Judy Holliday @ 100: The Oscar Winner's Fascinating Career
Monday, June 21, 2021 at 2:35PM 
I’m just going to say it. I’m glad Judy Holliday won the Best Actress Oscar for the 1950 comedy Born Yesterday. I’m not saying she should have won—I’m not even saying I would have voted for her if I’d been a member of the Academy. But if I could have been there when the winner was announced on March 29, 1951, I would have been cheering the loudest.
Today—100 years after Holliday’s birth and 56 years and two weeks after her untimely death—Holliday’s Sea Biscuit victory over frontrunners Bette Davis for All About Eve and Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard is still a topic of discussion and debate...
BORN YESTERDAY
And yet, when awards pundits look back at the Best Actress contenders for 1950 (which also included the excellent Eleanor Parker in the too-dark-to-win prison noir Caged), most give pretty much the same explanation: Davis’s Eve costar Anne Baxter had insisted on being nominated for Best Actress instead of taking a BSA spot, which ended up splitting the vote and depriving both Davis and Swanson of potential wins. But I think the truth is more complicatted and more interesting.
Yes, it’s likely that Davis would have won a third Oscar that night if Baxter hadn’t balked, but it’s not a sure thing that Swanson was next in the running. Sunset Boulevard had a few handicaps—it was seen by many in the industry as a scandalous attack on Hollywood, and films with noir and horror elements rarely take home acting honors to this day. Meanwhile, Born Yesterday had been a feel-good Broadway hit about Washington corruption and Constitutional integrity that was miraculously both a sop to and a critique of McCarthyism, making just about everyone happy. So the film adaptation gamely played into the Academy’s already-entrenched penchants for honoring message pictures and for basking in the vicarious glow of celebrated plays.
What’s more, four weeks earlier—on February 28, 1951—Holliday had also become the first person ever to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. You could almost call Holliday the Olivia Colman of her day: an offbeat critical darling with a solid track record of comedic and dramatic performances, recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press and then the Academy for a mainstream breakout under a director she’d previously worked with (George Cukor in Holliday’s case, Yorgos Lanthimos in Colman’s). And for their surprise victories, each of those actresses had to endure serious side-eye from an Oscar-deprived Hollywood veteran who’d played Norma Desmond at one time or another.
Holliday, José Ferrer, and Gloria Swanson on Oscar night together
I have to admit, though, Born Yesterday is no Sunset Boulevard. Viewed outside of its historical moment, it can look like a pat Pygmalion story with a dash of cringy American exceptionalism. But Holliday is a delight as Billie Dawn, the showgirl mistress of a corrupt junkyard tycoon, and it’s exciting to see her acclaimed stage performance (mostly) captured on film; in order to please Columbia’s brutish studio head Harry Cohn—who publicly referred to Holliday as “that fat Jewish broad”—she was forced to bleach her hair, go on a crash diet, and lean into Billie’s cartoonier qualities. (The actress Jean Hagen would emulate this performance for years, both when she took over the role of Billie Dawn on Broadway and again in 1952 as the chalkboard-voiced starlet Lina Lamont in Singing in the Rain. This had the unfortunate effect of confusing Holliday and Hagen in some moviegoers’ minds, both then and now.)
Holliday was a unique movie presence who deserves to be better known today. A true genius with an IQ of 172, she was a whiz at sliding in seconds from bubbly one-liners to pathos in comedies, dramas, and musicals. In her standout supporting role in Adam’s Rib (1949), she’s on trial for shooting the husband who’s been two-timing her (with Jean Hagen, of all people), with Katharine Hepburn as her defense attorney. In The Marrying Kind (1952), her strained marriage to Aldo Ray is brought to the breaking point by the loss of their son. In It Should Happen to You (1954), she plays a proto-influencer who pays to have her name painted on billboards all over Manhattan and is perfectly paired with Jack Lemmon in his first major role. Her versatility and big-hearted charisma shines through in all of these performances, and it’s easy to see why Cukor and screenwriters Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon were drawn to working with Holliday across multiple projects. It’s also easy to see why she’s been named as a personal favorite by Tilda Swinton, Catherine Deneuve, Shirley MacLaine, Winona Ryder, Mia Farrow, and Madonna.
