Jo Van Fleet, Actress on Broadway, Film and Television that span over 40 years...

JVF played James Dean's mother in East of Eden...

She was in I'll Cry Tomorrow with Susan Hayward..

Have a friend who’s been a waiter in NYC for 35 years. Told me a soused JVF came into the restaurant where he worked at the time (late 1980s), sat at a table by herself, removed her coat, and revealed that she had neglected to put on clothing. Happily sat there in her bra and panties until the manager got her to cover up.

Notorious pussyhound. Big Reagan supporter.

she's very funny in I Love You Alice B Toklas (1968) and The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971)

You know that urban legend about the actress who, when asked in the checkout line at the supermarket to produce identification, reached into her purse and slammed her Academy Award on the counter? To me it resonates best if told about Jo van Fleet.

Miss Fleet wasn't fleet in the face.

[quote]You know that urban legend about the actress who, when asked in the checkout line at the supermarket to produce identification, reached into her purse and slammed her Academy Award on the counter?

Nope, Ortrud.

Winning...

Sadly, she’s passed.

E of E

She studied at the Actors Studio, and could take the Method to its extreme. Kirk Douglas remembered that when they shot "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," "Jo wanted to be pumped up before she did a scene. She asked me to slap her. I whacked her. They did the scene over and over, never quite right. Every time, she came to me and ask me to hit her. And hit her harder. And I hauled off and whacked her. And her head spun. She shook her head and went and played the scene. Well, she got the performance. It was a take."

Helen Lawson's mother...

R9 R11 East of Eden was her first film and James Dean who played her son in the film had already died by the time she received the Oscar. She outlived Dean by 4 decades