British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 726. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Dutch postcard presented by Kores 'Carboplan', no. 950. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Loretta Young and Celeste Holm in Come to the Stable (Henry Koster, 1949).
She loved the stage, so she left Hollywood
Celeste Holm was born in New York, N.Y., in 1917. She was an only child, born into a home where her mother was a painter and her father worked in insurance. She studied acting at the University of Chicago.
Her professional theatrical debut was at 19 in a production of 'Hamlet', with Leslie Howard. Her major Broadway debut followed in 'The Time of Your Life' (1940). She appeared in many successful plays, including 'The Women', 'Oklahoma!' and 'Bloomer Girl'. In the premiere production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma!' (1943), Celeste sang as Ado Annie the showstopper, 'I Cain't Say No'. The demand for tickets was unprecedented as the show became more popular in the months that followed the opening. 'Oklahoma!' ran for over five years, a Broadway record.
Celeste Holm was signed by 20th Century Fox in 1946 and appeared in her first film, the musical Three Little Girls in Blue (John Brahm, H. Bruce Humberstone, 1946) opposite June Haver and Vivian Blaine.
With her third film, Gentleman's Agreement (Elia Kazan, 1947), starring Gregory Peck and John Garfield, she would win the Supporting Actress Oscar and a Golden Globe. Celeste Holm was nominated twice more for Academy Awards for Come to the Stable (Henry Koster, 1949) with Loretta Young, and All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950), starring Bette Davis.
She also appeared in the Best Picture nominee The Snake Pit (Anatole Litvak, 1948), starring Olivia De Havilland and had an uncredited voice-only role in another Best Picture nominee, A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949). However, she loved the stage, so she left Hollywood.
Vintage postcard, no. 950. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Belgian postcard, no. 980. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
A professor-turned-reporter in New York City
In the 1950s, Celeste Holm only returned to Hollywood for two MGM musicals, The Tender Trap (Charles Walters, 1955) starring Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds and High Society (Charles Walters, 1956) with Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby.
In addition to her stage career, Celeste appeared on television in her own series, Honestly, Celeste! (1954) as a professor-turned-reporter in New York City. She was also a panellist on Who Pays? (1959). In 1970, Holm returned to television as the chaperone to the president's daughter in Nancy (1970).
For the next two decades, she regularly appeared on television in series such as the Soap Opera Loving (1986, 1991-1992). She last appeared on television in the CBS series Promised Land (1996–1999). She also had roles in films such as Tom Sawyer (Don Taylor, 1973), starring a very young Jodie Foster as Becky Thatcher and the comedy Three Men and a Baby (Leonard Nimoy, 1987), starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson.
Celeste Holm was married five times. Her first marriage was to director Ralph Nelson from 1936 until their divorce in 1939. Together, they had one son, the internet pioneer Ted Nelson, who introduced the terms hypertext and hypermedia in the 1960s. Her second marriage was to Francis Emerson Harding Davies from 1940 until their divorce in 1945. Her third marriage was to A. Schuyler Dunning from 1946 until their divorce in 1953. Together, they had one child. Her fourth marriage was to actor Wesley Addy, from 1966 until he died in 1996. Her last marriage was to opera singer Frank Basile, from 2004 until she died in 2012.
In 2002, Celeste Holm was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In July 2012, she suffered a heart attack and, at her request, was taken to her own home in Manhattan, New York, where she spent her last moments with her husband and family and died at the age of 95.
Vintage postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.
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