ADAM'S RIB with Katharine Hepburn
on the set of MARRYING KIND with George Cukor left, and the screenwriters, right (yes, that's future Best Supporting Actress winner Ruth Gordon!)
IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU with Jack Lemmon
BELLS ARE RINGING with Dean Martin
A brief glance at Holliday’s life reveals even more to love about her. She was close friends with Patricia Highsmith when both were in high school; it was the brainy Judy who introduced her friend Pat to the writing of Marcel Proust, whose moody influence shows up all over Highsmith’s novels Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mister Ripley, and The Price of Salt, the last of which would one day become the basis for the film Carol (Holliday herself had romantic friendships and relationships with both women and men throughout her life). After high school, Holliday got a job as a switchboard operator in Orson Welles’s Mercury Theater, and long before Hollywood called, she was an extra in the director’s pre-Citizen Kane first film, a 1938 short with the tantalizing title Too Much Johnson.
Eighteen years later, the writing team Comden and Green wrote the book and lyrics to the Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing, about a big-hearted answering service operator, specifically for Holliday; she won a Tony and duetted with the boozy crooner Dean Martin in the film version. Towards the end of her life, Holliday even recorded a jazz vocal album with accompaniment and arrangement by sometime boyfriend Gerry Mulligan, with whom she also cowrote the titular theme song for the 1965 film A Thousand Clowns. And one more bit of trivia: Jonathan Oppenheim, her only child, was the editor of the classic documentary Paris Is Burning (1990) and worked on several other acclaimed docs, too, including Oscar nominees Children Underground (2001) and How to Survive a Plague (2012).
with her son, future film editor Jonathan Oppenheim
Holliday’s life was tragically cut short on June 7, 1965, two weeks short of her 44th birthday, after a string of setbacks including anti-Semitic blacklist threats followed by battles with both breast and throat cancer. I’m convinced that had she lived longer, she would have scored even more Academy nominations, which would make me more willing to side with those who insist Davis or Swanson should have won in 1951. Given how things turned out though...
Had she not won, it’s likely that even more people would dismiss Holliday today as “that ditzy blonde from Born Yesterday” or, even worse, “that starlet from Singing in the Rain.”
To put this all another way, my mind knows the Oscar should have gone to Davis or Swanson, but my heart rejoices that it went to Holliday. I definitely understand if you disagree with me. And to be honest, whoever you think should have won that year, I’ll sort of agree. Unless you say Anne Baxter.
Reader Comments (33)
Wow, excellent article! Judy Holliday is one of my all-time favorites. So interesting to learn more about her life too. Thank you.
While I personally would have gone with Swanson or Davis, Holliday is a great and atypical Oscar win by absolutely any standard and while she didn't work as frequently as she should have or have the consistency of vehicles her talents merited (I'm not crazy about the film of Bells are Ringing myself and I think It Should Happen to You works solely because of her), her Oscar certainly helped and for that I will be forever grateful. I think the Marrying Kind in particular is a wonderful performance that should have gotten more awards consideration.
Side note: I would have been happy if ANY of the 1950 best actress nominees had won. That's a stellar line-up and Eleanor Parker in Caged is probably the most forgotten of the group at this point and she's right up there with the rest of them.
Judy was always the best part of every film she appeared in. I like, but don't love Born Yesterday. The 1950 Best Actress race is a tough call, but I'd go for Swanson. She pulls off a performance that could have gone very wrong.
Another Judy Holliday film to be checked out is The Solid Gold Cadillac. She takes on big business in this comedy and she works really well opposite the somewhat forgotten Paul Douglas. I wonder if Born Yesterday would have aged better with Douglas in place of Broderick Crawford's blunt force attempt at comedy?
