Polly Bergen

Infobox actor
name = Polly Bergen


caption = Polly Bergen and Angela Lansbury at the 1989 Emmy Awards.
birthname = Nellie Paulina Burgin
birthdate = birth date and age|1930|7|14
birthplace = Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
yearsactive =
spouse = Jerome Courtland
(1954-1955)
Freddie Fields (1956-1975)
Jeffrey Endervelt
(1982-1990)
emmyawards = Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
1957 "The Helen Morgan Story"

Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin, July 14 1930, Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American Emmy Award-winning actress, singer, and entrepreneur.

Biography

Career

Bergen appeared in many film roles, notably in the original "Cape Fear" (1962) opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum.

She captured an Emmy award for her portrayal of singer Helen Morgan on an episode of the 1950s television series "Playhouse 90". Bergen had her own recording career for Columbia Records during that era.

She was a regular panelist on the CBS game show "To Tell the Truth" during its debut run. She earned an Emmy nomination for her role as Rhoda Henry in two ABC miniseries, "The Winds of War" and its sequel "War and Remembrance". She starred in a 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

She also appeared on HBO's "The Sopranos" as the former mistress of Tony Soprano's father, Fran Felstein, a former acquaintance of John F. Kennedy.

In 2007, Bergen had a guest role in "Desperate Housewives" as Lynette Scavo's mother, Stella Wingfield, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Bergen became a semi-regular cast member of 2006's "Commander-in-Chief" as the mother of the President of the United States, played by Geena Davis. Bergen had herself once played the first female President of the United States in the 1964 film "Kisses for My President".

Another of recent appearances came in CBS' Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation "Candles on Bay Street" (2006), in which she played the assistant to a husband-and-wife team of veterinarians.In the 1950's , she was also known as " The Pepsi Cola Girl " ,having done a series of commercials for that product .http://www.pepsinut.com/pepsi_stars.htm

Personal life

In 1965, she created the Polly Bergen Co. cosmetics line. She also is the founder of personal jewelry and shoe brands and the author of three books on beauty.

Bergen converted to JudaismFact|date=February 2007 after having married Hollywood talent agent Freddie Fields,by whom she had one biological child and two adopted children. She had previously been a Southern Baptist; a grandfather was a Baptist minister. Fact|date=February 2007

She had two other marriages that also ended in divorce. When not working, Bergen lives in Connecticut.

Bergen is also the aunt of acclaimed television producer Wendy Riche.

Filmography

Television

* "The Blue Angel" (1954) (canceled after a few weeks)
* "The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse" (host from 1954-1955)
* "To Tell the Truth" (panelist from 1956-1961)
* "The Polly Bergen Show" (1957-1958)
* "Death Cruise" (1974)
* "Murder on Flight 502" (1975)
* "Not for Women Only" (host from 1976-1977)
* "79 Park Avenue" (1977) (miniseries)
* "Teleton" (1977)
* "How to Pick Up Girls!" (1978)
* "The Million Dollar Face" (1981)
* "Born Beautiful" (1982)
* "The Winds of War" (1983) (miniseries)
* "Velvet" (1984)
* "Addicted to His Love" (1988)
* "War and Remembrance" (1988) (miniseries)
* "She Was Marked for Murder" (1988)
* "The Haunting of Sarah Hardy" (1989)
* "My Brother's Wife" (1989)
* "Steel Magnolias" (1990) (unsold pilot)
* "Baby Talk" (1991-1992)
* "Lightning Field" (1991)
* "Lady Against the Odds" (1992)
* "Arly Hanks" (1993) (unsold pilot)
* "" (1993)
* "Leave of Absence" (1994)
* "The Surrogate" (1995)
* "In the Blink of an Eye" (1996)
* "For Hope" (1996)
* "The Sopranos" ("In Camelot") (2004)
* "Early Bird" (2005)
* "Commander in Chief" (2005-2006)
* "Candles on Bay Street" (2006)
* "Desperate Housewives" (2007)

Film

* "Champion" (1949)
* "Across the Rio Grande" (1949)
* "At War with the Army" (1950)
* "That's My Boy" (1951)
* "Warpath" (1951)
* "The Stooge" (1952)
* "Cry of the Hunted" (1953)
* "Arena" (1953)
* "Half a Hero" (1953)
* "Escape from Fort Bravo" (1953)
* "Cape Fear" (1962)
* "Belle Sommers" (1962)
* "The Caretakers" (1963)
* "Move Over, Darling" (1963)
* "Kisses for My President" (1964)
* "A Guide for the Married Man" (1967)
* "Making Mr. Right" (1987)
* "Mother, Mother" (1989) (short subject)
* "Cry-Baby" (1990)
* "Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored" (1995)
* "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde" (1995)
* "Paradise, Texas" (2005)
* "A Very Serious Person" (2006)

External links

*imdb|0000917
*ibdb|31824
*amg name|2:5596
* [http://www.meredy.com/pollybergen/ Polly Bergen - Madame President]