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Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley
	Ashley in 1971
Born	Elizabeth Ann Cole; August 30, 1939 (age 85); Ocala, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1960–present
Spouses	; James Farentino (m. 1962; div. 1965) ; George Peppard (m. 1966; div. 1972) ; James McCarthy (m. 1975; div. 1981)
Children	1

Elizabeth Ann Cole (born August 30, 1939), known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley, is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for Take Her, She's Mine. Ashley was also nominated for the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for her supporting performance in The Carpetbaggers (1964), and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1991 for Evening Shade. Elizabeth was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 24 times. She appeared in several episodes of In the Heat of the Night as Maybelle Chesboro. She also appeared in an episode of Mannix, "The Dark Hours", in 1974. She is a 2024 inductee into the Theatre Hall of Fame.^[1]

Early life

Ashley was born Elizabeth Ann Cole in Ocala, Florida, to music teacher Arthur Kingman Cole and the former Lucille Ayer.^[2]^[3] She grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.^[4]

Ashley left Louisiana State University after her freshman year and moved to New York. She studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre there, supporting herself by working as the Jell-O pudding girl on a television program and as a showroom model.^[5]

Career

Ashley won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Take Her, She's Mine, then later starred as Corie in the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963) and, later, as Maggie in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1974). She received Tony nominations for both performances.^[6] She appeared on Broadway as Dr. Livingstone in Agnes of God (1982) and was a replacement in the role of Mattie Fae during the original Broadway run of August: Osage County.^[7]

She has been featured in major motion pictures over five decades, including early roles in The Carpetbaggers (1964), Ship of Fools (1965), and The Third Day (1965). Her other film credits include The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971), Rancho Deluxe (1975), Coma (1978), Paternity (1981), Dragnet (1987), and Vampire's Kiss (1989), and she starred as the villain in the controversial film Windows (1980).

She first appeared with Burt Reynolds in a 1969 season episode of Love, American Style, then later in the movie Paternity in 1981, as a guest star in his television series B.L. Stryker in 1989, and finally as a cast member in his final television series, Evening Shade, from 1990 to 1994 as Aunt Frieda Evans.^[8]

Ashley had the role of Kate in Sandburg's Lincoln, a six-part dramatization that ran on NBC in the mid-1970s.^[8]^: 926 Her other television appearances include the 1987 miniseries The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, and guest roles in Ben Casey; Route 66; Sam Benedict; Stoney Burke; The Six Million Dollar Man; Family; Miami Vice; Caroline in the City; Mission: Impossible; Murder, She Wrote; Dave's World; Law & Order; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Touched by an Angel; The Larry Sanders Show; Homicide: Life on the Street; Russian Doll; and Better Things. She was featured in 14 episodes of the HBO series Treme as Aunt Mimi.

Book

Ashley's autobiography Actress: Postcards from the Road was published in a hardcover edition on June 1, 1978 by M. Evans & Co (now part of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group). A paperback publication followed on October 12, 1979 through Fawcett Publications.^[9]

Personal life

Ashley is thrice married and divorced. Her first and second husbands were actors James Farentino and George Peppard.^[10] The latter was her leading man in her first movie, The Carpetbaggers (1964). The couple had a son, Christian.^[11] Her divorce from Peppard is rumored to have caused the cancellation of his television series Banacek. According to an unconfirmed story, he quit the show to prevent her from receiving a larger percentage of his earnings as part of their divorce settlement.^[12] Filmink called the account of Peppard in Ashley's memoirs "fascinating – paying tribute to his talent, charisma and kindness, as well as his violent, abusive, alcoholic nature."^[13]

