“LOS ANGELES, California (AP) – Jane Wyman, an Academy Award winner for her performance as the deaf rape victim in “Johnny Belinda,” star of the long-running TV series “Falcon Crest” and Ronald Reagan’s first wife, died Monday morning at 93.”
I just handed my video of “Johnny Belinda” to a tenant this morning, about an hour and a half ago, so he could see her incredible performance that won her the Oscar without having uttered a single word in the film. I watched the first few minutes of it to make sure the tape was still good before giving it to him, and now I read she died just this morning.
She may have won the Oscar for JB, but her best work was in the wonderful melodramas of Douglas Sirk, particularly the magnificent All that Heaven Allows. I’d wager, though, that her most famous film role is of Aunt Polly in Pollyanna.
I used to love hating her on Falcon Crest- one of the best villainesses of all time (and I think the highest paid actress on TV during her ex-husband’s administration).
I also loved her as the ice queen swamp mother (how often do you read those four words together?) in The Yearling- my family used to end long go-nowhere stories (or respond to other people who told them) with “”…
for a hound’ll suck eggs" after her long go-nowhere dog story in that movie.
I’m surprised she lived this long considering how frail she looked at her daughter’s funeral. Of course she survived being named “Jane Fulks” for many years, and being fired for not being able to cut pie into 8 even pieces (I read somewhere), and found her biggest success in her 70s, so she was a tough old gal. RIP Janie.
Speaking of Johnny Belinda, she gave perhaps the best Oscar acceptance speech ever when she won for that:
“I won this award for keeping my mouth shut, so I think I’ll do it again now.”