Martine Bartlett

Martine Bartlett
Born(1925-04-24)April 24, 1925
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedApril 5, 2006(2006-04-05) (aged 80)
Tempe, Arizona, U.S.
EducationWashington University in St. Louis (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1951–1983

Martine Bartlett (April 24, 1925 – April 5, 2006[1]) was an American actress. A life member of The Actors Studio,[2] Bartlett is best-remembered, albeit not by name, for her chilling performance as Hattie Dorsett, the seriously disturbed, abusive mother of Sally Field's title character in Sybil.

Career

She was active onstage with the former St. Louis Community Playhouse, Rooftop Players and the old Empress Theater. She received her master's degree at the Graduate Drama School at Yale.[3] Her debut on Broadway was as a townsperson in The Devil's Disciple (1950). She was part of the ensemble cast in Saint Joan (1951),[1] starring Uta Hagen.

Her first television appearance was in an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents titled "The Man Who Vanished" (1956). Her other appearances include episodes on The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, Dr. Kildare, The Virginian, Kojak, Cannon, Mission: Impossible, and Quincy, M.E. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actress for her performance in an episode of the series Arrest and Trial[4] ("Journey Into Darkness", 1963).

She returned to Broadway in 1957 and played the role as Loreena Lovejoy in Carson McCullers' The Square Root of Wonderful (starring Anne Baxter). Bartlett appeared as the kindly Aunt Nonnie in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth (1959).[1]

Her motion picture debut was as the English teacher Miss Metcalf in Splendor in the Grass (1961), starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty. Other films in which she appeared include The Prize (1963) and Lord Love a Duck (1966). She played Alma Mulloy, the first victim of Rod Steiger's serial killer in No Way to Treat a Lady (1968). She played the delusional prostitute Sadie in Fuzz (1972); played Raquel Welch's mother (and Jodie Foster's grandmother) in Kansas City Bomber (1972); and appeared in Aloha, Bobby and Rose (1975).

Bartlett portrayed the "Secret Wife", a self-abusing mental patient, in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977). In the NBC miniseries Sybil (1976), Bartlett played Hattie Dorsett, Sybil's psychotic mother who appears in flashbacks abusing and tormenting a very young Sybil (played by Natasha Ryan), garnering acclaim for her performance. She made her last known appearance in an episode of the television series Remington Steele (1983).

Death

Bartlett died on April 5, 2006, in Tempe, Arizona, aged 80. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.[5] She was survived by a brother and sister.[3]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1961 Splendor in the Grass Miss Metcalf
1963 The Prize Saralee Garrett
1966 Lord Love a Duck Inez
1968 No Way to Treat a Lady Alma Mulloy
1972 Fuzz Sadie
1972 Kansas City Bomber Mrs. Carr
1975 Aloha, Bobby and Rose Rose's mother
1977 I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Secret Wife

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1954 Kraft Television Theatre Mrs. Elton "Emma"
1958 The United States Steel Hour Miss Fraser "One Red Rose for Christmas"
1961 Naked City Receptionist "A Memory of Crying"
1963 Ben Jerrod Lil Morrison TV series
1963 Dr. Kildare Mrs. Goodwin "The Sleeping Princess"
1963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Flossie Season 1 Episode 24: "The Star Juror"
1963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Mrs. Bergen Season 2 Episode 6: "Nothing Ever Happens in Linville"
1963 Breaking Point Miss Newly "And James Was a Very Small Snail"
1963 Arrest and Trial Miranda Ledoux Porter "Journey Into Darkness"
1964 The Twilight Zone Miss Finch "Night Call"
1964 The Lieutenant Stella Bonney "In the Highest Tradition"
1964 The Fugitive Streetwalker "The End Game"
1964 The Eleventh Hour Ina Danholt "The Color of Sunset"
1965 Profiles in Courage Caroline "Daniel Webster"
1965 The Big Valley Cinda Bentell "The Guilt of Matt Bentell"
1966 The Virginian Margaret McKinley "One Spring Like Long Ago"
1966 Mission: Impossible Ariana Domi "Zubrovnik's Ghost"
1967 CBS Playhouse Margaret "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
1967 Judd, for the Defense Grace Garrison "Death from a Flower Girl"
1968 Felony Squad Leona Corbett "The Love Victim"
1969 Then Came Bronson Nora Halvorsen "The Old Motorcycle Fiasco"
1970 The Mod Squad Mrs. Farrell "Sweet Child of Terror"
1970 Medical Center Stella Hibbs "Fright and Flight"
1970 The Immortal Mrs. Adkins "The Return"
1971 Big Fish, Little Fish Edith Maitland TV film
1972 The Sixth Sense Carrie "Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death"
1973 Cannon Hanna Freel "He Who Digs a Grave"
1973 Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law Mary Gregson "Sometimes Tough Is Good"
1974 The Manhunter Mady Gordon "The Lodester Ambush"
1975 Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan Bea Sutton TV film
1975 Lincoln Kitty Cavan "Prairie Lawyer"
1975 Kojak Margaret McCune "A House of Prayer, a Den of Thieves"
1975 Cannon Maybelle Tweedy "The Conspirators"
1976 Cannon Madge Cleary "The House of Cards"
1976 Sybil Hattie Dorsett TV miniseries
1981 Sizzle Freda TV film
1982 Quincy, M.E. Sobriety Group Member "Dying for a Drink"
1983 Remington Steele Millicent "Steele Flying High" (final appearance)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Martine Bartlett". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  2. ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-0254-2650-4.
  3. ^ a b Jones, Kenneth (June 12, 2006). "Obituaries: Martine Bartlett, Stage and Screen Actress, Deat at 81". Playbill. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  4. ^ "Martine Bartlett". Emmys. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  5. ^ Wilson, Scott (August 22, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3d ed.). McFarland. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4. Retrieved January 22, 2023.