Eileen Heckart
Actor
Born March 29, 1919 in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. Born Anna Eileen Herbert, her career spanned nearly 60 years. She first became known for her role as schoolteacher Rosemary Sydney in the original 1953 cast of William Inge's play Picnic on Broadway. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the overprotective mother of a blind adult son in Butterflies Are Free, a role she originated on Broadway before playing it in the film. She often played mothers, including Rocky Graziano's mother in Somebody Up There Likes Me; the mother of a murdered child in The Bad Seed; the elderly mother of an estranged son in the PBS production of the one-act play Save Me a Place at Forest Law; the overbearing mother of the detective portrayed by George Segal in No Way to Treat a Lady; the mother of reporter Jack Stein on the 1990s television sitcom Love & War; the mother of two separate characters on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live in the 1980s and 1990s; and the meddling mother of a jilted wife (played by Diane Keaton) in The First Wives Club, her last film role. She also had a recurring role on the 1970s sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as Mary's Aunt Flo Meredith, a famous woman reporter, which she repeated on the subsequent spin-off series, Lou Grant.
Filmography
The First Wives Club
Catherine MacDuggan
Murder One
Cybill
Marge
The 5 Mrs. Buchanans
Mother Emma Buchanan
Ellen
Grandma
Ultimate Betrayal
Sarah McNeil
Breathing Lessons
Mabel
Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story
Shelly
Stephen King's Golden Tales
Rose Pennywell
Love & War
Home Improvement
Elaine Jenkins
Stuck with Each Other
Fay Cass
Heartbreak Ridge
Little Mary Jackson
Tales from the Darkside
Rose Pennywell
Partners in Crime
Jeanine
The Cosby Show
Mrs. Hickson
Highway to Heaven
Helen Spencer
Trauma Center
Amy Decker
Games Mother Never Taught You
Martha Brewster
Table Settings
9 to 5
Joe Dancer: The Big Black Pill
Sister Clara
F.D.R.: The Last Year
Eleanor Roosevelt
White Mama
Three Bag Lady
The Sorrows of Gin
Rosemary
Trapper John, M.D.
Out of the Blue
The Boss Angel
Backstairs at the White House
Eleanor Roosevelt
The Honeymooners Christmas Special
Mildred
Suddenly, Love
Mrs. Malloy
Flying High
Sunshine Christmas
Bertha Hayden
Lou Grant
Burnt Offerings
Roz Allardyce
Alice
Switch
Annie Warren
The Hiding Place
Katje
The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One
Ma Barker
Little House on the Prairie
Amanda Cooper
Rhoda
Aunt Lillian Fiedler
Zandy's Bride
Ma Allan
Wedding Band
Herman's Mother
Barnaby Jones
Virginia Lennox / Steele
The Victim
Mrs. Hawkes
The Streets of San Francisco
Stella 'Stell' Charnovski
Banyon
Mrs. Shaw
Butterflies Are Free
Mrs. Florence Baker
All the Way Home
Aunt Hannah Lynch
Hawaii Five-O
Agatha Henderson
No Way to Treat a Lady
Mrs. Brummel
Up the Down Staircase
Henrietta Pastorfield
Felony Squad
The F.B.I.
Mrs. Creighton
The Fugitive
Sister Veronica
My Six Loves
Ethel
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
The New Breed
Harriet Dawson
Ben Casey
Dr. Kildare
Nurse Jenny Freesmith
Heller in Pink Tights
Lorna Hathaway
A Doll's House
Kristine
Play of the Week
Myrtle
Naked City
Mildred Pepper
Hot Spell
Fan
The Little Foxes
Birdie
The Bad Seed
Hortense Daigle
Bus Stop
Vera
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Ma Barbella
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
Miracle in the Rain
Grace Ullman
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Lucy Baldwin
Gunsmoke
Hattie Silks
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Birdie
Suspense
Mollie
Studio One
The Ford Theatre Hour
Carrie
The Philco Television Playhouse
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self