Ella Cook (aka Mary Sinclair) was historically significant for being the first actress to sign a seven-year contract with a television studio
When Ella Dolores Cook was born on November 15, 1917, in California, her father, Harry E Cook, was 38, and her mother, Mary E Crawford, was 31. She married Arthur Barthold Wegeforth in 1936. She then married George Francis Abbott in 1946 in New Jersey. She died on November 5, 2000, in her hometown at the age of 82, and was buried there.
________________________________
From the New York Times; By ERIC PACE - Published: November 14, 2000:
Mary Sinclair (born Ella Cook), an actress who was a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950's, died on Nov. 5 in Phoenix. She was 78 and lived in Phoenix. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Ms. Sinclair, whom Life magazine called ''a hazel-eyed beauty,'' was born in San Diego and became a Los Angeles fashion model but forsook Hollywood for New York.
''I was the arty type,'' she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. ''I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress.'' She made the move in 1944 and worked as a model and in summer stock.
In 1946 she married George Abbott, the Broadway producer and director. In the 40's she also began to acquire valuable experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years.
In 1951 Ms. Sinclair signed a seven-year CBS television contract. The Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress ''to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars.'' Later that year, she divorced Mr. Abbott.
Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew.
As a star, she appeared on many live drama programs, like ''The U.S. Steel Hour,'' ''Studio One'' and ''Playhouse 90,'' which had their heyday in the 50's. She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, ''I average two strangers a week.''
She also appeared with Charlton Heston in Paramount's 1953 Western ''Arrowhead,'' but continued working in television and on the stage. In the 60's she faded from television screens. Later she became a painter of portraits, animals and flowers and lived in Europe and in Los Angeles, where she was a director of local theater productions.
She is survived by a brother.
_____________________________
From Wikipedia:
Mary Sinclair (November 15, 1922 – November 5, 2000) was an American television, film and stage actress and "a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s"as a performer in numerous plays produced and broadcast live during the early days of television. Sinclair was also a painter and had in her youth been a Conover model. Her husband, for a time, was Broadway producer and director, George Abbott.
Sinclair was born Ella Delores Cook and raised in San Diego, California. As a young woman she began modeling in Los Angeles, and in 1944, she left Hollywood for Manhattan, where she modeled for the Conover agency and acted in summer stock. "I was the arty type," she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. "I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress."
In New York City, she became friends with theater producer Hal Prince and theater producer, playwright and director George Abbott, her senior by thirty-five years, whom she married in April 1946 and divorced in 1951, And in the 1940s, she began to acquire experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years, But it was CBS board chairman William S. Paley who singled Sinclair out, in 1951, by giving her a seven-year contract with CBS, one of the first acting contracts granted by the network, The New York Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress "to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars."
" Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew." "She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, 'I average two strangers a week.'"
Sinclair starred in the live drama programs popular in the 1950s such as Playhouse 90, Studio One, and The U.S. Steel Hour. She had guest roles on early series including The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, and Woman with a Past, And she starred in productions of Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter and Little Women; also on the Sherlock Holmes television series with British actor, Ronald Howard.
She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1951. In total, Sinclair played in more than one hundred and twenty television shows and films during her career.
The one major motion picture that Mary Sinclair acted in was Arrowhead made in 1953, starring Charlton Heston, Brian Keith and Katy Jurado, with Jack Palance as an Apache chief, in which she played Lela Wilson. Paramount wanted her to appear in other films but she explained that she preferred working in television and returned to New York.
In the 1960s, as her television career faded, although attending the Actors Studio in Manhattan, headed by Lee Strasberg, and appearing on the stage, Sinclair, in the main, retired from acting, and devoted most of her creative energies to painting. She studied with artist Fleur Cowles and specialized in oil canvases of flowers and animals, and portraits of friends.
After leaving the U.S. and living in Italy for a few years, in the 1970s she returned to Los Angeles, where she directed local theater productions. Later she moved to Phoenix, Arizona and lived there until her death in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.
