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Three-Time Oscar Nominee Dies

Dec 10, 2013  •  Post A Comment

An actress who received three Academy Award nominations for lead roles in her long career "but whose best-known role was a supporting one, as the marriage-minded baroness in ‘The Sound of Music,’ died on Monday in Palm Springs, Calif.," The New York Times reports. Eleanor Parker was 91.

Parker’s role in the 1965 film called for “an icy demeanor,” the report notes. The part was played by Laura Benanti in NBC’s live production of "The Sound of Music" just last week.

Parker was nominated for Oscars for a variety of roles, including an opera star with polio in 1955’s “Interrupted Melody.” She earned an Emmy Award nomination in 1963 for an episode of NBC’s “The Eleventh Hour.”

“If she never became a star, admirers contended, it was because of her versatility,” The Times reports. “Sometimes a blonde, sometimes a brunette, often a redhead, Ms. Parker made indelible impressions but submerged herself in a wide range of characters, from a war hero’s noble fiancee in ‘Pride of the Marines’ (1945) to W. Somerset Maugham’s vicious waitress-prostitute in a remake of ‘Of Human Bondage’ (1946).”

In the 1960s and 70s, she also appeared in many TV movies and in guest performances on several shows, the story notes.

Her other Academy Award nominations were for lead roles in "Caged" in 1951 and "Detective Story" in 1952. She played Sylvia Caldwell on the NBC drama series "Bracken’s World," receiving a Golden Globe nomination for the role in 1970.

Parker was also a guest on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," "Kraft Suspense Theatre" and other classic TV shows.

eleanor parker-mgm publicity shot.pngEleanor Parker: MGM publicity shot

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