Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald

 Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005)

She studied painting at the Dublin School of Art. Inspired by her aunt, actress Shelagh Richards, Fitzgerald began her acting career in 1932 at Dublin's famed Gate Theatre. Her great-niece is actress Tara Fitzgerald. After two seasons there she moved to London, where she found success in British films including The Mill on the Floss, The Turn of the Tide and Cafe Mascot. Fitzgerald's success led her to New York and the Broadway stage in 1938. She made her American debut opposite Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre production of Heartbreak House. She was seen by Hollywood producer Hal B. Wallis, who signed her to a contract with Warner Bros. She achieved two significant successes in 1939 — an important role in the Bette Davis film Dark Victory, and an Academy Award nomination for her supporting performance as Isabella Linton in director William Wyler's Wuthering Heights. She appeared in Shining Victory (1941), The Gay Sisters (1942) and Watch on the Rhine (1943) for Warner Bros., and Wilson (1944) for Fox, but her career was hampered by her frequent clashes with the management of the studio, and the suspensions that resulted.

The 1950s provided her with very few opportunities in film, but in the 1960s she asserted herself as a character actress, and her career enjoyed a revival. Among her successful films of this period were Ten North Frederick (1958), The Pawnbroker (1964) and Rachel, Rachel (1968). Her later films included The Mango Tree (1977) (for which she received an Australian Film Institute Best Actress nomination), and Harry and Tonto (1974), in one scene opposite Art Carney. In the comedy Arthur (1981), she portrayed Dudley Moore's wealthy and eccentric grandmother, even though she was only 22 years older than Moore. Fitzgerald died at age 91 in New York City following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.