Celeste Holm: Broadway lights dimmed in memory



The Broadway community mourns the loss of Celeste Holm, who passed away on 15 Jul 2012 at age 95. The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in her memory on 18 Jul 2012, at exactly 8pm for one minute.

Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League, said, "Celeste Holm's impressive career on stage and screen spanned six decades, so multi-generations of theatre and film fans had the chance to appreciate her unique talent. Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this time."

Holm had already appeared in a number of Broadway productions, including William Saroyan's 'Time of Your Life,' when she made an indelible Broadway impression as 'Ado Annie' in the 1943 roadway premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma!' She played the lead in the musical comedy 'Bloomer Girl' the next year.

Between movie roles Holm returned to the stage, appearing in numerous Broadway shows in the 1950s and 60s. She filled in for Gertrude Lawrence in 'The King and I' and for Angela Lansbury in 'Mame' and played the title role in 'Anna Christie.' In her last Broadway role in 1991, she played a theatrical agent revisiting a long-ago romance with John Barrymore in 'I Hate Hamlet.'

She earned an Academy Award for her work in "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947) and earned two additional Oscar nominations for "Come to the Stable" (1949) and "All About Eve" (1950).

Holm's is survived by her fifth husband, Frank Basile, and two sons.

Celeste Holm

Originally published on

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