Barbara Bel Geddes, Miss Ellie Ewing of TV's 'Dallas,' dies at 82

[Rhiannon12866]

By BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer

August 11, 2005, 4:24 AM EDT


LOS ANGELES -- She was a middle-aged actress on the comeback trail when Barbara Bel Geddes took on the role that would ultimately define her to a generation of fans, as the matriarchal Miss Ellie Ewing on the long-running television show "Dallas."

Bel Geddes, who died Monday at age 82, had already conquered both Broadway and film _ and then retired _ before coming back to make her most lasting impression on the public.

She had won a New York Drama Critics award for best actress in 1945 for the Broadway production of "Deep Are the Roots" and an Oscar nomination three years later for "I Remember Mama."

Then, in the mid-1960s, she had retired to devote herself to caring for her ailing husband, Windsor Lewis. By the time he died in 1972, after a long battle with cancer, Bel Geddes said she was "flat broke." She went back to work and in 1978 "Dallas" came calling.

Two years later she had won an Emmy as best actress in a drama series, the only nighttime soap opera star to be so honored.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--obit-belgeddes0811aug11,0,529014.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. Rest In Peace.

She was also great in Vertigo.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Thanks. This sad news is of particular interest to me

not only because, when I used to write about CBS, Dallas was one of my shows, but mostly because my little dog, Meneken, belonged to her sister, Edith Bel Geddes, who also died, almost exactly three years ago. Poor little guy suddenly lost his person and his biological sister at nine-years-old. I tried to tell him that he'd lost his "auntie," but he just looked confused and went back to sleep.:shrug:

Barbara was the elder sister by four years. And, I agree, she was a lovely and talented actress.;(

on edit: My little dog, Meneken:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. Sorry to hear that.

But Meneken is a very cute dog.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Thanks, on both counts.:-)

I have no idea if my little guy ever knew Barbara Bel Geddes, but he spent his first nine years with her sister, ending up in a pretty precarious position when she suddenly died. Despite the fact that she was a wealthy woman, and took her little dogs everywhere, her estate never claimed them. No one wanted them until someone finally took them, but only wanted one and kept the sister, who was the leader. And I agree that he is adorable :D and is a very rare breed, and would have been so easy to place, but no one was willing to make the effort, and my poor little guy was threatened with euthanasia twice before he found me. He was so lost.;( And I have often wondered if Barbara Bel Geddes either knew or cared about her sister's beloved dogs.:shrug: But now he has me.
:loveya:

On edit: and he found another sister. Meneken and Sheena:

[Fridays Child]

4. I first remember seeing her in an early episode of...

...Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The episode was based on the Roald Dahl story, "Lamb to the Slaughter," about a woman who killed her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then cooked it and fed it to the detective investigating the death.

She was wonderful.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Oh, yes! I remember that episode!

I saw it when Alfred Hitchcock Presents... was on Nick at Nite! That was a terrific episode, a real classic, and, I agree, she was just wonderful in it!:applause:

on edit: pic of Barbara Bel Geddes in Lamb to the Slaughter!

[ashling]

7. That was a great one

I was going to post that, but you beat me to it

She was a fine actress.

[newyawker99]

8. Rest in peace Ms Bel Geddes.

:-(

[Rhiannon12866]

9. Thanks, Roni.

I didn't know her, but because of the connection with my dog, I paid close attention to any news about her, so this news made me especially sad. She was a lovely and talented lady and led an extraordinary life, by any standards.;(