Barbara Loden
American actress and film and stage director (1932–1980) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Barbara Ann Loden (July 8, 1932 – September 5, 1980) was an American actress and director of film and theater.[1][2] Richard Brody of The New Yorker described Loden as the "female counterpart to John Cassavetes".[3]
Barbara Loden | |
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 Loden in 1964 | |
| Born | Barbara Ann Loden (1932-07-08)July 8, 1932 |
| Died | September 5, 1980(1980-09-05) (aged 48) New York City, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1957–1980 |
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| Children | 2 |
Born and raised in North Carolina, Loden began her career at an early age in New York City as a commercial model and chorus-line dancer. Loden became a regular sidekick on the irreverent Ernie Kovacs Television Show in the mid-1950s and was a lifetime member of the famed Actors Studio. She appeared in several projects directed by her second husband, Elia Kazan, including Splendor in the Grass (1961). Her subsequent performance in a 1964 Broadway production of After the Fall earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.
In 1970, Loden wrote, directed, and starred in Wanda, a groundbreaking independent film that won the International Critics Award at the 1970 Venice Film Festival. Throughout the 1970s, she continued to work directing Off-Broadway and regional theater productions, as well as direct two short films. In 1978, Loden was diagnosed with breast cancer, of which she died two years later, aged 48.