Leueen MacGrath (3 July 1914 – 27 March 1992) was an English

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and the second wife of George S. Kaufman, from 1949 until their

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

in 1957.

Early years

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, MacGrath was a graduate of the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

Career

MacGrath (pronounced mac-GRAW) began her acting career with a small role in the 1936 British film ''Whom the Gods Love'', a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

about

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and his wife Constanze. She followed this with '' Pygmalion'' and a series of

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

s, including ''All Hands'', ''Meet Maxwell Archer'', and '' The Saint's Vacation''. MacGrath made her Broadway debut in 1948 in the play '' Edward, My Son'' (1948); she reprised her role (which she also had in the play's London production) in the film adaptation the following year. During this time she began a relationship with playwright and director George S. Kaufman. They married on 26 May 1949. Kaufman directed her in

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; ; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His wo ...

's The Enchanted at the Lyceum, which closed after 45 performances.. In 1951 she collaborated with Kaufman and Heywood Hale Broun on the writing of ''The Small Hours'', which closed after 20 performances. The following year she and her husband scripted the even less successful play about reincarnation, ''Fancy Meeting You Again'' in which she starred with a young Walter Matthau and which ran for only 8 performances. The couple finally achieved a hit in 1955 with ''

Silk Stockings ''Silk Stockings'' is a musical with a book by George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Abe Burrows and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The musical is loosely based on the Melchior Lengyel story ''Ninotchka'' and the 1939 film adaptation it ...

'', the

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

for which they co-wrote the book with Abe Burrows. She returned to acting for Giraudoux's '' Tiger at the Gates'' and '' The Potting Shed''. Having settled in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

following her marriage to Kaufman, MacGrath appeared in a number of American

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

popular in the 1950s, including ''

The Philco Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the ...

'', '' Studio One'', ''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vi ...

'', '' The United States Steel Hour'', '' The Alcoa Hour'', and ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

''.

Personal life

MacGrath married Kaufman on 26 May 1949, at Kaufman's home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They collaborated on several scripts and productions together. They divorced in 1957 and McGrath returned to the United Kingdom. In 1958 she returned to New York to help tend Kaufman after his second stroke, but declined to remarry him. Subsequently, she resumed her career in the United States. She was married five times. In addition to Kaufman, her husbands were Christopher Burn, Desmond Davis, Stephen Goodyear, and Stephen Quinto.

Death

On 27 March 1992, MacGrath died of complications from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at her home in London at the age of 77. She was survived by a sister and a stepdaughter.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macgrath, Leueen 1914 births 1992 deaths English stage actresses English film actresses English television actresses English women dramatists and playwrights Actresses from London 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Writers from London 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English people