Teresa Wright may not be a name you recognize, but she was a major force in classic Hollywood.
She had a six-decade career and appeared in over 30 films, dozens of series and made-for-TV
movies, and countless stage productions.
She was a major force in her first few films, winning award after award.
She seemed unstoppable until her career started to take a downturn thanks to factors such
as losing her first contract, facing major changes in Hollywood, and aging.
Keep watching to learn more about how Teresa Wright died 20 years ago, but her career was
dead before then.
Early Life Muriel Teresa Wright was born on October 27,
1918, in Manhattan, New York City.
Her parents divorced when she was young, and she lived with relatives across New York and
New Jersey.
One of her uncles was an actor, but the acting bug didn’t fully implant itself in her until
she saw Helen Hayes perform in a production of Victoria Regina.
She was so impressed that she knew she wanted to do it too.
That lead her to perform in school plays.
She decided to perform acting professionally after graduating from Columbia High School
in Maplewood, New Jersey.
Muriel earned a scholarship to the prestigious Wharf Theater in Provincetown, Massachusets
in the summer of 1937 and 1938.
She appeared in various plays there such as The Vinegar Tree and Susan and God.
She changed her name to Teresa when she moved to New York and discovered there was already
a Muriel Wright working with the Actors Equity.
Her New York debut was in a production of Our Town where she had a small role but was
also the understudy for the female lead.
She came on to replace Martha Scott who went on to play the role in the film.
Teresa spent a year in a production of Life With Father and was discovered by MGM talent
scout Samuel Goldwyn.
Teresa was young but nobody’s fool.
She added several stipulations to her contract, such as not being forced to appear in several
types of photos.
The list included everything from holding a cocker spaniel to posing with bunny ears
to running on the beach.
The primary clause was to protect her against “cheesecake publicity,” a euphemism for
posing nude.
She also wanted to be able to return to the theatre at least once a year.
Samuel was hesitant to agree to all of these stipulations at first, but he believed she
was talented.
She was a brand new ingenue that he felt the world would love.
Early Career In 1941, Teresa beat out several other actresses
for the lead in The Little Foxes.
She showed off her ability to play a character who is both soft and strong, similar to her
true personality.
Her next roles included Mrs. Miniver and The Pride of the Yankees in 1942.
She was the only performer to ever be nominated for an Oscar for her first three films.
She won the Best Supporting Actress trophy.
That massive start saw her career prospects shoot up.
She got another major honor for any actress of the time; appearing in a Hitchcock film.
She got a role in the 1943s Shadow of a Doubt.
She was loaned out to an independent studio for her fifth film, 19444s Cassanova Brown.
After taking time off for her pregnancy, Teresa appeared in The Best Years of Our Lives in
1946.
It won Best Picture and was one of the most prestigious films of her entire career.
Reaching those heights left her career only going downhill for a while.
She was lent out to studio after studio and argued with the man who ran the one she originally
signed to.
Feuding Teresa Wright and Samuel Goldwyn, head of
MGM, hadn’t gotten along since day one.
He hated that she made him follow arbitrary rules, such as those stipulations to her contract
about when and how she could be photographed.
She didn’t like the way he treated her.
The disagreements eventually boiled over into a full-on feud.
Teresa was set to appear in 1948’s Enchagment but refused to promote the film.
She claimed that she was too ill but wouldn’t let physicians look at her.
No matter what, she wouldn’t go to New York City like she was asked.
That was the last straw for Samuel.
She was already announced to appear in the 1948 adaptation of the short story Uncle Wiggily
in Connecticut, but he fired her even though there were years left in her contract.
He called her uncooperative and ungrateful and hoped to discourage that type of behaviour
from all his stars.
Teresa, for her part, said that she never refused to do anything she was asked.
She accepted the termination of her $ 5,000-a-week contract, claiming that his actors were treated
like cattle and made to work unreasonable hours.
The harsh words and hurt feelings were too difficult to come back from.
Teresa was forced to go out on her own and see if anyone else would hire her.
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Keep watching to learn more about Teresa Wright’s life and career.
