Mildred Dunnock

Mildred Dunnock Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: January 25, 1901

Death Date: July 5, 1991

Birth Place: Baltimore, Maryland

When Mildred Dunnock quietly demanded that "Attention must be paid" to Willy Loman in the 1949 Broadway premiere of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" opposite Lee J. Cobb, her indelible performance as Linda Loman became the embodiment of Miller's idealized mother figure: loving, supportive mother and wife and the family's moral balast. She repeated her landmark performance in the disappointing 1951 Laslo Benedek film opposite Fredric March (winning her first Oscar nomination) and again opposite Cobb in the brilliant 1966 TV adaptation (directed by Alex Segal) and for the Caedmon recording in the 1960s.

Formerly a schoolteacher, Dunnock made her stage debut in 1932 and won acclaim on Broadway in 1940 as a Welsh teacher in Emlyn Williams' autobiographical drama "The Corn Is Green," a role she reprised in her film debut in 1945. Although she is memorable in the brief role as the wheelchair bound victim whom Richard Widmark pushes down the stairs in "Kiss of Death" (1948), Dunnock gave her finest performances as seemingly genteel spinster types who display surprising inner strength and sympathy.

Dunnock studied acting with Actors Studio founders Lee Strasberg, Robert Lewis and Elia Kazan and after directing her in "Death of a Saleman," Kazan repeatedly cast her as a figure of quiet moral authority in such films as "Viva Zapata!" (1952) and as Aunt Rose Comfort in Tennessee Williams' "Baby Doll" (1956) for which she received her second supporting actress Oscar nomination. Evidently a favorite actress of Williams as well as Kazan, she continued her association with the playwright on Broadway, creating the role of Big Mama in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1955), appearing in "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" (1963) and starring in a 1966 regional revival of "The Glass Menagerie." She was also featured as Aunt Nonnie in Richard Brooks' 1962 film adaptation of "Sweet Bird of Youth."

Although she didn't begin acting professionally until she was in her 30s, Dunnock maintained an active career as a superb, understated character actress on stage, screen and TV. Her other notable films include Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble With Harry" (1955), "Love Me Tender" (1956), "Peyton Place" (1957), "Butterfield 8" (1960) and John Ford's last feature "Seven Women" (1966).

Credits

The Pick-Up Artist

Actor
Nellie
Movie
1987
61%

The Patricia Neal Story

Self
Movie
1981

Isabel's Choice

Actor
Helen
Movie
1981

And Baby Makes Six

Actor
Serena Fox
Movie
1979

One Summer Love

Actor
Miss Barrow
Movie
1976

The Spiral Staircase

Actor
Mrs. Sherman
Movie
1975

Murder or Mercy

Actor
Lois Harelson
Movie
1974

A Summer Without Boys

Actor
Mrs. LaCava
Movie
1973

A Brand New Life

Actor
Mother
Movie
1973

Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?

Actor
Miss Tinsley
Movie
1969

Death of a Salesman

Actor
Linda Loman
Movie
1966

Seven Women

Actor
Jane Argent
Movie
1966

Behold a Pale HorseStream

Actor
Pilar
Movie
1964
90%

Youngblood Hawke

Actor
Mrs. Sarah Hawke
Movie
1964

Alfred Hitchcock HourStream

Actor
Series
1962

Sweet Bird of YouthStream

Actor
Aunt Nonnie
Movie
1962
74%

Something Wild

Actor
Mrs. Gates
Movie
1961

The Power and the Glory

Actor
Spinster
Movie
1961

The Tom Ewell Show

Guest Star
Mrs. Stecket
Show
1960

ThrillerStream

Actor
Series
1960

Butterfield 8Stream

Actor
Mrs. Wandrous
Movie
1960
47%

The Story on Page One

Actor
Mrs. Ellis
Movie
1959

The Nun's StoryStream

Actor
Sister Margharita (Mistress of Postulants)
Movie
1959
83%

Peyton PlaceStream

Actor
Miss Elsie Thornton
Movie
1957
65%

Baby DollStream

Actor
Aunt Rose Comfort
Movie
1956
83%

Love Me TenderStream

Actor
Martha Reno
Movie
1956
58%

The Alcoa Hour

Actor
Grace Westman
Show
1955

Alfred Hitchcock PresentsStream

Actor
Martha Collins
Series
1955

The Trouble With Harry

Actor
Mrs. Wiggs
Movie
1955

Climax!

Actor
Series
1954

Bad for Each OtherStream

Actor
Mrs. Mary Owen
Movie
1954

Hansel and Gretel

Voice
Mother
Movie
1954

Ben Hecht's Tales of the City

Actor
Show
1953

The Jazz Singer

Actor
Mrs. Ruth Golding
Movie
1953

Viva Zapata!Stream

Actor
Senora Espejo
Movie
1952
56%

The Girl in White

Actor
Dr. Marie Yeomans
Movie
1952

Death of A Salesman

Actor
Linda Loman
Movie
1951
100%

I Want You

Actor
Sarah Greer
Movie
1951

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950

SuspenseStream

Actor
Series
1949

Studio One

Actor
Series
1948

Kiss of DeathStream

Actor
Rizzo's mother
Movie
1947
89%

The Corn Is Green

Actor
Miss Ronberry
Movie
1945