___________________________
From IMDB.com:
Mary Sinclair was historically significant for being the first actress to sign a seven-year contract with a television studio
In 1951 she signed with CBS and became a staple in an emerging genre, the one-hour television drama. She regularly appeared on the most popular programs such as The U.S. Steel Hour, and Playhouse 90. Her performances in Wuthering Heights, with Charlton Heston, The Scarlet Letter, and Little Women paved the way for strong women characters in television. Mary SInclair began her career as a model. With a desire for more, Sinclair moved to New York City in 1944. This is where she met her future husband, Broadway producer 'George Abbot'. The catalyst of her career as an actress, however, was a chance encounter with CBS chairman of the board 'William S. Paley'. This encounter eventually resulted in the history-making contract, which lead to her stardom. A divorce from Abbot soon followed. Sinclair continued working in television and theater through the 1950s. She received an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in 1951, and appeared in the western Arrowhead (1953) with Charlton Heston and Jack Palance.
She retired from the spotlight in the 1960s. She decided to move to Europe and began painting. She studied and lived in Italy and France. During the early '70s, Sinclair relocated to Los Angeles, where she became active in local theater. Retiring to Arizona in her later years, she continued expressing herself with her paintings. Mary Sinclair died in Phoenix on November 5, 2000, at the age of 78. Sinclair's legacy lives on with her great niece, Krystee Clark who is a television and film actress in Los Angeles.
When Ella Dolores Cook was born on November 15, 1917, in California, her father, Harry E Cook, was 38, and her mother, Mary E Crawford, was 31. She married Arthur Barthold Wegeforth in 1936. She then married George Francis Abbott in 1946 in New Jersey. She died on November 5, 2000, in her hometown at the age of 82, and was buried there.
________________________________
From the New York Times; By ERIC PACE - Published: November 14, 2000:
Mary Sinclair (born Ella Cook), an actress who was a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950's, died on Nov. 5 in Phoenix. She was 78 and lived in Phoenix. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Ms. Sinclair, whom Life magazine called ''a hazel-eyed beauty,'' was born in San Diego and became a Los Angeles fashion model but forsook Hollywood for New York.
''I was the arty type,'' she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. ''I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress.'' She made the move in 1944 and worked as a model and in summer stock.
In 1946 she married George Abbott, the Broadway producer and director. In the 40's she also began to acquire valuable experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years.
In 1951 Ms. Sinclair signed a seven-year CBS television contract. The Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress ''to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars.'' Later that year, she divorced Mr. Abbott.
Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew.
As a star, she appeared on many live drama programs, like ''The U.S. Steel Hour,'' ''Studio One'' and ''Playhouse 90,'' which had their heyday in the 50's. She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, ''I average two strangers a week.''
She also appeared with Charlton Heston in Paramount's 1953 Western ''Arrowhead,'' but continued working in television and on the stage. In the 60's she faded from television screens. Later she became a painter of portraits, animals and flowers and lived in Europe and in Los Angeles, where she was a director of local theater productions.
She is survived by a brother.
_____________________________
From Wikipedia:
Mary Sinclair (November 15, 1922 – November 5, 2000) was an American television, film and stage actress and "a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s"as a performer in numerous plays produced and broadcast live during the early days of television. Sinclair was also a painter and had in her youth been a Conover model. Her husband, for a time, was Broadway producer and director, George Abbott.
Sinclair was born Ella Delores Cook and raised in San Diego, California. As a young woman she began modeling in Los Angeles, and in 1944, she left Hollywood for Manhattan, where she modeled for the Conover agency and acted in summer stock. "I was the arty type," she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. "I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress."
In New York City, she became friends with theater producer Hal Prince and theater producer, playwright and director George Abbott, her senior by thirty-five years, whom she married in April 1946 and divorced in 1951, And in the 1940s, she began to acquire experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years, But it was CBS board chairman William S. Paley who singled Sinclair out, in 1951, by giving her a seven-year contract with CBS, one of the first acting contracts granted by the network, The New York Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress "to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars."
" Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew." "She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, 'I average two strangers a week.'"
Sinclair starred in the live drama programs popular in the 1950s such as Playhouse 90, Studio One, and The U.S. Steel Hour. She had guest roles on early series including The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, and Woman with a Past, And she starred in productions of Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter and Little Women; also on the Sherlock Holmes television series with British actor, Ronald Howard.
She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1951. In total, Sinclair played in more than one hundred and twenty television shows and films during her career.
