Joanne Woodward facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joanne Woodward
Woodward in 1971
Born	Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (1930-02-27) February 27, 1930 (age 95) Thomasville, Georgia, U.S.
Other names	Joanne Newman Joanne G. T. Woodward
Alma mater	Sarah Lawrence College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1950–2013
Spouse(s)	Paul Newman ​ ​ (m. 1958; died 2008)​
Children	3, including Nell and Melissa Newman
Awards	Full list

Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is a famous American actress who is now retired. She became well-known in the 1950s. People admired her for playing complicated characters with great skill.

Joanne Woodward has won many important awards. These include an Academy Award (Oscar), three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a British Academy Film Award. She also won three Golden Globe Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She is the oldest living winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Woodward is famous for her role in the movie The Three Faces of Eve (1957). In this film, she played a woman with three different personalities. This role won her an Oscar for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award. She was married to actor Paul Newman until he passed away. They often worked together in movies. She acted with him or in films he directed. In 1990, when she was 60, Woodward earned a college degree from Sarah Lawrence College. She graduated at the same time as her daughter Clea.

Early Life and Acting Dreams

Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward was born on February 27, 1930. Her birthplace was Thomasville, Georgia, in the U.S. Her mother loved movies, which inspired Joanne to become an actress. Her mother even named her after the famous actress Joan Crawford.

When Joanne was nine, she went to the premiere of Gone with the Wind in Atlanta. She famously rushed into the crowd of stars. She even sat on the lap of actor Laurence Olivier. Years later, in 1977, she worked with Olivier in a TV show. She reminded him of that moment, and he remembered it!

Joanne lived in several towns in Georgia as a child. Her family later moved to Marietta, Georgia. She went to Marietta High School there. She still supports her old high school and the local theater.

After her parents divorced, her family moved to Greenville, South Carolina. She finished high school there. She also performed in plays at Greenville's Little Theater.

Woodward studied drama at Louisiana State University. Then, she moved to New York City to act on stage. She trained at the Actors Studio and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.

Joanne Woodward's Career

Starting Out in Acting

Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve (1957), playing "Eve Black," one of her characters.

In 1952, Joanne Woodward first appeared on TV. It was an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents. She also tried out for plays. She became an understudy for the play Picnic in 1953–1954. This is where she met Paul Newman, who would become her husband. At that time, he was still married to his first wife.

Woodward acted in many TV shows early in her career. These included Tales of Tomorrow, Goodyear Playhouse, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Her first movie was a Western called Count Three and Pray (1955). She played a strong orphan. In 1956, she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. Her next movie was A Kiss Before Dying (1956). She played an heiress chased by a college student.

Becoming a Film Star

Joanne Woodward in 1960.

In 1957, Woodward amazed everyone in The Three Faces of Eve. She played a woman with three different personalities. She gave each one a unique voice and way of moving. For this role, Woodward won an Academy Award for Best Actress. She even sewed the dress she wore to the awards herself! She is the only Best Actress winner to have done this.

After this success, Fox gave her top billing in No Down Payment (1957). She also reunited with director Martin Ritt for The Sound and the Fury (1959). She then made a third film with Paul Newman, From the Terrace (1960). She said she liked this movie because she looked like Lana Turner in it. They also made Paris Blues (1961) together.

In 1968, Woodward starred in Rachel Rachel. Her husband, Paul Newman, directed this film. She played a schoolteacher hoping for love. This role earned her another Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

In 1972, Woodward starred in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. She played a single mother with two daughters. One of her real daughters, Nell, played one of the characters. This role won her the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. She also received another Oscar nomination for Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973).

In the late 1970s, Woodward appeared in more TV dramas. She won an Emmy Award for See How She Runs (1978). She also directed an episode of the TV show Family in 1979.

In the 1980s, Woodward acted in The Shadow Box (1980), directed by Newman. She also returned to Broadway for the play Candida (1981–1982). She starred in Harry & Son (1984), which Newman also directed. She won more Emmy Awards for her TV work. These included See How She Runs (1978) and Do You Remember Love? (1985). She also won an Emmy as a producer for Broadway's dreamers in 1990.

