they can perform if the main actor cannot.

She appeared in many well-known plays, including:

• Picnic
• The Bad Seed
• Butterflies Are Free
• The Cemetery Club

Eileen won a Theatre World Award in 1953 for her role in Picnic. She was also nominated for several Tony Awards. The Tony Awards celebrate excellence in live Broadway theater.

In 2000, when she was 81, she performed in an off-Broadway play called The Waverly Gallery. For this role, she won several important awards. These included the Drama Desk Award and the Lucille Lortel Award. In the same year, she received an honorary Tony Award for her amazing lifetime achievements in theater.

She also received three honorary doctorates from different universities. This means they recognized her great contributions to the arts.

In Film and Television

Heckart in the 1956 movie Bus Stop

Eileen Heckart also had a successful career in movies and on television. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1972. This was for her role in the movie Butterflies Are Free. She had also played this role on Broadway.

She was nominated for another Academy Award in 1956 for her part in The Bad Seed. Some other movies she appeared in include:

• The Hiding Place (1976), where she played a nurse in a camp.
• Heartbreak Ridge (1986), with Clint Eastwood.
• The First Wives Club (1996), a comedy film.

On television, Eileen Heckart had many starring and guest roles. She was in TV series like The Five Mrs. Buchanans and Out of the Blue. She also received an Emmy Award nomination for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in Backstairs at the White House.

In 1994, she won an Emmy Award for her guest role on the TV show Love & War. She also appeared on popular shows like:

• The Mary Tyler Moore Show
• The Cosby Show
• Hawaii Five-O
• Gunsmoke
• Little House on the Prairie

Eileen Heckart has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is a special honor for people who have made great contributions to entertainment.

Personal Life

In 1942, Eileen Heckart married John Harrison Yankee, Jr. He was her college sweetheart and worked as an insurance broker. They had three sons together. Her son, Luke Yankee, wrote a book about her life in 2006 called Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing Up with Eileen Heckart.

Eileen Heckart was a member of the Democratic Party. She even met President Lyndon B. Johnson at The White House in 1967. She was also a Roman Catholic.

Death

Eileen Heckart passed away on December 31, 2001, at her home in Norwalk, Connecticut. She was 82 years old and died from lung cancer. Her ashes were scattered outside the Music Box Theatre in Manhattan, New York, a place special to her theater career.

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Eileen Heckart para niños