Hope Lange Biography
Born: November 28, 1931
Died: December 17, 2003
The daughter of show folk, Hope Lange was 12 when she appeared in her first Broadway play, Sidney Kingsley's +The Patriots. Fourteen years later, with dozens of plays and TV programs to her credit, Lange made her screen debut in Bus_Stop (1956), managing to garner critical and audience attention despite her omnipresent co-star Marilyn_Monroe (Lange's first husband was Bus_Stop leading man Don_Murray). Signed to a 20th Century Fox contract, Lange was Oscar nominated for her performance in Peyton_Place (1957) and was equally impressive in such films as The_Young_Lions (1957) and The Best of Everything (1959).
In the early 1960s, Lange was briefly linked romantically with Glenn_Ford, who insisted that she co-star with him in Pocketful of Miracles, a fact that inspired a stream of published invective from the film's director, Frank_Capra, who'd wanted Shirley Jones for the part. Despite Capra's reservations in regards to her acting ability, Lange continued to prosper as a film actress until turning to TV in 1968 as star of the weekly The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, a project that would earn her two Emmys. She then spent three years in a thankless "supportive housewife" part in The New Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1974, Lange received some of her best reviews in years for her work in Death_Wish -- in which she spent most of her time in a coma before expiring in Reel Two! Subsequent projects in which Lange was involved included the 1977 play Same_Time_Next_Year and the first of the Nightmare on Elm Street films. Hope Lange was first married to Don Murray, then producer/director Alan_J._Pakula. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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