Working with Paul Newman

Woodward with her husband, actor Paul Newman, in 1958.

Joanne Woodward met Paul Newman in the early 1950s. They were both understudies for the play Picnic. They got married on January 29, 1958, after Newman's first marriage ended. Just two months later, Woodward won her first Academy Award. Newman received his first Oscar nomination later that year.

Woodward and Newman became a very famous couple. They appeared in many magazines. They worked together on many movies. Their first film together was The Long Hot Summer (1958). Other movies included Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958), From the Terrace (1960), and A New Kind of Love (1963).

Paul Newman also directed Woodward in several films. The first was Rachel, Rachel (1968). Both of them earned Golden Globe Awards and Oscar nominations for this film. They also acted together in Winning (1969) and The Drowning Pool (1975). Woodward also worked with her daughters in films. She appeared with Nell in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972). She acted with Melissa in the TV movie See How She Runs (1978).

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in Winning (1969).

Woodward once said that her family life became more important than her film career. She felt she had to limit her acting because of her children. She sometimes felt bad about this, especially when Paul was away filming.

Her last screen performance with Newman was in the 2005 TV miniseries Empire Falls.

Later Career and Retirement

In 1990, Woodward acted with Newman again in Mr. & Mrs. Bridge. This was one of her most praised performances. She earned her fourth Academy Award nomination for it. She also won Best Actress at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

In 1993, Woodward appeared in the movie Philadelphia with Tom Hanks. She also narrated Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence. She made two more TV films: Foreign Affairs (1993) and Blind Spot (1993). She was also a co-producer for Blind Spot. She starred in the TV film Breathing Lessons (1995).

In the 2000s, Woodward focused more on producing and directing. She was the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse from 2001 to 2005. She was also an executive producer for the 2003 TV show Our Town. Newman acted in this show.

In 2022, a six-part documentary called The Last Movie Stars was made about Woodward and Newman. It premiered on HBO Max.

Personal Life

Joanne Woodward was friends with author Gore Vidal. She lived in a house with him for a short time in Los Angeles.

Woodward met Paul Newman at their agent's office. They were both understudies for a play in 1953. They later starred in The Long, Hot Summer in 1957. Newman divorced his first wife and married Woodward on January 29, 1958. They were married for 50 years until Newman passed away in 2008. Woodward once said about Newman, "He's very good-looking... but what finally is left is if you can make somebody laugh. And he sure does keep me laughing."

Woodward's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Woodward and Newman had three daughters: Elinor Teresa "Nell" (born 1959), Melissa Stewart (born 1961), and Claire Olivia "Clea" (born 1965).

When she was in her thirties, she started taking ballet classes to stay in shape.

Woodward and Newman were very supportive of the Democratic Party. They also started the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in 1988. This camp is a special place for children and their families who are dealing with serious illnesses like cancer. The camp offers free services. It is named after a hideaway from Newman's movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Their daughter Clea now helps run the camp's main organization.

In 1990, Woodward graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with her daughter Clea. Paul Newman gave the graduation speech. In 1992, Woodward and Newman received the Kennedy Center honors for their lifetime achievements.

Joanne Woodward has lived in Westport, Connecticut, for many years. She raised her daughters there. She has not appeared in public much since 2013. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2007.

Filmography

Film

Drawing of Woodward after winning an Oscar for The Three Faces of Eve in 1957.

Television

Awards and Recognition

In 1958, Woodward won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Three Faces of Eve. She also won the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 1960. She was nominated for Best Actress Oscars in 1969, 1974, and 1991. She was named Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974.

Woodward won two Primetime Emmy Awards. One was for See How She Runs, where she played a teacher training for a marathon. The other was for Do You Remember Love, where she played a professor with Alzheimer's disease. She was nominated for 5 other Emmy awards.

There's a popular story that Woodward was the first celebrity to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But this isn't quite true. All the first 1,550 stars were put in at the same time in 1960. No single star was officially "first." However, Woodward was the first celebrity to pose for photos with her star. Because of this, many people thought she was the very first one.

In 1994, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman received an award together. It was for their great public service to people who needed help.

See also

In Spanish: Joanne Woodward para niños