Polly Bergen was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in The Helen Morgan Story. For her stage work, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Carlotta Campion in Follies in 2001. Her film work included Cape Fear and The Caretakers, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She hosted her own weekly variety show for one season, was a regular panelist on the TV game showTo Tell The Truth and later in life had recurring roles in The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives. She wrote three books on beauty, fashion and charm.
Early life
Bergen was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to Lucy and William Hugh Burgin, a construction engineer. Bill Bergen, as he was later known, had singing talent and appeared with his daughter in several episodes of her 18-episode comedy/variety show The Polly Bergen Show, which aired during the 1957–1958 television season to much fanfare and led to their duet Columbia LP Polly and Her Pop.
Career
Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. She had roles as the romantic interest in three Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy films in the early 1950s: At War with the Army, That's My Boy and The Stooge. She was featured in a number of Westerns during the 1950s, including Warpath, Arena and Escape from Fort Bravo. She starred in the horse racing comedy Fast Company, as the first female commander-in-chief in Kisses for My President, and as the wife of James Garner in the romantic comedy Move Over, Darling, also starring Doris Day. Bergen's later roles included Mrs. Vernon-Williams in Cry-Baby, a John Waters film. Bergen received an Emmy Award for her portrayal of singer Helen Morgan in the episode The Helen Morgan Story of the 1950s television series Playhouse 90. Signed to Columbia Records, she enjoyed a successful recording career during this era, as well. In the 1950s, she was known as "The Pepsi Cola Girl", having done a series of commercials for this product. She was a regular panelist on the game show To Tell the Truth during its original run. She was an occasional panelist and once a mystery guest on What's My Line?. She appeared on the interview program Here's Hollywood. She earned two Emmy Award nominations for her role as Rhoda Henry, wife of Captain "Pug" Henry, in two miniseries: The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance. She starred in a 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2003, she starred at the same theatre in Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks opposite Mark Hamill in a role she took over from Rue McClanahan. Bergen played Fran Felstein on HBO's The Sopranos, the former mistress of Johnny Soprano and John F. Kennedy. From 2007 to 2011, Bergen had a guest role in Desperate Housewives as Stella Wingfield, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination. She was a semi-regular cast member of Commander-in-Chief as the mother of Mackenzie Allen, the fictional president of the United States, played by Geena Davis. Bergen had once played the first female president of the United States in the movie Kisses for My President. Another late appearance came in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation Candles on Bay Street, in which she played the assistant to a husband-and-wife team of veterinarians. In 1965, Bergen created the Polly Bergen Company cosmetics line also known as Oil of the Turtle. She also created lines of jewelry and shoe brands, and wrote three books on beauty.
Personal life
Bergen was married to actor Jerome Courtland in the early 1950s. In 1957, she married Hollywood agent-producer Freddie Fields, with whom she had two adopted children, Pamela Kerry Fields and Peter William Fields, and stepdaughter, Kathy Fields. Bergen converted from Southern Baptist to Judaism upon marrying Fields. The couple divorced in 1975. She was married to entrepreneur Jeffrey Endervelt in the 1980s. In 1991, Bergen spoke about having had an abortion, for inclusion in the book . On March 31, 1993, Brandon Lee died accidentally on the set of The Crow, and in early April, Bergen held a memorial at her home in Los Angeles, and 200 of Lee's family, friends and business associates attended. Bergen was a liberal-minded, politically active Democrat and feminist. She was an active advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment, women's education and Planned Parenthood. Bergen's niece is the television producer Wendy Riche.
Death
Bergen died of natural causes on September 20, 2014, at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, surrounded by family and close friends. She had been diagnosed with emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s. Upon her death, she was cremated.