The one major motion picture that Mary Sinclair acted in was Arrowhead made in 1953, starring Charlton Heston, Brian Keith and Katy Jurado, with Jack Palance as an Apache chief, in which she played Lela Wilson. Paramount wanted her to appear in other films but she explained that she preferred working in television and returned to New York.
In the 1960s, as her television career faded, although attending the Actors Studio in Manhattan, headed by Lee Strasberg, and appearing on the stage, Sinclair, in the main, retired from acting, and devoted most of her creative energies to painting. She studied with artist Fleur Cowles and specialized in oil canvases of flowers and animals, and portraits of friends.
After leaving the U.S. and living in Italy for a few years, in the 1970s she returned to Los Angeles, where she directed local theater productions. Later she moved to Phoenix, Arizona and lived there until her death in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.
___________________________
From IMDB.com:
Mary Sinclair was historically significant for being the first actress to sign a seven-year contract with a television studio
In 1951 she signed with CBS and became a staple in an emerging genre, the one-hour television drama. She regularly appeared on the most popular programs such as The U.S. Steel Hour, and Playhouse 90. Her performances in Wuthering Heights, with Charlton Heston, The Scarlet Letter, and Little Women paved the way for strong women characters in television. Mary SInclair began her career as a model. With a desire for more, Sinclair moved to New York City in 1944. This is where she met her future husband, Broadway producer 'George Abbot'. The catalyst of her career as an actress, however, was a chance encounter with CBS chairman of the board 'William S. Paley'. This encounter eventually resulted in the history-making contract, which lead to her stardom. A divorce from Abbot soon followed. Sinclair continued working in television and theater through the 1950s. She received an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in 1951, and appeared in the western Arrowhead (1953) with Charlton Heston and Jack Palance.
She retired from the spotlight in the 1960s. She decided to move to Europe and began painting. She studied and lived in Italy and France. During the early '70s, Sinclair relocated to Los Angeles, where she became active in local theater. Retiring to Arizona in her later years, she continued expressing herself with her paintings. Mary Sinclair died in Phoenix on November 5, 2000, at the age of 78. Sinclair's legacy lives on with her great niece, Krystee Clark who is a television and film actress in Los Angeles.
Ella Cook (aka Mary Sinclair) was historically significant for being the first actress to sign a seven-year contract with a television studio
When Ella Dolores Cook was born on November 15, 1917, in California, her father, Harry E Cook, was 38, and her mother, Mary E Crawford, was 31. She married Arthur Barthold Wegeforth in 1936. She then married George Francis Abbott in 1946 in New Jersey. She died on November 5, 2000, in her hometown at the age of 82, and was buried there.
________________________________
From the New York Times; By ERIC PACE - Published: November 14, 2000:
Mary Sinclair (born Ella Cook), an actress who was a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950's, died on Nov. 5 in Phoenix. She was 78 and lived in Phoenix. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Ms. Sinclair, whom Life magazine called ''a hazel-eyed beauty,'' was born in San Diego and became a Los Angeles fashion model but forsook Hollywood for New York.
''I was the arty type,'' she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. ''I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress.'' She made the move in 1944 and worked as a model and in summer stock.
In 1946 she married George Abbott, the Broadway producer and director. In the 40's she also began to acquire valuable experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years.
In 1951 Ms. Sinclair signed a seven-year CBS television contract. The Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress ''to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars.'' Later that year, she divorced Mr. Abbott.
Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew.
As a star, she appeared on many live drama programs, like ''The U.S. Steel Hour,'' ''Studio One'' and ''Playhouse 90,'' which had their heyday in the 50's. She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, ''I average two strangers a week.''
She also appeared with Charlton Heston in Paramount's 1953 Western ''Arrowhead,'' but continued working in television and on the stage. In the 60's she faded from television screens. Later she became a painter of portraits, animals and flowers and lived in Europe and in Los Angeles, where she was a director of local theater productions.
She is survived by a brother.
_____________________________
From Wikipedia:
Mary Sinclair (November 15, 1922 – November 5, 2000) was an American television, film and stage actress and "a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s"as a performer in numerous plays produced and broadcast live during the early days of television. Sinclair was also a painter and had in her youth been a Conover model. Her husband, for a time, was Broadway producer and director, George Abbott.
