Barbara Bel Geddes is best remembered as Miss Ellie, the Ewing family matriarch on the long-running TV series Dallas, but the actress scored success on stage and screen long before she found fame on television. Born in New York City on Halloween Day 1922, the actress was the daughter of noted theatrical and industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes, who staged more than 200 plays. After growing up in the midst of the theatre, Barbara Bel Geddes began acting on stage at age 18 and soon moved on to Broadway. The silver screen also beckoned, and she made her film debut in The Long Night. She was quickly labeled a star, gracing the cover of Life magazine on April 12, 1948. Her third motion picture, I Remember Mama, garnered Bel Geddes an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Other notable films starring Bel Geddes include Panic in the Streets directed by Elia Kazan; Alfred Hitchcock's classic mystery thriller Vertigo; and The Five Pennies opposite Danny Kaye. Though she achieved immediate success in films, Bel Geddes also continued to tread the boards on Broadway, as the theatre was her first love. In 1952, she received the prestigious Woman of the Year Award by Hasty Pudding Theatricals USA, America's oldest theater company. She was nominated for Tony Awards as Best Dramatic Actress for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1956 and "Mary, Mary" in 1961. Bel Geddes made several TV appearances on the series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and other programs in the mid-'50s, but her greatest television role came as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow on Dallas, which enjoyed a run of 13 years (1978-1991). She won the Emmy Award for Best Actress in 1980 and was nominated in the same category in 1979 and 1981. Bel Geddes left the show for health reasons during the 1984-85 season, and actress Donna Reed took over the role of Miss Ellie. Bel Geddes returned for the 1985-86 season and continued on Dallas until 1990, when she effectively retired from acting. She did not appear in either of the two "Dallas" reunion TV movies. On August 8, 2005, she died following a long illness.
She played "Maggie the Cat" in the original Broadway production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (the role Elizabeth Taylor played in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof). Daughters, Susan and Betsy Daughter of stage designer/art director Norman Bel Geddes and Helen Belle Sneider Geddes. Stepdaughter of famous theatrical costumer designer Edith Lutyens-Bel Geddes At age 16 she was tossed out of the fancy Putney Finishing School in New England for being a "disruptive influence." Had 3 grandchildren: Samantha, Hannah and Joshua. Designs stationery for Caspari and Crane. Now lives in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Operated on for breast cancer in 1971/72, and relived the experience in Dallas when Miss Ellie underwent a mastectomy. She played "the Showgirl" in "The Sleeping Prince" on Broadway. When it was made into a movie as The Prince and the Showgirl, that role was played by Marilyn Monroe. She played the lead in "Mary, Mary" on Broadway. In the movie version that role was played by Debbie Reynolds. Was twice nominated for Broadway's Best Actress (Dramatic) Tony Award: in 1956, for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and, in 1961, for "Mary, Mary." A longtime smoker, she was forced to quit by her doctors after her heart attack in March 1984.