Louise Troy (November 9, 1933 – May 5, 1994) was an American actress of stage and screen. She is best known for her performances in '' Tovarich'' (1963) and '' Walking Happy'' (1966), for both of which roles she was nominated for

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s. Her signature stage role was that of the lead in '' High Spirits'' (1964).

Personal life

Born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, Troy was the only child of Jewish parents: Ella Ziebel and Seymour Troy (original family name: Taradajka ). Her mother was an actress In the New York Yiddish theater, as was her grandmother, Frida Gespass, and her grandmother's sisters, Helene Gespass and Ella Gespass Wallerstein. The Gespass sisters, originally from Lemberg, Austria, were part of the founding generation of the Yiddish theater in America. Her father was a major designer and manufacturer of women's shoes.Metropolitan Museum of Art, Costume Institute and Seymour Troy archives at F.I.T, New York She studied with

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career

In 1955, Troy first appeared off-Broadway in '' The Infernal Machine''. She made her Broadway debut in the musical ''

Pipe Dream Pipe dream may refer to: Music * ''Pipe Dream'' (John Williamson album), 1997, or the titular song * ''Pipedream'' (Alan Hull album), 1973 * ''Pipe Dreams'' (Murray Head album), 1995 * "Pipe Dreams" (Nelly Furtado song), 2016 * ''Pipe Dream ...

'' (1955). She received critical acclaim for her role opposite

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...

Tammy Grimes Tammy Lee Grimes (January 30, 1934 – October 30, 2016) was an American film and stage actress. Grimes won two Tony Awards in her career, the first for originating the role of Molly Tobin in the musical '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and the ...

, Carol Arthur, and the legendary Beatrice Lillie in the 1964 musical '' High Spirits'', which was based on Noël Coward's comedy, '' Blithe Spirit''. She was also known for her guest appearances on the television show '' Hogan's Heroes'', on which her then husband

Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an American actor. He was known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'', for which he twice won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

starred as "Colonel Klink". Her other TV appearances included ''

Kate and Allie ''Kate & Allie'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989, starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as two divorced women, both with children, who decide to live together in the same house. ...

'', ''

Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969 until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 ( EST) fo ...

'', ''

The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to: Neil Simon play and its adaptations * ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon ** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play *** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...

'', ''

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

'', and ''

Honey West Honey West is a fictional character created by the husband and wife writing team Gloria and Forest Fickling under the pseudonym "G.G. Fickling", and appearing in eleven mystery novels by the duo. The character is notable as being one of the firs ...

'', among others. In the 1970s, she appeared on the long running daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

The Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'', twice (as Audrey Frost Mills in 1974, and as Gladys Shields in 1978). She appeared in the first season of ''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was o ...

'' (in the episode: "To Denise, with Love and Murder", which aired on April 22, 1973). Her film appearances include '' Yours, Mine and Ours'' (1968), '' The Swimmer'' (1968) and '' Ghostbusters II'' (1989).

Marriage

Troy was first married to actor

, from 1969 until they divorced in 1975, She then married her second husband, actor and director

Douglas Seale Douglas Seale (28 October 1913 – 13 June 1999) was an English film and stage actor. Early life Born in London, Seale was educated at Rutlish School in Wimbledon and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career He ...

in 1992, they remained married until her death in 1994, aged 60. Both unions were childless.

Death

Troy died of breast cancer at the age of 60 in 1994 at her home in New York City.

Recognition

Troy was nominated for the following Tony Awards: *1963 - Actress, Supporting or Featured (Musical) for her work in ''Tovarich'' *1964 - Actress, Supporting or Featured (Musical) for her work in ''High Spirits'' *1967 - Actress (Musical) for her work in ''Walking Happy''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Troy, Louise 1933 births 1994 deaths Actresses from New York City American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni American musical theatre actresses American television actresses Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from breast cancer Jewish American actresses 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American Jews