Phyllis Ann Love (December 21, 1925 – October 30, 2011) was an American theater and television actress.

Early years

Love was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. Her parents were Jack Love, who owned a food market, and Lois Love, who owned a cafe prior to marriage. Her schooling came at Perkins Elementary School, Callanan Junior High School, and Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. Beginning in 1948, she attended the

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

in Pittsburgh for an unknown length of time.

Career

After moving to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Love joined the recently formed

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

. Her debut on television came in the studio's ''

'' series;
"Actress Phyllis Love dies: Appeared on Broadway, in Wyler's 'Friendly Persuasion',"
''Variety'' (november 10, 2001). "Love attended what became Carnegie Mellon U. and studied at the Actors Studio in New York, beginning in 1948... The actress picked up most of her credits, however, on television, appearing on numerous anthology shows beginning with 'Actors Studio" in 1949."' her Broadway and big screen bows, the year after that, as, respectively,

Julie Harris Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary roles, she earned numerous accolades including five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy ...

's understudy in the stage adaptation of ''

The Member of the Wedding ''The Member of the Wedding'' is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete, although she interrupted the work for a few months to write the novella '' The Ballad of the Sad Café''.McDowell, Mar ...

'', and, an uncredited performer in the film '' So Young So Bad''. Throughout the 1950s she acted in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

productions and the occasional film. Her Broadway credits include ''A Distant Bell'' (1959), ''Flowering Cherry'' (1959), ''The Egghead'' (1957), ''

The Rose Tattoo ''The Rose Tattoo'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication b ...

'' (1950), and ''The Country Girl'' (1950). She won the

Clarence Derwent Award The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers' union, in the West End in the United Kingdom. Clarence Derwent (23 March 1884 – 6 ...

in 1951 for her role in ''The Rose Tattoo.'' That role also brought her a Donaldson Award for Best Supporting Performance (Actress) for 1950–1951. She played Mattie Birdwell in the film '' Friendly Persuasion'' (1956), and

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

's pregnant wife in ''

The Young Doctors ''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday 8 November 1976 until Wednesday 30 March 1983. The series is primarily s ...

'' (1961). On television, she appeared principally in guest roles from 1950 until her retirement in the early 1970s. Among her roles were two guest appearances on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'', both times as the defendant, as Ellen Carter in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Bogus Books", and the part of Minerva Doubleday in the 1964 episode "The Case of the Wooden Nickels". In 1961 she played Dot the waitress in season 4 episode 17 and 18 of ''

Have Gun - Will Travel Have or having may refer to: * the concept of ownership * any concept of ''possession'' * the English verb "to " is used: ** to express possession linguistically, in a broad sense ** as an auxiliary verb ** in constructions such as ''have somet ...

'', and in 1962 she played Mrs. Lucas in the 3rd-season episode "

Four O'Clock "Four O'Clock" is episode 94 (season 3, number 30) of the American television anthology series '' The Twilight Zone''. Opening narration Plot Oliver Crangle is a hate-ridden fanatic who lives in an apartment with his parrot, Pete. He maint ...

" in ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. In 1964 she played Jennifer May in the episode "Doctor's Wife" in the TV series ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

''. In 1965 she played Lieutenant Jenkins in Season 1, Episode 19 "Faith, Hope and Sergeant Aronson" in the TV series ''

12 O'Clock High ''Twelve O'Clock High'' is a 1949 American war film directed by Henry King (director), Henry King and based on the novel of the same name by Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay Jr. It stars Gregory Peck as Brig. General Frank Savage. Hugh Marlowe, Gary ...

''. For 15 years, Love was on the faculty at

Morningside High School Morningside High School was a public high school in Inglewood, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. A part of the Inglewood Unified School District, it is the second largest high school in the city after Inglewood High School. In 2 ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, teaching drama and English.

Personal life

Love and James Vincent McGee were married for 30 years, from 1948 until they divorced in 1978. On January 22, 1983, Love married Alan Paul Gooding. They remained married until her death in 2011.

Death

On October 30, 2011, Love died at her home in

Menifee, California Menifee is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Inland Empire. Named after a local miner, Luther Menifee Wilson, it was settled in the 19th century, and incorporated as a city in 2008. Since then, Menifee ha ...

, at age 85.

Filmography

References

External links

* * *
Phyllis Love
at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

'
Actors Studio audio collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Phyllis 1925 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American educators 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Inglewood, California American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni Clarence Derwent Award winners Donaldson Award winners American drama teachers Schoolteachers from Iowa 20th-century American women educators Actresses from Des Moines, Iowa People from Menifee, California Theodore Roosevelt High School (Iowa) alumni