Mary Sinclair (born Ella Delores Cook; November 15, 1922 – November 5, 2000) was an American television, film and stage actress and “a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s” as a performer in numerous plays produced and broadcast live during the early days of television. Sinclair was also a painter and had in her youth been a Conover model. Her husband, for a time, was Broadway producer and director,

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the ...

Early life and modelling

Sinclair was born Ella Delores Cook and raised in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. As a young woman she began modelling in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and in 1944, she left

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

for

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, where she modelled for the Conover agency and acted in summer stock. "I was the arty type," she recalled in a 1951 interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. "I wanted to go to New York and be a real actress.”

Acting career

In New York City, she became friends with theater producer

Hal Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th-century theatr ...

and theater producer, playwright and director

, her senior by thirty-five years, whom she married in April 1946 and divorced in 1951. And in the 1940s, she began to acquire experience as a freelance television actress, appearing on 36 programs in two years.''New York Times'' obit by Eric Page (November 13, 2000). "Mary Sinclair, 78, Television Actress of the 50s". But it was

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

board chairman

William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from a small radio network into o ...

who singled Sinclair out, in 1951, by giving her a seven-year contract with

, one of the first acting contracts granted by the network.''Los Angeles Times'' obit. "Mary Sinclair: Model and 1950s Television Actress". November 9, 2000. ''The New York Times'' reported that she was the first dramatic actress "to enter video's incubator for hatching its own stars."

Television

After acting on 36 TV programs in two years as a freelance, in 1951, Sinclair signed a long-term contract with CBS, becoming the first person to join what an article in ''

'' termed "video's incubator for hatching its own stars." " Ms. Sinclair usually played sweet, goody-goody characters on television. But not long after signing with

, she played quite different parts on three successive evenings: a vicious singer, a spiteful flapper and a libidinous shrew." "She was dazed by the number of men she had to kiss on-screen and said, 'I average two strangers a week.'" Sinclair starred in the live drama programs popular in the 1950s such as ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

'', ''

Westinghouse Studio One ''Studio One'' is an American anthology drama television series that was adapted from a radio series. It was created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. It premiered on November 7, 1948, and ended on Se ...

'', and ''The U.S. Steel Hour''. She had guest roles on early series including ''The Untouchables'', ''Peter Gunn'', and ''

Woman with a Past ''Woman with a Past'' is an American daytime soap opera that aired on CBS from February 1, 1954, to July 2, 1954. The sustaining program originated at WCBS-TV and replaced ''Action in the Afternoon'' in the CBS schedule. Synopsis The soap focus ...

''. And she starred in productions of ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'', ''

The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a historical novel by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who concei ...

'' and ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

''; also on the ''

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

'' television series with British actor, Ronald Howard. On November 14, 1950, Sinclair co-starred in "The Brush Off", an episode of ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

''. She was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

in 1951. In total, Sinclair played in more than one hundred and twenty television shows and films during her career.

Film

The one major motion picture that Mary Sinclair acted in was ''

Arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

'' made in 1953, starring

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

Brian Keith Robert Alba Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997), known professionally as Brian Keith, was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family ...

and

Katy Jurado María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García (16 January 1924 – 5 July 2002), known professionally as Katy Jurado ( , ), was a Mexican actress. She acted in popular Western films of the 1950s and 1960s. Her talent for playing a variety of ...

, with

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

as an Apache chief, in which she played Lela Wilson.

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

wanted her to appear in other films but she explained that she preferred working in television and returned 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 * ...

A shift in focus to painting

In the 1960s, as her television career faded, although attending the

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 ...

, headed by

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

Archives housed at 432 West 44th Street, New York, New York 10036 and appearing on the stage, Sinclair, in the main, retired from acting, and devoted most of her creative energies to painting. She studied with artist Fleur Cowles and specialized in oil canvases of flowers and animals, and portraits of friends.Playbill. com obit by Kenneth Jones, November 14, 2000 ''TV Actress Mary Sinclair, Former Wife of Mr. Abbott, Dead at 78''

Sojourn in Europe and a return

After leaving the U.S. and living in Italy for a few years, in the 1970s she returned to

, where she directed local theater productions. Later she moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

and lived there until her death in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.

Filmography

References

External links

Filmography by Genre

*
Mary Sinclair
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

Playbill

Moviefone

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Mary American television actresses 1922 births 2000 deaths Female models from Arizona Actors Studio alumni Actresses from Manhattan Actresses from Phoenix, Arizona Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from San Diego 20th-century American actresses Female models from California