26 Facts About Judy Holliday

Judy Holliday began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Broadway plays and musicals.

Judy Holliday was known for her performance on Broadway in the musical Bells Are Ringing, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and reprising her role in the 1960 film adaptation.

In 1952, Holliday was called to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to answer claims she was associated with communism.

Judy Holliday was born Judith Tuvim in New York City, the only child of Abe and Helen Tuvim.

Judy Holliday's father was executive director of the foundation for the Jewish National Fund of America, and a political activist who ran unsuccessfully six times between 1919 and 1938 as a Socialist Party candidate for the New York State Legislature.

Judy Holliday began her show business career in 1938 as part of a nightclub act called The Revuers, whose other members were Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Alvin Hammer, John Frank and Esther Cohen.

Judy Holliday remembered her years in the Revuers as unpleasant, saying she was initially a bad actress and so shy that she vomited between shows.

Judy Holliday found it difficult to perform on stage in smoke-filled rooms while patrons over-imbibed, heckled and fought with each other, but deemed entertainers successful if they persevered in such atmospheres.

Judy Holliday made her Broadway debut on March 20,1945, at the Belasco Theatre in Kiss Them for Me, and was one of the recipients that year of the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Female Actress.

When Columbia bought the rights to adapt Born Yesterday to film, studio boss Harry Cohn initially would not consider casting the Hollywood unknown, even though Judy Holliday received rave reviews for her Broadway performance.

Kanin, along with George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn conspired to promote Judy Holliday by offering her a key part in the Tracy-Hepburn film Adam's Rib.

In 1950, Judy Holliday's name appeared on a list of 151 "pro-Communist" artists in the conservative publication Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and TV.

Judy Holliday was one of several actors accused of fundraising for Communist front organizations.

Judy Holliday appeared before the committee on March 26,1952, with Simon H Rifkind as her legal counsel.

Judy Holliday denounced Stalinism and authoritarianism generally, but defended the free speech rights of those who espoused such views.

Judy Holliday starred in the film version of The Solid Gold Cadillac, which was released in August 1956.

In November 1956, Judy Holliday returned to Broadway, starring in the musical Bells Are Ringing with book and lyrics by her Revuers friends, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and directed by Jerome Robbins.

Judy Holliday has gusto enough to triumph in every kind of music hall antic.

In October 1960, Judy Holliday started out-of-town tryouts on the play Laurette, based on the life of Laurette Taylor.

When Judy Holliday became ill and had to leave the show, it closed in Philadelphia without opening on Broadway.

Judy Holliday had surgery for a throat tumor shortly after leaving the production in October 1960.

In 1948, Judy Holliday married clarinetist David Oppenheim, later a classical music and television producer, and academic.

Judy Holliday supported Henry Wallace in the 1948 presidential election and Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.

Judy Holliday died on June 7,1965, at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital from metastatic breast cancer.

Judy Holliday was interred in the Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Judy Holliday recorded two studio albums during her lifetime.