Hope Lange facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hope Lange
Lange in 1957
Born	Hope Elise Ross Lange (1933-11-28)November 28, 1933 Redding, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	December 19, 2003(2003-12-19) (aged 70) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Reed College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1942–1998
Spouse(s)	Don Murray ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1961)​ Alan J. Pakula ​ ​ (m. 1963; div. 1971)​ Charles Hollerith, Jr. ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	2, including Christopher Murray

Hope Elise Ross Lange (born November 28, 1933 – died December 19, 2003) was a talented American actress. She starred in movies, plays, and TV shows. Hope Lange was nominated for important awards like the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for her role as Selena Cross in the 1957 movie Peyton Place. She also won two Emmy Awards in 1969 and 1970 for playing Carolyn Muir in the TV comedy The Ghost & Mrs. Muir.

Hope Lange's Early Life and Family

15-year-old Hope Lange modeling the "Man-from-Mars, Radio Hat" in 1949.

Hope Lange was born into a family that loved theater in Redding, Connecticut. Her father, John George Lange, was a cellist and helped arrange music for famous shows. Her mother, Minette, was also an actress. Hope had two sisters, Minelda and Joy, and a brother, David. When Hope was very young, her family moved to Greenwich Village in New York City.

When she was nine, Hope had a speaking part in a Broadway play called The Patriots. This play opened in January 1943 and won awards. After her father passed away in 1942, her family stayed in New York City. From 1944 to 1956, Hope's mother ran a restaurant called Minette's of Washington Square. The whole family helped out; Hope and her sister Joy worked as waitresses.

While in high school, Hope studied dance and worked as a model. She even walked the dog for former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt! A newspaper photo of Hope led to her becoming an advertising model in New York City. She appeared on the cover of Radio-Electronics magazine in June 1949, wearing a fun invention called the "Man from Mars" Radio Hat. This was a portable radio built into a pith helmet and was very popular at the time.

Hope attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon for a year, studying dance and theater. Later, she transferred to Barmore Junior College in New York, where she met her first husband, Don Murray.

Hope Lange's Acting Career

Hope Lange started her acting career in television in the 1950s, appearing on shows like Kraft Television Theatre. A Hollywood producer noticed her and she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. Her first movie role was in Bus Stop (1956), where she acted alongside Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray. She married Don Murray in April 1956.

After getting good reviews for Bus Stop, Hope landed a big role in the 1957 film Peyton Place. Her strong performance earned her nominations for a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She became known for playing young, innocent characters.

Hope Lange in the 1974 film Death Wish.

Hope also appeared in other films like The True Story of Jesse James (1957) as Jesse James' wife, and The Young Lions with Montgomery Clift. She starred in In Love and War (1958) and had a top role in The Best of Everything (1959) with Joan Crawford.

In 1961, Hope played Elvis Presley's love interest in Wild in the Country. She then appeared in Frank Capra's last movie, Pocketful of Miracles, with Glenn Ford. The next year, she worked with Glenn Ford again in the romantic comedy Love Is a Ball.

Hope returned to television in 1966 for a role on The Fugitive. From 1968 to 1970, she starred in the TV series The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, winning two Emmy Awards for her role. After this, she spent three seasons on The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971–1974) as Dick Van Dyke's wife. She also acted in many TV movies, including Crowhaven Farm, where she played a witch.

In 1977, Hope returned to the Broadway stage. She also played the murdered wife of Charles Bronson's character in the movie Death Wish (1974). Later, she appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and as Laura Dern's mother in David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986). Her later roles included a Broadway play Same Time, Next Year and appearances in the TV movie Message from Nam and the film Clear and Present Danger (1994).

In 1998, Hope Lange visited the town in Maine where Peyton Place had been filmed, to celebrate the movie's 40th anniversary.

Hope Lange's Personal Life

Her True Birth Year

Hope Lange's birth year is sometimes incorrectly listed as 1931, but the correct year is 1933. Many reliable sources, including her Social Security Death Index entry, confirm 1933. Newspaper articles from her youth also support this. For example, in April 1946, when she received an award at Carnegie Hall, her age was given as 12. This matches a November 1933 birth date. Also, a story from February 1951 described her as a 17-year-old, which fits a 1933 birth year.

Her Marriages and Family

Hope Lange's first marriage was to actor Don Murray. They met while filming Bus Stop in 1956. They had two children: a son named Christopher Murray, who also became an actor, and a daughter named Patricia Murray, who became a photographer. Hope and Don Murray divorced in 1961.

She later married producer-director Alan J. Pakula in 1963. They divorced in 1971. In 1986, Hope married theatrical producer Charles Hollerith, Jr. (1927–2011). They remained married until her death.

Hope Lange's Passing

Hope Lange passed away on December 19, 2003, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. She was 70 years old and died from an infection called ischemic colitis. Her body was cremated.

Hope Lange's Filmography

Movies

Television Shows

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Hope Lange para niños