Oscar Winner Holm to be Honored at Film Fest
By Ashraya Gupta

Like most children, Celeste Holm enjoyed make-believe. At her family’s farm in New Jersey, Holm spent summers reading and performing plays on a makeshift stage her father and grandfather had built. Her mother, a portrait artist, taught her projection by making her stand on one hill while she stood on the other; Holm would shout until her words were clear across the valley. She studied dance from the age of two-and-a-half, her grandmother was a conductor and composer. Simply said, Holm grew up in an artistic environment with constant encouragement.

Exposure to the stage came early on: Holm’s grandmother lectured about the theater and her aunt, Hinda Hand, was a singer, dancer, and actress. Reflecting back, Holm said, “We spent a lot of time together. Maybe I wanted to copy her, I don’t know.” At the age of 17, Holm left for New York to pursue acting.

She had studied drama at the University of Chicago, “for about five minutes,” she added, laughing. Holm was more concerned with finding work as an actress than with studying how to become an actress. By the age of 19, she was working alongside Leslie Howard in a national tour of “Hamlet.” The understudy for Ophelia, Holm became a serious actress early on. At this time, she had her first child. “She was married,” added Frank Basile, her husband of two years. Holm started laughing and said, “Thank you, Frank.”

Holm’s Broadway debut came in a role she still calls her favorite, Mary L. in William Saroyan’s Pulitzer-winning “The Time of Your Life.” Receiving critical attention, she continued to work with theatre legends, such as George M. Cohan, in his final play, “Return of the Vagabond.”

In 1943, Holm auditioned for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s first musical collaboration, the instantly successful, “ Oklahoma!” Cast as the boy-crazy Ado Annie, Holm’s rendition of “I Can’t Say No” brought her critical acclaim and Broadway stardom. On working with the two men, Holm says “Oscar was very warm; Dick was very stiff.” But both were “masters at what they did.”

Soon, Holm was approached by Hollywood studios. At first, she wasn’t keen on the transition to film from theatre; she wanted to be considered a serious actress. But finally, she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and made what she calls the “very silly” “Three Little Girls in Blue.” Though it was light musical fare, Holm was noticed by both audiences and critics.

But Holm did not want to be typecast in musicals; with the recommendation of her friend and mentor, playwright Moss Hart, Holm joined the cast of Elia Kazan’s “Gentleman’s Agreement.” The film explored American anti-Semitism, featuring Gregory Peck as a journalist who pretends to be Jewish. Holm played Anne Dettrey, a fellow journalist, and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her witty and intelligent performance. Accepting the award, Holm said, “I had thought, before tonight, that I had already received the greatest award that an actress can have, which is to play a part in a picture in which one so whole-heartedly believes as “Gentleman’s Agreement.” Thank you everybody for making this happen.” She keeps the Oscar on her piano.

This period of Holm’s career was also an exciting moment in Hollywood’s history. Holm fondly remembers parties of the time, saying “You name it, they were there.” At one party at her house, Holm recalls a game of charades with Ingrid Bergman. She was playing her well-remembered role of Jean of Arc, but all the guests, including Holm, had decided to pretend they didn’t know what she was doing. With characteristic humor, Holm says Bergman was “Joan of Arc-ing all over the place…Later on, we confessed we were teasing her.”

Holm continued to seek challenging roles, but this led to some issues with Fox, since she often refused to do work she didn’t feel had dramatic substance. Finally, in 1950, Holm took the role of Karen Richards in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “All About Eve.” Again receiving an Academy Award nomination, she played Bette Davis’ best friend. Off-screen, Davis, though professional, was not “particularly cooperative.” Working with Mankiewicz, however, was an interesting experience. He would direct his actors individually by whispering notes to each.

After the film, however, Holm bought out her contract with Fox and returned to New York. She continued to work in the theater and onscreen, appearing with Frank Sinatra in “High Society” and “A Month in the Country” with her husband at the time, fellow actor Wesley Addy. They were married for thirty years and Holm describes him as a “lovely, lovely man. Kind, dear and funny.” In 1970, she played Aunt Polly in a musical version of Tom Sawyer.

Holm also applied herself to philanthropic work. In 1957, she was knighted by King Olav of Norway. Holm’s father was Norwegian and in the 1950s, Holm dedicated herself to saving a national Norwegian treasure, a historic ship, the “Christian Radich.”

She is deeply committed to UNICEF, working as a spokeswoman for the nonprofit and raising donations. Believing that “the arts are the most humanizing influence in our society,” Holm helped found the Business and Arts Council and works with Arts Horizons, which brings arts education to underprivileged areas. Her aim is simple; she wants only to “be useful.”

She has had a life replete with rich memories and experiences and said, “I’ve been fortunate in the people I’ve lived with and worked with, it’s made life easier.” Though her past continues to draw her accolades, Holm said she never compares her acting experiences. She insists it is the present that most concerns her. With a firm belief in never retiring, she said, “I’m always totally involved in what I do; it’s always now that’s important.”

These days, she’s working on an autobiography and a coffee-table book, and has just released a “Memories of Oklahoma!” CD.

She’s 89 now, with three grandchildren and a husband she “can’t imagine being without.” Basile is one of her greatest supporters, saying, “Her career was more than just acting, she used her talents to communicate what was important to her.” Holm replies, “I just want to bring harmony between people.”

A Q&A with Holm will be held at the fourth annual Golden Wagon Film Festival next weekend, along with a number of screenings of documentaries, shorts, and feature-lengths. For tickets and a schedule, call (212) 971-2470 or visit www.goldenwagonfilmfest.com. News and information about Holm can be found at www.celesteholm.com