Barbara Bel Geddes by Patrick Duffy (Entertainment Weekly)
Hyfler/Rosner
Duffy
WHEN BARBARA JOINED THE CAST OF DALLAS, as Miss Ellie, I
considered her to be like Helen Hayes, Katherine Cornell,
and Ethel Barrymore-a real "name" in American theater. But
you'd never have known it. She exhibited no large ego
because of her history. She'd schlepp in and drop your jaw
with every performance-whether it was drinking a cup of
coffee, having a mastectomy, or losing Jock Ewing. It was
remarkable, her ordinariness despite that pedigree. We
called Barbara "BBG" on the set. She was the mama figure.
Larry Hagman was obviously the prow of the boat, but he
couldn't have functioned without a strong mother, and I
don't think there's been a mother like her on dramatic
television since then. People related to her because she was
the epitome of compassion despite her own pain. Off screen,
she was a pistol. She cussed like a mule skinner, and she
really liked to have her drinks. But she also had an endless
capacity to include everybody that she loved, and that was
the entire cast. (Bel Geddes died of lung cancer in
Northeast Harbor, Maine.)
Bob Feigel
magnanimously proffered:
>Barbara Bel Geddes OCT. 31, 1922-AUG. 8, 2005 By Patrick
>Duffy
Reading through each of these wonderful tributes I'm struck by how
special each one of these people was to the person writing the tribute
... and how that makes them more special to me.
Thank you for posting them Amelia. More "keepers" for my treasure
vault. b
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~