Polly Bergen / Acetate / Lonesome Stranger - 33/78 RPM versions / 1950's Movie

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POLLY BERGEN

LONESOME STRANGER

33RPM AND 78RPM VERSIONS

USA ROCKHILL DOUBLE SIDED 12" ACETATE

graded visual as EX-/VG+

POSTAGE IS NOT $4.00 TO USA

COSTS ARE $ 25.00 TO USA / $ 16.00 FOR EUROPE

$25.00 FOR JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA

Polly Bergen won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in The Helen Morgan Story. For her stage work she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Carlotta Campion in Follies in 2001. Her film work included 1962's Cape Fear and 1963's The Caretakers, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She hosted her own variety show for one season (The Polly Bergen Show), and as an author wrote three books on beauty, fashion, and charm.



Bergen was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to Lucy (née Lawhorn) and William Hugh Burgin, a construction engineer. "Bill Bergen", as he was later known, had singing talent and appeared with his daughter in several episodes of her 18-episode NBC comedy/variety show, The Polly Bergen Show, which aired during the 1957-1958 television season.

Career

Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear (1962) opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. She had roles in three Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy films in the early 1950s: At War with the Army, That's My Boy and The Stooge. Bergen's later roles included Mrs. Vernon-Williams in Cry-Baby, a John Waters film.

Bergen received an Emmy award for her portrayal of singer Helen Morgan in the episode The Helen Morgan Story of the 1950s television series Playhouse 90. Signed to Columbia Records, she enjoyed a successful recording career during this era, as well. In the 1950s she also was known as "The Pepsi Cola Girl", having done a series of commercials for that product.

She was a regular panelist on the CBS game show To Tell the Truth, during its original run. She also appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood. In 1963 Bergen co-starred with Doris Day and James Garner in the film comedy, Move Over, Darling. She earned an Emmy nomination for her role as Rhoda Henry, wife of Capt. "Pug" Henry (played by Mitchum), in two ABC miniseries, The Winds of War and its sequel, War and Remembrance.

She starred in a 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Bergen played Fran Felstein on HBO's The Sopranos, the former mistress of Tony Soprano's father, and former mistress of John F. Kennedy. From 2007 to 2011 Bergen had a guest role in Desperate Housewives as Lynette Scavo's mother, Stella Wingfield, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination.

She was a semi-regular cast member of Commander-in-Chief (2006) as the mother of Mackenzie Allen, the President of the United States, played by Geena Davis. Bergen herself had once played the first female President of the United States, as President Leslie McCloud in the 1964 film, Kisses for My President. Another late appearance came in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, Candles on Bay Street (2006), in which she played the assistant to a husband-and-wife team of veterinarians.

Personal life

In 1965, Bergen created the Polly Bergen Company cosmetics line. She also created lines of jewelry and shoe brands, and authored three books on beauty. Bergen was a liberal-minded, politically active Democrat and feminist.

Bergen converted to Judaism after marrying Hollywood talent agent Freddie Fields, with whom she had two adopted children, Pamela Kerry Fields and Peter William Fields, and stepdaughter Kathy Fields. She had previously been a Southern Baptist. Bergen's niece is the television producer Wendy Riche.

Death

Bergen died of natural causes on September 20, 2014, at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, surrounded by family and close friends. She had been diagnosed with emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s.

