Joanne Woodward

Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning American actress.

Early life

Woodward was born in Thomasville, Georgia, and was influenced to become an actress by her mother's love of movies. Her mother wanted to name her after Joan Crawford, but then her parents felt that the name "Joanne" was more Southern. Attending the premiere of Gone with the Wind in Atlanta, nine-year-old Joanne rushed out into the parade of stars and sat on the lap of Laurence Olivier, star Vivien Leigh's husband. She eventually worked with Olivier in 1979, in a television production of Come Back, Little Sheba.

Woodward won many beauty contests as a teenager. She allegedly snubbed late actress Susan Oliver in 1957 though they had once been friends. She majored in drama at Louisiana State University, then headed to New York City to perform on the stage.

Career

Woodward's first film was Count Three and Pray, in 1955. She continued to move between Hollywood and Broadway, eventually, understudying in the New York production of Picnic with another young actor, Paul Newman. The two were married in 1958. By that time, Woodward had starred in The Three Faces of Eve, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She and Newman first starred together that year in The Long Hot Summer, one of many collaborations. In 1969, they starred together in Winning. The last movie they appeared in together (to great acclaim) was Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, which earned Woodward her most recent Oscar nomination.

Woodward has continued to act on stage, films, and television.

Private life

In 1990, she was graduated from Sarah Lawrence College alongside her daughter, Clea. She and Newman live in Connecticut but are extremely private about their personal lives. Woodward is currently artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse.

Newman will occasionally venture to California, but Woodward has refused to go West for many years.

Academy Award nominations

1991 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
1974 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
1969 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - Rachel, Rachel
1958 - Won Best Actress in a Leading Role - The Three Faces of Eve

Miscellaneous

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. She was the first performer to receive a star on the Walk of Fame. It was laid on February 9, 1960.

The very briefly glimpsed portrait of the unseen character Marguerite Wyke in the 1972 film Sleuth (credited to the imaginary actress Eve Channing; see ^*) is actually of Woodward.