@Peter -- Eleanor Parker was kind of the Vanessa Kirby of 1950.
When I was younger I was Team Swanson, Now I'm Team Davis.But I certainly don't dislike Holliday's win. She's delightful and as is so ably described, a special talent,
She is very good in By although i've never seen her in anything else but I still think Swanson should have won.
What does Brent have against Anne Baxter in All About Eve? She was great in it! That was one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) best actress lineups ever.
Judy Holliday displays such ingenuity in the role of Billie Dawn that I’ll always be glad she won an Oscar for it, especially considering their track record with comedies. I’m sure I would’ve been a Davis voter but any of these women would’ve been a worthy victor (even Anne Baxter).
@GTA James - funny you say that about Paul Douglas -- As you may know, he actually originated the part of Harry Brock in Born Yesterday on Broadway. Apparently he was pretty unkind to Holliday--both on Broadway and then on Solid Gold Cadillac -- and considering how many people loved Holliday, I'm siding with her on whatever their beef was. She loved working with Crawford, so for that reason, I'm glad he was in it instead. :)
@GTA James and @Peter, re Eleanor Parker I like to think of her as the Meryl Streep of her day — she was incredibly versatile and chameleonic.
@Anne. I did not know any of that. Hard to imagine anyone giving Judy a hard time. I've always read positive things about her. Maybe he didn't like that she was stealing scenes from him!
Brent -- this was a good read.
GTA -- I'm partial to SWANSON for this very same reason. But it's a pity that Bette has two Oscars and she couldn't win a third for EITHER of her two all time greatest performances (BABY JANE & ALL ABOUT EVE). I love her win for JEZEBEL but that DANGEROUS win has not aged well.
Cash -- I loled at that line because I agree with Brent but i guess if you love Baxter that reads weird. She's not a bad nominee by any means but the other four are all win worthy and it's crazy they were all in the same year.
Any discussion of Judy Holliday’s Oscar victory that omits the behind the scenes manipulations of George Cukor, Katharine Hepburn, and Garson Kanin is incomplete.
As noted in the article, studio head Harry Cohn was opposed to having Holliday recreate her stage triumph. Irritated, the trio of Cukor, the director prepping Born Yesterday, Kanin, the playwright, and Hepburn, who was forced to purchase the screen rights to The Philadelphia Story to be able to recreate her own stage success, colluded to help Holliday’s cause.
The three were deeply entrenched in filming the comedy Adam’s Rib. They decided to cast Holliday as the wronged wife who attempts to murder her husband. In a key sequence where Holliday’s character testifies in the trial, Hepburn opted to forego her close ups. Cukor kept Holliday in a long close up to demonstrate her ability to generate empathy in the audience and deliver an outstanding performance on screen as well as on stage.
The ruse worked and convinced Cohn to cast Holliday in her signature role.
Excellent article, Brent! Davis and Swanson are still being talked about today because they lost, which makes them winners in my book (alongside Holliday, of course).
James, thanks for sharing that anecdote. I love a good Katharine Hepburn story.
James - Thank you for adding this valuable history. It’s a critical part of her Hollywood origin story, and you put it very well. I had wanted to discuss this and much more but had to cut out details or else I would have written a book (maybe that will still happen). Hepburn could be a very generous colleague and scene partner — and in Holliday’s case, possibly more. A longer version of his piece would also have details about Nicholas Ray, Stephen Sondheim, Peter Lawford, Sandy Dennis, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, and so much more!
Love Holliday, but I don't always love her movies. I wish "Bells Are Ringing" worked just a little better, though nothing that's wrong with it is her fault. The staging is a little flat, and the gambling subplot is a real bore. It's the kind of b-plot you need in the theater so the stars are able to take a break for a scene or two instead of being on stage for the full evening, but you just don't need to spend as much time on it for the adaptation.
Wonderful article on a fantastic subject.
