She was nominated for Oscars for the first three films in which she appeared. It’s a record which still stands today.
More important, Teresa Wright was one of the sexiest actresses of the Forties — quietly and with wholesome discretion, of course.
Was there ever a perkier yet more forcefully feminine portrayal of a budding teenager as was Wright’s depiction of ‘Charlie’ in Alfred Hitchock’s great 1943 thriller, Shadow of a Doubt? (By the way, Wright was 25 at the time she made the movie.)
British critic David Thomson: (Wright) beautifully caught the small-town adolescent unable to to comprehend the complicity she feels for her murdering uncle (Joseph Cotten). It showed just how subtly Hitchcock could work up anguish in a relatively plain-faced actress.
Muriel Teresa Wright was born in New York City in 1918, successfully landed myriad stage roles (one in Our Town, the basis for Shadow of a Doubt) and wound up in Hollywood at the suggestion of playwright Lillian Hellman, who recommended her to producer Samuel Goldwyn.
Wright enjoyed a,lengthy 46-year career; her last film was the 1997 movie version of John Grisham’s The Rainmaker. Most of her later career was spent on television — she was nominated for three Emmys for various roles. Wright died in 2005 at age 86.
Ok, on to our Teresa Wright Quiz. As usual, answers tomorrow. Here we go:
1) Question: As mentioned, Wright holds a record for having been Oscar nominated for her first three pictures. Which one of the following was NOT a member of this trio? a) 1941’s Little Foxes; b)s; 1942’s Mrs. Miniver; c) 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives; or d) 1942’s The Pride of the Yankees.
2) Question: Following up on the question above, Wright still retains the record of being the youngest actress in movie history to receive three Oscar nominations. a) True; or b) False.
3) Question: Wright was the very first choice for the female lead (which went to Jennifer Jones) in producer David O. Selznick’s 1946 epic western Duel In The Sun. a) True; or b) False.
4) Question: Wright’s early success right out of the gate made her one of MGM’s bigger young stars. a) True; or b) False.
5) Question: Wright was all to quickly pushed into maternal or plain-faced roles, but she did play the sister of Jean Simmons in 1953’s melodrama, The Actress. a) True; or b) False.
Any more comments?
Well I’ll have a try then…
1)
2) Is this Joe & Frank’s usual ‘trick’ question? -If it is I’d say B false, as TERESA WRIGHT was the only performer to be nominated for an Academy Award in each and every one of her first three movies.
3) A – Her husband Niven Busch wrote the movie with her ion mind for the female lead, but told Selzinck she can’t do it as she was pregnant.
4) Another possible ‘trick’ question? I’d say B false, as WRIGHT was under contract to Samuel Goldwyn not MGM. She was loaned out for MRS. MINIVER.
5) B false, WRIGHT played the wife.
You have to hand it to TERESA WRIGHT, apart from being a good actress, she was very gutsy in standing-up for herself against powerful and legendary producer Sam Goldwyn.
She did not like those 7-year studio contracts that exploited her talents without no redress. When Goldwyn fired her she was glad, but forever after she was punished by all the studios with a much smaller paycheck for her work.
Old HOLLYWOOD liked to remind it’s stars that the studios are the ones who call the shots… Today, it’s the role of the super-agents, as they represent and package everyone, including the so-called studio heads!
Forgot to mark 1) C – THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES one of my all-time favorites…
Samuel Goldwyn was so thrilled by the on-screen chemistry between Dana Andrews and Teresa Wright in ‘Best Years,’ that he initially cast them to play the bishop and wife in ‘The Bishop’s Wife,’ with David Niven as the angel.
However, Wright’s pregnancy interrupted those plans, and the parts were recast with Cary Grant becoming the angel and Nive and Loretta Young as bishop and wife.