Life and Career After the Contract Teresa’s feud with Samuel Goldwyn affected
her carer forever in ways she could never have foreseen.
The primary factor was the way it changed her image.
Producers and executives didn’t want to sign on an actress who was known for being
uncooperative.
She had a full awards shelf, but her name had become less and less of a box office draw
since her work in Shadow of a Doubt.
The era she lived in also worked against her.
Beauty and age were more of a factor then than they even are today.
She was beginning to age out of the ingenue status that made her famous to begin with.
Studios and movie theaters were also being sold with TV becoming the screen of choice.
She had to move to a new medium or risk getting left behind.
That was why Teresa’s career seemed to be dead before it started.
She stayed away for a while until making a comeback in the 50s.
This included films such as Something to Live For and California Conquest in 1952, Count
the Hours in 1953, Track of the Cat in 1954, and Escapade in Japan in 1957.
Her screenwriter husband Niven Bush, who she married on May 23, 1942, got her a part in
Pursued in 1947 and The Capture in 1950.
They divorced in 1952.
They had two children, Mary-Kelly and Niven.
Her next husband was Robert Anderson, who she married in 1959 and divorced in 1978 but
remained friends with until her death.
She also appeared in The Men in 1950 and The Intriguing Search for Bridey Murphy, two of
her best post-WWII films.
The latter was her attempt to, in her own words, “be Joan of Arc” but only proved
that she would work for less than most stars of her time.
Before it aired, she earned only $65,000 for 1947’s Pursued.
She refused an unknown $200,000 role to work on The Men, where she only earned $25,000.
Teresa still needed to put bread on the table, so she attempted to find work in other mediums.
She retired from film and moved to TV in 1959.
She appeared in the 1955 version of The Miracle on 34th Street.
Teresa eventually found success on the small screen.
Her work in the Playhouse 90 version of The Miracle Worker earned her three Emmy nominations.
She also appeared in the 1989 series The Dolphin Cove.
Teresa returned to the stage in plays such as Salt of the Earth in 1952, The Heiress
in 1954, and Rainmaker in 1955.
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs in 1957 was her official Broadway return.
Teresa married playwright Robert Anderson in 1959.
She appeared on stage in his drama I Never Sang For My Father in 1968.
They lived on a farm in New York until their divorce in 1978.
Teresa continued to go to her first love, the stage, in her last years.
Her final play was On Borrowed Time in 1991.
After almost a decade away from the big screen, she returned for her final film, The Raimaker,
in 1997.
Her final TV role was in Picket Fences in 1996.
Teresa lived the last decade of her life in peace and seclusion.
She appeared at a few film festivals and at events associated with the New York Yankees.
Death and Legacy Teresa Wright died of a heart attack at the
age of 86 on March 6, 2005.
She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.
Her children and grandchildren survived her.
Her daughter writes children's and young adult books.
Her grandson Jonah Smith is a film producer.
Teresa’s talent has enabled her to hold multiple records.
She was the youngest actor to receive three Oscar nominations for acting until Jennifer
Lawrence came along in 2014.
She’s also one of only 12 actors to get Academy Award nominations for two acting categories
in the same year with Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nods for The Pride of the
Yankees and Mrs. Miniver in 1942.
Critics praised her performances from the beginning.
Directors she worked with recognized her abilities.
William Wyler called her the most promising actress he’d ever directed.
Alfred Hitchcock admired her intelligence, warmth, and quiet professionalism.
Teresa got two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.
One recognizes her work in films.
The other is in honor of her work in television.
She’s always had a deep connection to the Yankee baseball team and threw the first pitch
at a game in 1998.
She believed that everyone connected to her performance in The Pride of the Yankees because
the game was so American.
That film also earned her a special honor.
Her name was included in the roll call of former players who had died.
A close friend Donal Spoto wrote a memoir of her life titled A Girl’s Got to Breathe:
The Life of Teresa Wright.
It was published in February 2016, and Publishers Weekly called it an “affectionate tribute
to a shamefully neglected talent.”
Who’s your favorite forgotten Hollywood star?
Let us know in the comments.