Doreen Lang (February 15, 1915 – April 21, 1999) was a New Zealand-born American character actress, remembered for roles in theatre, television and films.
Life and career
Lang was born in
Gisborne, New Zealand, and studied drama in London.
[Bartney, Rashonda]
"Doreen Lang"
'' Variety'', June 15, 1999
She played Edith in
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combina ...
's ''
Blithe Spirit'' on
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 Stree ...
from 1941 to 1943. Other Broadway shows included ''
Make Way for Lucia'' (1948), ''I Know My Love'' (1949), ''Season in the Sun'' (1950) and ''Faithfully Yours'' (1951).
Lang's live TV performances included the title role in ''The Story of Mary Surrat'' (1955) for ''
Kraft Television Theatre
''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Imperial Chee ...
''; among her other television appearances, she played in episodes of ''
Studio One Studio One or Studio 1 may refer to:
* Studio One (software), digital audio workstation software, developed by PreSonus
* ''Studio One'' (American TV series), a 1948–1958 American television anthology series
* ''Studio One'' (Emirati TV progra ...
'' from 1954 to 1957 and was in the daytime drama ''
The Nurses'' (1965). Later, she appeared as guest star on numerous TV dramas, such as ''
Hawaii Five-O'' (1968), ''
Mod Squad'' (1969), ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ...
'' (1970), ''
Mannix
''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private in ...
'' (1971) and ''
The Waltons
''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book '' Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 fil ...
'' (1973).
[
Her first film role was in Hitchcock's '']The Wrong Man
''The Wrong Man'' is a 1956 American docudrama film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. The film was drawn from the true story of an innocent man charged with a crime, as described in the book ''The True St ...
'' (1956), followed by in an episode of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was r ...
'' (1958), and roles in ''North by Northwest
''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture t ...
'' (1959) and '' The Birds'' (1963).[ Her other films included '' Wild in the Country'' (1961), '' The Cabinet of Caligari'' (1962), '' The Group'' (1966), '' Brian's Song'' (1971), '' A Death of Innocence'' (1971), '']Death Sentence
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
'' (1974), ''Death In Canaan'' (1978), ''Like Normal People'' (1979) and ''Almost an Angel
''Almost an Angel'' is a 1990 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by John Cornell and starring Paul Hogan. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre.
The film was a critical and commercial failure.
Plot
Terry Dean (Pau ...
'' (1990).
Lang was married to Richard B. Rudy from 1939 to 1956, with whom she had a daughter, and, after a divorce, to Arthur Franz from 1964, with whom she had three stepchildren.[
]
References
Sources
*
External links
Doreen Lang
at the IMDb
Doreen Lang
at the Internet Broadway Database
Photo of Lang in ''Blithe Spirit''
(1941)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Doreen
1915 births
1999 deaths
American film actresses
American television actresses
Deaths from cancer
People from Gisborne, New Zealand
20th-century American actresses