Judy is just magic on screen. She made so few films, only 8 where she had a significant role, but she makes every single one worth seeing. Fortunately and unsurprisingly with such a small output none of the films are terrible, the most mundane is the oddly named Phfft but even that has Jack Lemmon, Jack Carson and Kim Novak besides Judy.
I agree any of her co-nominees were worthy but I'm in the same place as Brent. Since she was only nominated once I'm glad Judy won. She would have been my choice two years later for her absolutely exquisite work in The Marrying Kind but there was no nomination that time out. It was however her personal favorite of her films and the performance she considered her best.
Having seen all eight of her films I'd rank them this way, although she's golden in them all:
1. The Marrying Kind
2. It Should Happen to You
3. The Solid Gold Cadillac
4. Adam's Rib
5. Bells Are Ringing
6. Born Yesterday
7. Full of Life-I hate to put this sweet little comic drama so low. It's probably her most obscure film but very worthwhile to seek out.
8. Phffft
I strongly disagree with Nathaniel when it comes to Davis's greatest performances.
She changed movie acting in a way only Brando did it again with her performance in Of Human Bondage. Then, after some unlikable parts, she delivered astonishing work in both Dark Victory and Now, Voyager, making us root for the same actress we learn to hate in The Little Foxes.
I think All About Eve is one the greatest movies ever, but she's not even in the top 3 best performances of the movie, after Sanders, Ritter and Baxter. Margo is a thankless role, the victim.
I love her in Baby Jane, but once again, it's an over the top version of her evil roles.
I'd give her Oscars for Of Human Bondage, Dark Victory (this movie is FLAWLESS) and Now, Voyager.
Swanson should have won for Sunset Blvd. And Anne Bancroft really really deserved her win.
With such a short life and being non prolofic I can't wait for the deep dive of her works, film by film.....it's going to happen right?
The woman deserves Claudio and a series at that! Disappointing TFE.
Aw I love Holliday and do think she was the deserved winner. You would be cheering louder if your favourite won, especially at that point in Holliday's career, so I'm not sure why you added that disingenuous part.
Nobody confuses Holliday and Hagen, not in a wide spread manner. If you're going to write personal stances and opinions just own it. It's not that 'complicatted'.
Also previous deserved Oscar winner Anne Baxter bucked category fraud and wasn't pressured or bullied out of the recognition she earned for her lead role in the Best Picture winner. That's bad ass and to be commended.
On the positive side you"ve brought together all the great trivia bits related to Holliday. Never heard of Holliday's intimate relationships with women, so i'll have to look for a more reliable source to verify but thanks for the possible new info!
Strange defensive tone to the piece and I'll defend Baxter as personally her duplicitous in the film was played in such wonderful fashion, just on the nose enough without dipping into obvious winking at the camera. The more exciting roles nominated would make her a disappointing winner, but the technical craft is of a very high caliber so I'd allow her win. Bloggers would be writing about that race even more so if she had!
Holliday was perfect, and Swanson and Davis were too, drawing alot from their well known personas. Comedy is very hard to do as well as Holliday did in Born Yesterday and I would give her the award dor the Gin scene alone. Team Holliday is out there, but we're a pretty classy bunch.
1950 had arguably 5 of the best Actress nominees in the history of the Oscars.
I personally wanted Bette Davis or Gloria Swanson to have won. But I can understand members having a difficult choice.
Fortunately the Academy didn't relegate Anne Baxter to Supporting - which is what would have happened nowadays.
Confession time. I think Holliday was the best of the field (thought I was alone) and I would have nominated her for Bells Are Ringing (over how many of the nominees that year I'll stay mum on should my being a stan seem too obvious)
Her posthumous LP Legacy of Laughter is a must listen made up of ten radio sketches. Her and Jimmy Furante and Tallulah Bankhead are perfection.
Cal -- this implies that i think poorly of those other roles though? I think DARK VICTORY is incredible too and it's absolutely top tier. I love her in JEZEBEL and it would be many people's all time best performance but for Bette it's not even close! That's how grand she is.