At 25, Ashley retired from acting "to make a home for my husband, see that he had his dinner on time, realize myself as a woman." She resumed her career four years later.^[14] She dated writer Tom McGuane and credits their liaison with reawakening a sexuality that she put to good use when she portrayed Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1974.^[4]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	The Carpetbaggers	Monica Winthrop
1965	Ship of Fools	Jenny Brown
1965	The Third Day	Alexandria Mallory
1971	The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker	Nan
1973	Paperback Hero	Loretta
1974	Golden Needles	Felicity
1975	Rancho Deluxe	Cora Brown
1975	92 in the Shade	Jeannie Carter
1976	The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday	Nancy Sue
1976	One of My Wives Is Missing	Elizabeth
1978	Coma	Mrs. Emerson
1980	Windows	Andrea Glassen
1981	Paternity	Sophia Thatcher
1982	Split Image	Diana Stetson
1986	Stagecoach	Dallas
1987	Dragnet	Jane Kirkpatrick
1988	Vampire's Kiss	Dr. Glaser
1988	Dangerous Curves	Miss Reed
1989	A Man of Passion	Gloria
1995	Mallrats	Gov. Dalton	Extended cut only
1996	Shoot the Moon	Mrs. Comstock
1997	Sleeping Together	Mrs. Tuccinini
1998	Happiness	Diane Freed
1999	Just the Ticket	Mrs. Paliski
2000	Labor Pains	Janice
2001	Home Sweet Hoboken	Beth Flowers
2002	Hey Arnold!: The Movie	Mrs. Vitello (voice)
2007	The Cake Eaters	Marg Kaminski
2017	Fry Day	Deirdre	Short
2017	Just Getting Started	Lily
2018	Severance	Francesca	Short
2018	Ocean's 8	Ethel

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	The Defenders	Joyce Harkavy	"The Prowler"
1962	The Nurses	Barbara Bowers	"The Barbara Bowers Story"
1962	Ben Casey	Jane Brewster	"And Even Death Shall Die"
1963	Route 66	Maria Cardenas	"The Cage Around Maria"
1963	Sam Benedict	Cindy Messerman	"Season for Vengeance"
1963	Stoney Burke	Donna Weston	"Tigress by the Tail"
1966	Run for Your Life	Dina Fuller	"The Grotenberg Mask"
1966	Hawk	Donna	"H Is for a Dirty Letter"
1969	The Skirts of Happy Chance	Laddie Turnbow	TV film
1969	The File on Devlin	Sally Devlin	TV film
1970	Love, American Style	Penny Dunbar	"Love and the Banned Book"(with Burt Reynolds)
1970	The Virginian	Faith Andrews	"The West vs. Colonel MacKenzie"
1970	Medical Center	Anne Forley	"Brink of Doom"
1971	Insight	Sally	"The War of the Eggs"
1971	Harpy	Marian	TV film
1971	The Face of Fear	Sally Dillman	TV film
1971	Mission: Impossible	Lois Stoner	"Encounter"
1972	When Michael Calls	Helen Connelly	TV film
1972	Second Chance	Ellie Smith	TV film
1972	Ghost Story	Karen Dover	"At the Cradle Foot"
1972	The Heist	Diane Craddock	TV film
1972	Your Money or Your Wife	Laurel Plunkett	TV film
1973	Mission: Impossible	Andrea	"The Question"
1973	The Magician	Sally Baker	"Pilot"
1973	Police Story	Jannette Johnson	"Dangerous Games"
1973	The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping	Dr. Erica Bergner	TV film
1974	Mannix	Karen Winslow	"The Dark Hours"
1974	Ironside	Laura Keyes	"Close to Your Heart"
1974	The F.B.I.	Claire	"Diamond Run"
1975	Lincoln	Kate Chase Sprague	"Sad Figure, Laughing"
1976	One of My Wives Is Missing	Elizabeth Corban	TV film
1977	Family	Elizabeth Kraft	"Lovers and Strangers"
1977	The War Between the Tates	Erica Tate	TV film
1978	Tom and Joann	Joan Hammil	TV film
1978	A Fire in the Sky	Sharon Allan	TV film
1982	Saturday Night Live	Herself (host)	"Elizabeth Ashley/Hall & Oates"
1983	Freedom to Speak	Jane Addams / Dorothea Dix	TV miniseries
1983	Svengali	Eve Swiss	TV film
1984	He's Fired, She's Hired	Freddie Fox	TV film
1985	The Love Boat	Nancy Bricker	2 episodes
1985	Cagney & Lacey	Michelle Zal	"The Psychic"
1985	The Hitchhiker	Mrs. Baxter	"Out of the Night"
1986	Stagecoach	Dallas	TV film
1987	The Two Mrs. Grenvilles	Babette Van Degan	TV miniseries
1987	Warm Hearts, Cold Feet	Blanche Webster	TV film
1987	Miami Vice	D.E.A. Agent Linda Colby	"Knock, Knock... Who's There?"
1988	Eisenhower and Lutz	Eleanor	"Pride and Prejudice"
1989	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Karen Lawson / Kate Lawson	"Mirror Mirror"
1989	B.L. Stryker	Althea Campbell	"Blues for Buder"
1989	Hunter	Felicia Green	"A Girl Named Hunter"
1989	American Playwrights Theater: The One-Acts	Annie Sweeney	"The Rope"
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Vera Gerakaris	"Truck Stop"
1990	Blue Bayou	Lolly Fontenot	TV film
1990	Another World	Emma Frame Ordway	TV series
1990–1994	Evening Shade	Freida Evans	Main role
1991	Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story	Vicky	TV film
1991	Love and Curses... And All That Jazz	Emmalina	TV film
1992	In the Best Interest of the Children	Carla Scott	TV film
1993	The Larry Sanders Show	Elizabeth Ashley	"Off Camera"
1993	Harnessing Peacocks	Grandmother	TV film
1994	In the Heat of the Night	Maybelle Cheseboro	"Maybelle Returns"
1994	Law & Order	Gwen Young	"Second Opinion"
1995	The Buccaneers	Mrs. Closson	TV miniseries
1995	Burke's Law	Mary Burton	"Who Killed the Motor Car Maverick?"
1995	Women of the House	Elizabeth Ashley	"Women in Film"
1995	Murder, She Wrote	Emily Broussard Renwyck	"Big Easy Murder"
1995	Touched by an Angel	Sandy Latham	"Angels on the Air"
1996	Dave's World	Jeanette	"Double Fault"
1996	The Big Easy	Larissa Fontaine	"A Dead Man Is Hard to Find"
1996	All My Children	Madge Sinclair	TV series
1996	Hey Arnold!	Mrs. Vitello (voice)	"Arnold's Hat/Stoop Kid"
1996–97	Caroline in the City	Natalie Karinsky	"Caroline and Richard's Mom", "Caroline and the Bad Trip"
1997	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Margaret Lipton	"May and June: Part One"
1998	Hey Arnold!	Mrs. Vitello (voice)	"Part Time Friends/Biosquare"
1999	Homicide: Life on the Street	Madeline Pitt	"Truth Will Out"
1999	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Serena Benson	"Payback"
2010–2013	Treme	Aunt Mimi	Recurring role
2015	Understudies	Dotty Buggett	TV film
2019–2022	Russian Doll	Ruth Brenner	Main cast
2020	The Bold Type	Pam Sheard	"#Scarlet"
2020	Better Things	Miss Louise	"New Orleans"

