It was 1946 and I was sitting in the Lyceum Theatre on 45th Street off Broadway in New York City with my parents when the curtain went up and I couldn’t stop laughing at a blond actress called Judy Holliday from the first time she bellowed across the stage, “Wh-a-a-a-t?” It is now 69 years later and I can still hear her voice and see her on that stage. The play was “Born Yesterday” and, what was rare in those days, being an unknown in the movies she played the role of Billie Dawn in the film being the first actress to win a Golden Globe award for ‘Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy’. She would also win the Oscar for Best Actress in that 1950 film. She was up against Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard”, Eleanor Parker in “Caged”, Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in “All About Eve”!

Judy Holliday did 7 Broadway shows and I saw her in 4 of them: Born Yesterday, Dream Girl, Bells Are Ringing, for which she won a Tony Award, and Hot Spot, the last 3 being musicals. She would repeat her stage role of Ella Peterson in Bells Are Ringing on film and I  never tire of seeing it. She also made a total of 8 films two of them being Jack Lemmons first films, Pffft! And It Should Happen To You.

Judy reportedly had an IQ over 170.

Sadly at the age of 43, in 1965, Judy Holliday died of breast cancer.

Don’t hesitate to see any of her movies as they are funny and will brighten your day. Both Born Yesterday and Bells Are Ringing are available on YouTube.

A duet with Dean Martin from Bells Are Ringing 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T45ykIHqmCw