So Baxter haters, who is the quality snub that would elevate the fifth slot? My pick would be Margaret Sullavan in her swan song No Sad Songs For Me. Greer Garson in the reprisal of her Oscar winning role in another film dealing with cancer that year would be next option. They're the only two I've comitted to memory from that year. What were all of your preferred nominee over Baxter?
Sophie -- that's a great question. I don't hate Baxter in ALL ABOUT EVE at all but it's just not on the same level as the other four. But then, maybe nobody is that year as it's a high bar to clear. Some other leading ladies that year
some other key performances that year
GLORIA GRAHAME - In a Lonely Place *maybe my choice for the 5th slot*
PEGGY CUMMINS - Gun Crazy
MACHIKO KYO - Rashomon
BARBARA STANWYCK - The Furies / No Man of Her Own
INGRID BERGMAN -Stromboli
musical or comedy leading leadies
JUDY GARLAND - Summer Stock
BETTY HUTTON - Annie Get Your Gun
DORIS DAY - Tea for Two
LORETTA YOUNG - Key to the City
KATHRYN GRAYSON - Toast of New Orleans
haven't seen but curious about
JOAN CRAWFORD - Harriet Craig / The Damned Dont Cry
ANN SHERIDAN - Woman on the Run
GENE TIERNEY - Whirlpool
JOAN FONTAINE - September Affair
JANE WYMAN - The Glass Menagerie
LANA TURNER - A life of her own
Nathaniel - Agreed on Gloria Grahame! Wow, what a crazy year for amazing performances.
IMO the below films you mentioned are all excellent--Woman on the Run is especially fun. Harriet Craig and The Damned Don't Cry are both great, similar to two other Crawford standouts Flamingo Road and Daisy Kenyon.
JOAN CRAWFORD - Harriet Craig / The Damned Dont Cry
ANN SHERIDAN - Woman on the Run
GENE TIERNEY - Whirlpool
Katharine Hepburn for Adam's Rib should have been in. But even Anne Baxter, my 5th choice, would have been a worthy winner, so I don't really know who should have been bumped to allow her in, unless Baxter would be moved to Supporting. (category fraud, but there have been more egregious cases)
Nathaniel, that's a great list of alternates. I would go with Grahame as well. Claudette Colbert for Three Came Home is another excellent performance from that year, and it was a back injury from the film that prevented her from taking the role of Margo in All About Eve.
Also, I feel like Anne Baxter deserves a bit of praise for what she does as Eve. She's never been my favourite actress. For every performance I like of hers, I can name another that I can't warm to. But she really does a great job of digging into Eve's duplicitous nature and ultimately making her a character you love to loathe.
Just as an aside, it would be great if a member of your talented team could do a piece on Ann Sheridan. She's under-appreciated and deserves to be remembered better.
Oh good reminders Nathaniel! I'm partial to Crawford in Harriet Craig with Grahame next and Sullavan around the other two as my alternates.
OMG, Gloria Grahame. I love this movie and performance and actress and director
Not a Baxter hater, but she was always incredibly mannered. You can say that about many beloved performers ("Fasten your seat belts..."), but if the mannerisms aren't your cup of tea that's what you tend to remember about the work. ("Moses, Moses...") That said, she was kinda perfect as Eve, mannerisms and all. When I try to imagine someone else in the role, I draw a blank. (Ann Blyth? Jean Simmons? Eva Marie Saint?)
Gloria Grahame would have been a worthy nominee for In a Lonely Place. Love that film.
A few months ago I ended up watching Born Yesterday for the first time and was so pleased to find that this wasn't a Grace Kelly in The Country Girl situation, Holliday was worthy of the award. Her physicality and voice work is genius. I still think about the opening scene of the movie, how long it takes for us to hear her speak and how jarring (in the best way) it is when she finally utters her first lines. It takes a very smart actress to play dumb well and she was a genius (literally). I'm definitely going to check out her other work.
HOLLIDAY4EVA
BAXTER4EVA