References

^ "2024 Theater Hall of Fame Inductees". Playbill.com. Playbill. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
^ "Elizabeth Ashley". Playbill. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
^ "ELIZABETH ASHLEY". Turner Classic Movies. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. n.d. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Smith, Zach (December 30, 2011). "Persona: Elizabeth Ashley". New Orleans Magazine.
^ Reed, Rex (September 22, 1974). "Two First-Rate Talents On Second-Hand Broadway". New York Daily News. p. Leisure-5. Retrieved April 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Elizabeth Ashley". Tony Awards. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
^ Elizabeth Ashley at the Internet Broadway Database
^ ^a ^b Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
^ Actress: Postcards from the Road. Fawcett Crest. 1978. ISBN 978-0-4492-4104-2.
^ Manners, Dorothy (May 29, 1966). "George Peppard retains his image as a loner". The News and Courier. Charleston, S.C.
^ Gates, Anita (January 20, 2008). "The Unsinkable Elizabeth Ashley". The New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
^ "6 RICH FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT BANACEK". Heroes & Icons. April 19, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
^ Vagg, Stephen (December 29, 2024). "Movie Star Cold Streaks: George Peppard". Filmink. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
^ Smith, Cecil (November 21, 1969). "Elizabeth Ashley Returns to Acting". Los Angeles Times. p. Part IV - 25. Retrieved December 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.