POLLY BERGEN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Polly Bergen was born on July 14th in 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee with the birth name Nellie Paulina Burgin.  She was born to parents William and Lucy and had one sister named Barbara who all relocated to live in Los Angeles.  Being in the land of entertainment, she became interested in the industry and  by the age of fourteen, Polly was working as a professional singer on the radio and also made money on the side working with local bands at various gigs.
 
After High School, she went to college at Compton Junior College and then she caught the attention of Hal B. Wallis who was with Paramount Studios and immediately signed her to a contract.  She had already appeared on the big screen once before in the film, "Across the Rio Grande" (1949) with Monogram Pictures but this time she appeared on screen alongside such actors as Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the film, "At War with the Army" (1950).  She followed with two more films, "That's My Boy" (1951) and "The Stooge" (1952).  However, even though she was beginning to get more attention from Hollywood, none of these films were showcasing her acting ability.
 
Soon MGM and Universal decided to both loan her from Paramount and use her on the films, "Escape from Fort Bravo" (1953), "Arena" (1953) and "Cry of the Hunted" (1953) in which she took on more co starring but serious roles.  However, this still did not do any justice for her career.  She took it upon herself, to leave films for a bit and see if her talents could be better off in a different aspect of the industry.
 
Bergen decided to focus on working as a television actress.  She had recorded a number of albums with Columbia records and promoted them by making guest appearances on a number of variety shows to help increase her popularity.  Soon she was able to get her own show, "The Polly Bergen Show" (1957).  Along with her show and television appearances she would showcase at various nightclubs and hotels to continue to gain the attention she deserved from the public.  She even earned an Emmy for the role of Helen Morgan on the television show, "The Helen Morgan Series". 
 
Polly even took to the Broadway stage with a role in, "John Murray Anderson's Almanac" in 1953 followed by roles in, "Top Man" and "Champagne Complex".  She finally made a return back to the big screen in the very well known thriller, "Cape Fear" (1962).  From this role her film career picked up again with roles in such features as, "The Caretakers" (1963), "Move Over, Darling" (1963) and "Kisses for My President" (1964).  
 
Again though, movie roles were becoming less available to her and so she returned to television work.  She worked on a number of movies for television such as, "The Winds of War" (1983) and "War and Remembrance" (1988) and more appearances on such series as, "The Sopranos" (1999) and "Commander in Chief' (2005).
 
She did even make a stage comeback to the New York Stage with roles on such productions as, "Follies" (2001) and "Camille Claudel" (2007).  Her most recent work is on the very well known series, "Desperate Housewives" (2004) playing the mother character to Felicity Huffman.  
 
Polly is also the author of three best selling beauty books and has founded a mail order cosmetic business along with developing her own shoe and jewelry line proving she is more then just an actress. 
 
Polly Bergen has married three times.  Her first marriage was to Jerome Courtland in 1954 through 1955.  She then married Freddie Fields from February 13th, 1957 through 1975 when they divorced after having two children, Pamela and Peter.  Her third marriage was to Jeffrey Endervelt from 1982 through 1990.  She has remarried and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. 
 
 
Filmography

2007-2011 Desperate Housewives
2006 Candles on Bay Street 
2005-2006 Commander in Chief
2006 A Very Serious Person 
2005 Paradise, Texas
2005 Early Bird 
2004 The Sopranos
1999 Twice in a Lifetime
1998 Touched by an Angel
1996 For Hope
1996 In the Blink of an Eye
1995 Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored 
1995 The Surrogate
1995 Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde
1994 Leave of Absence
1994 Burke's Law
1993 Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal 
1993 Arly Hanks 
1991-1992 Baby Talk
1992 Lady Against the Odds 
1991 Lightning Field 
1990 Steel Magnolias 
1990 Cry-Baby 
1990 Jake and the Fatman
1989 My Brother's Wife 
1989 The Haunting of Sarah Hardy
1988-1989 War and Remembrance
1989 Mother, Mother 
1988 She Was Marked for Murder
1988 Addicted to His Love 
1988 My Two Dads
1987 Making Mr. Right 
1985 Murder, She Wrote
1985 Hotel
1984 Velvet 
1984 Fantasy Island
1983 The Winds of War 
1977-1982 The Love Boat
1982 Born Beautiful 
1981 The Million Dollar Face 
1978 How to Pick Up Girls! 
1977 Telethon 
1977 Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue 
1976 Ellery Queen
1975 Murder on Flight 502 
1974 Death Cruise 
1973 Thriller
1973 Wide World Mystery
1966-1967 The Red Skelton Hour 
1967 A Guide for the Married Man
1965 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre 
1964 Kisses for My President
1963 Move Over, Darling
1963 The Caretakers 
1963 Dr. Kildare
1963 The Dick Powell Theatre 
1962 Belle Sommers 
1962 Cape Fear 
1961 Wagon Train
1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
1960 The United States Steel Hour
1958 Lux Playhouse
1957 Playhouse 90
1956 Star Stage
1956 G.E. True Theater
1954-1955 The Elgin Hour
1955 Appointment with Adventure
1954-1955 The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse 
1954 Studio One in Hollywood
1954 The Blue Angel
1953 Escape from Fort Bravo
1953 Arena
1953 Fast Company 
1953 Cry of the Hunted 
1952 The Stooge 
1952 Schlitz Playhouse
1951 Warpath 
1951 That's My Boy 
1950 At War with the Army 
1950 The Men 
1949 Across the Rio Grande 
1949 Champion