ELEANOR PARKER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Eleanor Parker was born on June 26th, 1922 in Cedarville, Ohio with the birth name Eleanor Jean Parker.  She had two siblings and her father was a mathematics teacher.  As a child, she enjoyed acting in school productions and by the age of fifteen she was traveling to Martha's Vineyard to attend the Rice Summer Theatre.
 
When a 20th Century Fox talent scout saw her at the Rice Theatre, she was offered her first screen test, but she turned this chance down as she wanted to gain more experience as a stage actress.  She traveled to Cleveland after High School continuing to work as a stage actress.
 
From Cleveland, she wanted to continue to perfect her skills, so she relocated to California to study at the Pasadena Playhouse.  Again, she received an offer for a screen test from a Warner Brothers scout and again, she declined the offer.  After she completed her studies at the Playhouse, she then contacted Warner Brothers and asked if they were still interested in her.  She did the screen test and was signed as a contract player two days later.
 
Some of her early work included a role on, "They Died with Their Boots On" (1941), but her scenes were cut.  She then did some small parts and then was finally getting some offers on 'B' rated films.  Her feature film debut was in 1942 on, "Busses Roar".    

Warner Brothers then cast her in one of their most successful films of 1943, "Mission to Moscow".  However, after this film, she was not offered roles she was hoping for in more "A" rated film, but instead went back to working on "B" rated projects such as, "The Mysterious Doctor" (1943), "Crime By Night" and "The Last Ride" (both 1944). 
 
Finally with enough stage experience and 'B' rated film experience on her resume she moved up to "A" level films for the rest of her career.  Some of these films were, "Pride of the Marines" (1945), "Of Human Bondage" (1946) and "Caged" (1950) for which she received her first of three Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.  She did win for Best Actress in this film at the Venice Film Festival.  The following year earned Parker another nomination for her role in, "Detective Story" (1951) starring Kirk Douglas. 
 
In 1955 she portrayed an Opera singer in the film, "Interrupted Melody" earning her third Academy Award nomination and then in 1963 she received an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy nomination for her role on, "The Eleventh Hour".  
 
She is best remembered for her role in, "The Sound of Music" (1965).  She never quite reached the level of stardom she had worked so hard for, but that does not mean she was not a talented actress.  Parker was beautiful and very talented, but also very able to portray a variety of characters and such a versatile actress that no none ever knew what to expect of her when seeing her appear on the big screen.  Some of her other quite popular films were, "The Oscar" (1966) and "An American Dream" (1966).
 
Her real last role that got her any attention was winning a Golden Globe nomination in 1970 as Best Lead Actress for her role on the television series, "Bracken's World" (1969) followed by her final film role, "Sunburn" (1979) with Farrah Fawcett.  On occasion she will make appearances, such as in 1991 in, "Dead On the Money", but for the most part, Parker now lives in a retirement community of Palm Springs, California with her fourth husband, Raymond Hirsch whom she married in 1966.
 
Parker had married three times before, first to Fred Losee from March 1943 through December 1944.  Her second marriage was to Bert E. Friedlob from 1946 through 1953 and they couple had three children together, Susan Eleanor, Sharon Anne and Richard Parker.  She then married for a third time to Paul Clemens from 1954 through 1965 and had one more child, Paul Day Clemens. 

Filmography

1991 Dead on the Money 
1986 Murder, She Wrote 
1984 Finder of Lost Loves
1983 Hotel 
1977-1983 Fantasy Island
1979-1982 The Love Boat 
1981 Madame X
1980 Vega$
1980 Once Upon a Spy 
1979 She's Dressed to Kill 
1979 Sunburn 
1978 The Bastard 
1978 Hawaii Five-O
1975 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 
1973 The Great American Beauty Contest 
1972 Home for the Holidays 
1972 Circle of Fear 
1971 Vanished 
1971 Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring 
1969-1970 Bracken's World
1969 Hans Brinker 
1969 Eye of the Cat 
1968 The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1967 The Tiger and the Pussycat 
1967 Warning Shot 
1966 An American Dream 
1966 The Oscar 
1965 Convoy
1965 The Sound of Music 
1964 Panic Button 
1964 Kraft Suspense Theatre 
1964 Breaking Point
1963 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963 The Eleventh Hour
1962 Checkmate 
1962 Madison Avenue 
1961 Return to Peyton Place 
1960 The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio 
1960 Home from the Hill 
1959 A Hole in the Head 
1957 The Seventh Sin 
1957 Lizzie 
1956 The King and Four Queens
1955 The Man with the Golden Arm 
1955 Interrupted Melody 
1955 Many Rivers to Cross 
1954 Valley of the Kings 
1954 The Naked Jungle 
1953 Escape from Fort Bravo 
1952 Above and Beyond 
1952 Scaramouche
1951 Detective Story
1951 A Millionaire for Christy
1951 Valentino
1950 Three Secrets 
1950 Caged 
1950 Chain Lightning
1948 The Woman in White 
1947 The Voice of the Turtle 
1947 Escape Me Never 
1946 Never Say Goodbye 
1946 Of Human Bondage 
1945 Pride of the Marines 
1944 The Very Thought of You 
1944 The Last Ride 
1944 Crime by Night 
1944 Atlantic City 
1944 Between Two Worlds 
1943 Destination Tokyo 
1943 Mission to Moscow 
1943 The Mysterious Doctor 
1942 Vaudeville Days
1942 Busses Roar
1942 Men of the Sky
1942 The Big Shot 
1942 Soldiers in White 
1941 They Died with Their Boots On