ARTS
FOR LIFE
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2002
Actress and Teacher
SHELLEY WINTERS
Shirley Shrift, a 15-year-old aspiring actress, was
auditioning for the part of an understudy in the office
of the Group Theatre in New York. When she gave her
name, the secretary told her it wasn't a good name for
an actress, so Shirley's favorite poet and her mother's
maiden name, Winter, were combined. Much later, star-makers
at Universal Studios in Hollywood, added an "s" and
the blond bombshell, Shelley Winters, came into being.
The real birth occurred in St. Louis
to the Shrifts, Jonas a tailor's cutter and Rose a former
opera singer, living on Newstead Avenue. Later, as the
family prospered, they moved to DeTonty Street near
the Botanical Garden. Shirley, while still very young,
was part of the entertainment at a Veiled Prophet pageant
and won a prize singing at the Ambassador Theatre in
a Major Bowes Amateur Hour. Ironically, she never played
St. Louis as Shelley Winters.
When she was nine, her family moved
to New York. Shirley, a self-described "hookey player
extraordinaire," dropped out of school for good at 15
to be a model in the garment district, while taking
acting classes and auditioning. One of her first roles
was in Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing with the
Group Theatre. Later, Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures
discovered her while performing on Broadway in Rosalinda.
She moved to Hollywood and began a career that spanned
over 60 years.
As a starlet she shared an apartment
with Marilyn Monroe, along with a mink coat they took
turns wearing on dates and a bathing suit they took
turns wearing for cheesecake photo shoots. They were
life-long friends.
Her seven-year contract with Universal
was extended by several years because Ms. Winters repeatedly
interrupted it to do films on loan with other studios,
or perform on stage in New York and around the country.
Her first big break was landing a costarring role with
Ronald Coleman in
A
Double Life (1947), as the mistress and unfortunate
victim of the actor-gone-mad. She has appeared in more
than 130 films and performed in over 50 plays. Her true
love is the theatre and she has been associated with
the Actors' Studio since 1948, as a member and a moderator.
Later in her career she more than once turned down a
lucrative film offer to do a play in New York.
In her heyday a sultry, svelte, blond
leading lady, Shelley Winters is more firmly ensconced
in memory as a blowsy, loudmouthed, colorful character
type. There is a temptation to confuse the rambling,
raucous talk-show guest of past years with the talented
actress, so one should keep in mind that this former
store clerk has won Oscars for best supporting actress
in Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue.
She donated her Oscar from Diary of Anne Frank
to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. She received Oscar
nominations as best actress for A Place in the Sun
and The Poseidon Adventure. She also received
an Emmy for the Chrysler Theatre production of The
Number is Two, a Foreign Press award for The
Poseidon Adventure and Italy's David of Donatello
Award for Borghese Piccolo Piccolo.
She is the author of two engrossing
tell-all books, Shelley: Also Known as Shirley and
Shelley II: The Middle of My Century and several
plays.
She is an avid supporter of the Democratic
party and actively campaigned for Adali Stevenson and
John F. Kennedy. Ms. Winters was married three times
and has a daughter, a physician, from her marriage to
Vittorio Gassman.
From Shirley to Shelley, Ms. Winters
is a brash, outspoken, street smart, independent, ambitious,
impetuous lover of life who never fails to seize the
day and spend it her way. The St. Louis theatre community
is proud to present her with our 2002 Lifetime Achievement
Award.
Biography-June 9, 2002.
