Hermione Gingold
Birthday:
December 9, 1897 in Maida Vale, London, England, UK
Birth Name:
Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold
One of stage, screen, radio and TV's most delightful, inimitable eccentrics, Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold was born the daughter of an upscale Austrian financier and English homemaker. She made her stage debut in 1908, thus beginning a long, commanding presence in London playing everything from Jessica in "The Merchant of Venice" to Ca...
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One of stage, screen, radio and TV's most delightful, inimitable eccentrics, Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold was born the daughter of an upscale Austrian financier and English homemaker. She made her stage debut in 1908, thus beginning a long, commanding presence in London playing everything from Jessica in "The Merchant of Venice" to Cassandra in "Troilus and Cressida." Her flair for quirky comedy was discovered in the 30s when she appeared to scene-stealing effect in a host of musical revues. She continued to perform in this venue for many years, sharpening her bawdy, razor-like wit for even better things to come. She entertained throughout WWII and then tested the extent of her popularity by going to the US where she became a celebrated hit, not only with her revues but in such legit Broadway plays as "Oh Dad, Poor Dad...Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad" (1963) and "A Little Night Music" (1973). Never one to be overlooked for long, she was invited to Hollywood and made a decent niche for herself in comedies and musical films. She usually was asked to play her charming and haughty self, most notably as the aging courtesan in Gigi (1958), which won her a Golden Globe award, Le marchand de fanfares (1962) and as the reminiscing grandmother in a rather pallid film version of her stage hit A Little Night Music (1977). Gingold was a gifted raconteur and became a very popular TV talk-show guest, particularly on Jack Paar's show. She was finishing up the last touches on her autobiography when she passed away of pneumonia and other heart problems in 1987. "How to Grow Old Disgracefully" was published posthumously the next year. A one-of-a-kind entertainer if there ever was one. Show less «
(humorously comparing - in a stage revue - Sir Donald Wolfit's old-fashioned and somewhat stereotypical performance as Richard III with Laur...Show more »
(humorously comparing - in a stage revue - Sir Donald Wolfit's old-fashioned and somewhat stereotypical performance as Richard III with Laurence Olivier's): "Olivier is a tour-de-force, and Wolfit is forced to tour". Show less «
Really, sex and laughter do go very well together, and I wondered - and I still do - which is more important.
Really, sex and laughter do go very well together, and I wondered - and I still do - which is more important.
Fighting is essentially a masculine idea; a woman's weapon is her tongue.
Fighting is essentially a masculine idea; a woman's weapon is her tongue.
"The nearest my mother ever got to telling me the facts of life was the day she called me to her room and said she had something important t...Show more »
"The nearest my mother ever got to telling me the facts of life was the day she called me to her room and said she had something important to tell me. After a good deal of embarassed coughing she spluttered, 'Don't ever sit down on a strange lavatory seat'". Show less «
[on auditioning for "A Little Night Music"] "I'd played for royalty, but Steve Sondheim and Hal Prince were too much for me. The only one wh...Show more »
[on auditioning for "A Little Night Music"] "I'd played for royalty, but Steve Sondheim and Hal Prince were too much for me. The only one who frightened me more was Noël Coward." Show less «
I had all the schooling any actress needs. I learned enough to sign contracts.
I had all the schooling any actress needs. I learned enough to sign contracts.