Sinclair was born Ella Delores Cook and raised in San Diego, California. As a young woman she began modeling in Los Angeles, and in 1944, she left Hollywood for Manhattan, where she modeled for the Conover agency and acted in summer stock. "I was the arty type," she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. "I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress."
In New York City, she became friends with theater producer Hal Prince and theater producer, playwright and director George Abbott, her senior by thirty-five years, whom she married in April 1946 and divorced in 1951, And in the 1940s, she began to acquire experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years, But it was CBS board chairman William S. Paley who singled Sinclair out, in 1951, by giving her a seven-year contract with CBS, one of the first acting contracts granted by the network, The New York Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress "to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars."
" Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew." "She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, 'I average two strangers a week.'"
Sinclair starred in the live drama programs popular in the 1950s such as Playhouse 90, Studio One, and The U.S. Steel Hour. She had guest roles on early series including The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, and Woman with a Past, And she starred in productions of Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter and Little Women; also on the Sherlock Holmes television series with British actor, Ronald Howard.
She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1951. In total, Sinclair played in more than one hundred and twenty television shows and films during her career.
The one major motion picture that Mary Sinclair acted in was Arrowhead made in 1953, starring Charlton Heston, Brian Keith and Katy Jurado, with Jack Palance as an Apache chief, in which she played Lela Wilson. Paramount wanted her to appear in other films but she explained that she preferred working in television and returned to New York.
In the 1960s, as her television career faded, although attending the Actors Studio in Manhattan, headed by Lee Strasberg, and appearing on the stage, Sinclair, in the main, retired from acting, and devoted most of her creative energies to painting. She studied with artist Fleur Cowles and specialized in oil canvases of flowers and animals, and portraits of friends.
After leaving the U.S. and living in Italy for a few years, in the 1970s she returned to Los Angeles, where she directed local theater productions. Later she moved to Phoenix, Arizona and lived there until her death in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.
___________________________
From IMDB.com:
Mary Sinclair was historically significant for being the first actress to sign a seven-year contract with a television studio
In 1951 she signed with CBS and became a staple in an emerging genre, the one-hour television drama. She regularly appeared on the most popular programs such as The U.S. Steel Hour, and Playhouse 90. Her performances in Wuthering Heights, with Charlton Heston, The Scarlet Letter, and Little Women paved the way for strong women characters in television. Mary SInclair began her career as a model. With a desire for more, Sinclair moved to New York City in 1944. This is where she met her future husband, Broadway producer 'George Abbot'. The catalyst of her career as an actress, however, was a chance encounter with CBS chairman of the board 'William S. Paley'. This encounter eventually resulted in the history-making contract, which lead to her stardom. A divorce from Abbot soon followed. Sinclair continued working in television and theater through the 1950s. She received an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in 1951, and appeared in the western Arrowhead (1953) with Charlton Heston and Jack Palance.
She retired from the spotlight in the 1960s. She decided to move to Europe and began painting. She studied and lived in Italy and France. During the early '70s, Sinclair relocated to Los Angeles, where she became active in local theater. Retiring to Arizona in her later years, she continued expressing herself with her paintings. Mary Sinclair died in Phoenix on November 5, 2000, at the age of 78. Sinclair's legacy lives on with her great niece, Krystee Clark who is a television and film actress in Los Angeles.
When Ella Dolores Cook was born on November 15, 1917, in California, her father, Harry E Cook, was 38, and her mother, Mary E Crawford, was 31. She married Arthur Barthold Wegeforth in 1936. She then married George Francis Abbott in 1946 in New Jersey. She died on November 5, 2000, in her hometown at the age of 82, and was buried there.
________________________________
From the New York Times; By ERIC PACE - Published: November 14, 2000:
Mary Sinclair (born Ella Cook), an actress who was a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950's, died on Nov. 5 in Phoenix. She was 78 and lived in Phoenix. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Ms. Sinclair, whom Life magazine called ''a hazel-eyed beauty,'' was born in San Diego and became a Los Angeles fashion model but forsook Hollywood for New York.
''I was the arty type,'' she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. ''I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress.'' She made the move in 1944 and worked as a model and in summer stock.
In 1946 she married George Abbott, the Broadway producer and director. In the 40's she also began to acquire valuable experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years.
In 1951 Ms. Sinclair signed a seven-year CBS television contract. The Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress ''to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars.'' Later that year, she divorced Mr. Abbott.
Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew.
As a star, she appeared on many live drama programs, like ''The U.S. Steel Hour,'' ''Studio One'' and ''Playhouse 90,'' which had their heyday in the 50's. She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, ''I average two strangers a week.''
She also appeared with Charlton Heston in Paramount's 1953 Western ''Arrowhead,'' but continued working in television and on the stage. In the 60's she faded from television screens. Later she became a painter of portraits, animals and flowers and lived in Europe and in Los Angeles, where she was a director of local theater productions.
She is survived by a brother.
_____________________________
From Wikipedia:
Mary Sinclair (November 15, 1922 – November 5, 2000) was an American television, film and stage actress and "a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s"as a performer in numerous plays produced and broadcast live during the early days of television. Sinclair was also a painter and had in her youth been a Conover model. Her husband, for a time, was Broadway producer and director, George Abbott.
Sinclair was born Ella Delores Cook and raised in San Diego, California. As a young woman she began modeling in Los Angeles, and in 1944, she left Hollywood for Manhattan, where she modeled for the Conover agency and acted in summer stock. "I was the arty type," she recalled in a 1951 interview with The New York Times. "I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress."
In New York City, she became friends with theater producer Hal Prince and theater producer, playwright and director George Abbott, her senior by thirty-five years, whom she married in April 1946 and divorced in 1951, And in the 1940s, she began to acquire experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years, But it was CBS board chairman William S. Paley who singled Sinclair out, in 1951, by giving her a seven-year contract with CBS, one of the first acting contracts granted by the network, The New York Times reported that she was the first dramatic actress "to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars."
" Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with CBS, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew." "She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, 'I average two strangers a week.'"
Sinclair starred in the live drama programs popular in the 1950s such as Playhouse 90, Studio One, and The U.S. Steel Hour. She had guest roles on early series including The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, and Woman with a Past, And she starred in productions of Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter and Little Women; also on the Sherlock Holmes television series with British actor, Ronald Howard.
She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1951. In total, Sinclair played in more than one hundred and twenty television shows and films during her career.
The one major motion picture that Mary Sinclair acted in was Arrowhead made in 1953, starring Charlton Heston, Brian Keith and Katy Jurado, with Jack Palance as an Apache chief, in which she played Lela Wilson. Paramount wanted her to appear in other films but she explained that she preferred working in television and returned to New York.
In the 1960s, as her television career faded, although attending the Actors Studio in Manhattan, headed by Lee Strasberg, and appearing on the stage, Sinclair, in the main, retired from acting, and devoted most of her creative energies to painting. She studied with artist Fleur Cowles and specialized in oil canvases of flowers and animals, and portraits of friends.
After leaving the U.S. and living in Italy for a few years, in the 1970s she returned to Los Angeles, where she directed local theater productions. Later she moved to Phoenix, Arizona and lived there until her death in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.
___________________________
From IMDB.com:
Mary Sinclair was historically significant for being the first actress to sign a seven-year contract with a television studio
In 1951 she signed with CBS and became a staple in an emerging genre, the one-hour television drama. She regularly appeared on the most popular programs such as The U.S. Steel Hour, and Playhouse 90. Her performances in Wuthering Heights, with Charlton Heston, The Scarlet Letter, and Little Women paved the way for strong women characters in television. Mary SInclair began her career as a model. With a desire for more, Sinclair moved to New York City in 1944. This is where she met her future husband, Broadway producer 'George Abbot'. The catalyst of her career as an actress, however, was a chance encounter with CBS chairman of the board 'William S. Paley'. This encounter eventually resulted in the history-making contract, which lead to her stardom. A divorce from Abbot soon followed. Sinclair continued working in television and theater through the 1950s. She received an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in 1951, and appeared in the western Arrowhead (1953) with Charlton Heston and Jack Palance.
She retired from the spotlight in the 1960s. She decided to move to Europe and began painting. She studied and lived in Italy and France. During the early '70s, Sinclair relocated to Los Angeles, where she became active in local theater. Retiring to Arizona in her later years, she continued expressing herself with her paintings. Mary Sinclair died in Phoenix on November 5, 2000, at the age of 78. Sinclair's legacy lives on with her great niece, Krystee Clark who is a television and film actress in Los Angeles.
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