Remembering Elaine Stritch and Marilyn

Elaine Stritch with Liz Smith in 1956 (left) and in later life (right)

First posted here on July 18, 2014

American actress Elaine Stritch, whose remarkable career spanned eight decades, has died aged 89, a sad event commemorated by her longtime friend, columnist Liz Smith, in today’s Boston Herald. Stritch made her Broadway debut in 1944, and went on to appear in plays by Tennessee Williams, Noel Coward, Stephen Sondheim and Edward Albee.

Stritch relocated to London in the 1970s, starring alongside Donald Sinden in the ITV sitcom, Two’s Company. After returning to the US, she made two films with Woody Allen, and a series of acclaimed one-woman shows on Broadway. She recently played Alec Baldwin’s mother in TV’s 30 Rock. In 2013, she returned to her home state of Michigan, where she died yesterday.

Elaine Stritch as Grace in Bus Stop (left); and Marilyn with Betty Field, who replaced her in the movie

One of Elaine’s breakout roles was as Grace, a ‘sassy diner manageress’, in the original Broadway production of William Inge’s Bus Stop (1955.) It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that she also knew Marilyn at this time. In a 1995 interview with New York Magazine, Stritch shared her memories of Monroe:

“It’s amazing the bravura things shy people do. Usually I’m just scared to death. But I’ve never met an actress who wasn’t. Marilyn Monroe was one of the most frightened human beings who ever lived, but look what she could do! I mean, I got worried if I had a V-neck on! I had cameos on my chin! She was as shy as I am, but she was sold that sex image.”