THEATER

Looking back at Eileen Heckart, Oscar-winning actress from Columbus

The Columbus Dispatch

This publicity image from 1956 shows actress Eileen Heckart.

Eileen Heckart was a star of theater, movies and television. The Columbus native was born Anna Eileen Heckart on March 29, 1919.

Heckart's son Luke Yankee said that even after his mother became famous, she was still known as Anna Eileen when she visited Columbus. "She didn't much care for the name," Luke said. "She thought it was clunky." Close friends called her "Heckie."

Heckart graduated from Bexley High School in 1937 and attended Ohio State University, graduating in 1942. While attending OSU, she caught whooping cough, which she chose to ignore. The result of that action was the permanent deepening of her voice.

Following graduation, she married her college sweetheart, John Harrison "Jack" Yankee Jr. The couple were married for 53 years and had three sons, Mark, Philip and Luke. John Yankee died in 1997.

Heckart began her professional acting career in summer stock theatre and later performed in live television "kitchen dramas," including "The Alcoa Hour," "Philco Television Playhouse" and "Goodyear Playhouse."

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Eileen Heckart, holding her Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in "Butterflies Are Free," left, poses with award presenter Cloris Leachman backstage at the 45th Annual Academy Awards at the Los Angeles Music Center on March 27, 1973.

Her first big break came in the play "Picnic," which was followed by performances in productions of "View From the Bridge" and "Butterflies are Free." She played the same role in the film version of "Butterflies are Free," winning the 1972 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award.

Heckart's son Luke later told an amusing story about his mother's Oscar night win. "When they announced her name, my father was so excited that he grabbed her and kissed her with great force. If you look at the publicity pictures of her acceptance speech, you'll see she had a big gash on her chin where my father gouged her with her congratulatory kiss."

Heckart also performed on television, one of her most notable roles being that of Flo, the aunt of Mary Richards on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Heckart's heart, however, remained in the theater. She once said, "You do television to make money so you can afford to act in the theater. The theater is where I started, and it's what I believe in."

In addition to her Oscar, Heckart was the recipient of two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award for career excellence.

Eileen Heckart is talking on the phone at the home of her hostess, Mrs. Richard Isaly, during a visit to her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, in this photograph published in The Columbus Dispatch on June 19, 1957. Heckart and her husband, Jack Yankee, were in town for an informal reunion with classmates from Bexley High School and Ohio State University.

Heckart was a frequent visitor to her hometown, where she maintained friendships from her childhood and time as a student at Ohio State. In her later years, Heckart donated her collection of personal papers, photographs, clippings, correspondence and stage, film and television scripts to the Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State. She died of cancer Dec. 31, 2001.

In her memory, Heckart's three sons established the Eileen Heckart Memorial Fund in Theatre, which assists Ohio State theater students with the purchase of book and supplies for their studies. Son Luke said it was a way "to honor our mother," who "was very poor when she attended school and had to hold down three jobs at once."

Theater director Luke Yankee, right, sits with his mother, Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Eileen Heckart, in their New York apartment in 1980.

Luke Yankee wrote a book about his mother, "Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing up with Eileen Heckart" and performed in a one-man show called "Diva Dish," based on his life as the son of a celebrity.