Filmography
Film
Year     Title     Role     Notes
1949     Champion     Singer     Uncredited
1949     Across the Rio Grande     Singer    
1950     The Men     Singer     Uncredited
1950     At War with the Army     Helen Palmer    
1951     That's My Boy     Betty 'Babs' Hunter    
1951     Warpath     Molly Quade    
1952     The Stooge     Mary Turner    
1953     Cry of the Hunted     Janet Tunner    
1953     Fast Company     Carol Maldon    
1953     Arena     Ruth Danvers    
1953     Escape from Fort Bravo     Alice Owens    
1954     The Blue Angel     Herself-Host    
1957     Playhouse 90: The Helen Morgan Story (Season 1, Episode 33)     Helen Morgan     Television film
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1962     Cape Fear     Peggy Bowden    
1962     Belle Sommers     Belle Sommers     Television film
1963     The Caretakers     Lorna Melford     Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1963     Move Over, Darling     Bianca Steele    
1964     Kisses for My President     U.S. President Leslie Harrison McCloud    
1967     A Guide for the Married Man     Technical Adviser (Clara Brown)    
1974     Death Cruise     Sylvia Carter     Television film
1975     Murder on Flight 502     Mona Briarly     Television film
1977     Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue     Vera Keppler     Television film
1977     Telethon     Dorothy Goodwin     Television film
1978     How to Pick Up Girls!     Dana Greenberg     Television film
1981     The Million Dollar Face     Jo Burns     Television film
1982     Born Beautiful     Marion Carmody     Television film
1984     Velvet     Mrs. Vance    
1987     Making Mr. Right     Estelle Stone    
1988     Addicted to His Love     Vivien Langford     Television film
1988     She Was Marked for Murder     Laura Lee Webster     Television film
1989     Mother, Mother     Barbara Cutler     Short film
1989     The Haunting of Sarah Hardy     Emily Stepford     Television film
1989     My Brother's Wife     Myra Gilbert     Television film
1990     Cry-Baby     Mrs. Vernon-Williams    
1991     Lightning Field     Carol     Television film
1992     Lady Against the Odds     Cleo Storrs     Television film
1993     Arly Hanks     Ruby Bee     Television film
1995     Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde     Mrs. Unterveldt    
1995     The Surrogate     Sandy Gilman     Television film
1995     Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored     Miss Maybry    
1996     In the Blink of an Eye     Murial     Television film
1996     For Hope     Molly Altman     Television film
2005     Paradise, Texas     Beverly Cameron    
2006     A Very Serious Person     Mrs. A    
2006     Candles on Bay Street     Rosemary     Television film
2012     Struck by Lightning     Grandma    
Television
Year     Title     Role     Notes
1954–1955     The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse     Herself-Host     Unknown episodes
1957–1958     The Polly Bergen Show     Herself     18 episodes
1956–1961     To Tell the Truth     Herself     165 episodes
1961     Alfred Hitchcock Presents     Crystal Coe     Episode: "You Can't Trust a Man"
1962     What's My Line     Herself     Episode: "January 28, 1962
1982     The Love Boat     Dana Pierce     3 episodes
1983     The Winds of War     Rhoda Henry     6 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1984     Fantasy Island     Esther Brandell     Episode: "Lady of the House/Mrs. Brandell's Favorites"
1985     Hotel     Elizabeth Hastings     Episode: "Images"
1985     Murder, She Wrote     Dr. Jocelyn Laird     Episode: "School for Scandal"
1988–1989     War and Remembrance     Rhoda Henry     6 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1988     My Two Dads     Evelyn Taylor     Episode: "Joey's Mother-in-Law"
1989     Jake and the Fatman     Emma Julian     Episode: "By Myself"
1990     Steel Magnolias     Clairee Belcher     Unsold TV pilot
1991–1992     Baby Talk     Doris Campbell     23 episodes
1998     Touched by an Angel     Stella     Episode: "Deconstructing Harry"
2004     The Sopranos     Fran Felstein     Episode: "In Camelot"
2005–2006     Commander in Chief     Kate Allen     10 episodes
2007–2011     Desperate Housewives     Stella Wingfield     10 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Discography

Albums list adapted from AllMusic and Discogs.

Albums

    1955 Little Girl Blue
    1957 Bergen Sings Morgan — Billboard 200 — 10
    1957 The Party's Over — Billboard 200 — 20
    1958 Polly and Her Pop
    1959 My Heart Sings — Columbia #CS 8018 — orchestra conducted by Luther Henderson
    1959 All Alone by the Telephone
    1959 First Impressions — with Farley Granger and Hermione Gingold
    1960 Four Seasons of Love
    1961 Sings the Hit Songs from Do-Re-Mi and Annie Get Your Gun
    1963 Act One, Sing Too
    1996 My Heart Sings — re-release

Singles

    1958 "Come Prima" — Billboard Hot 100 — 67