“Twenty-four was I when I was blacklisted, thirty-six when it ended. My ingenue years were gone, and my leading years almost over. Facing forty, I was beginning again.” It’s one of the memorable quotes actress/director/documentary maker Lee Grant wrote in her astonishing 2014 autobiography, “I Said Yes to Everything: A Memoir” (Blue Rider Press), a very brave, honest, courageous, and open-hearted account of her long life on the stage, and in and out of motion pictures. Ms. Grant gathered four Academy Award nominations (winning two, including one as a documentary maker), seven Emmy nominations (two wins), five Golden Globe nominations, a Directors Guild Award, and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her screen debut in William Wyler’s “Detective Story” (1951) which she received when she was already out of work because of the witch hunt that interrupted her film career for more than a decade. How could that possibly be? What had happened to one of the most promising new faces and probably one of the most enduring young actresses who started her motion picture career in the early 1950s?

The elegant theater and screen actress wrote it all down in her book’s nearly 500 pages, an absorbing life story with many ups and a few downs, which I recently started reading on a Monday evening and finished it by Tuesday morning. Ms. Grant has a fascinating way with words. To me, her life has not only been dominated by the blacklist for more than a decade—undoubtedly a terrible phase in her life and the way she handled it, she can look back at it with her head up high and with great pride—”I Said Yes to Everything” basically tells the story of an incredible achievement that Ms. Grant was able to accomplish. Only a few actors, directors, or screenwriters who had been blacklisted ever made it back, while she made it even bigger after being blacklisted than she had been before. Her stunning comeback in front of the camera included her Emmy Award-winning performance as Stella Chernak in the TV series “Peyton Place” (1965-66, 70 episodes). She revived her film career when she appeared in several interesting movies and worked on various ambitious projects which earned her all the awards and honors as mentioned in the previous paragraph. Not only did she get noticed—she was hailed, praised, and welcomed with open arms by the Hollywood film community.

This was the most perfect and waterproof response she could give, after the incredible damage the HUAC (short for House Un-American Activities Committee) had done to her and so many other actors, screenwriters, directors, etc.—so many people, families, and careers all suffered severely, some tragically, as a result of the blacklisting—but ultimately Ms. Grant really showed them. For her, it all began in the early 1950s when she and J. Edward Bromberg, a founding member of the Group Theatre and an actor with a heart condition, appeared in a play called “They Knew What They Wanted.” Called to testify before the HUAC, he took the Fifth Amendment and was promptly blacklisted. Within months he died of a heart attack, only a few weeks before his 48th birthday. At his memorial, Ms. Grant gave a moving eulogy, saying that the HUAC ‘knew he had a bad heart and kept calling him to testify anyway. I feel the committee ultimately killed him.’

Two days later, her name appeared in ‘Red Channels’ (a pamphlet which named all the blacklisted people, you can find them here). By then, Ms. Grant, a native New Yorker, born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal, who first emerged on Broadway, debuting in 1949 as a shoplifter in the play “Detective Story” (which earned her The Critics’ Circle Award right away), had a film career that was over after only one film. But twelve long years later, she was ‘cleared’ and made a tremendous comeback. Not only did she survive the witch hunt, but she also turned her career into a very thriving one after the blacklisting was all over.

She then played both leading and supporting roles on the screen, without ever becoming a real movie star, but Ms. Grant is a woman of substance who turned out to be one of the best, most talented, and most reliable character actresses of her generation—and beyond—with an incredibly sensitive, artistic and creative quality and potential.

But first her autobiography. Although published two years ago, it is a timeless account of many struggles and career twists for multiple lives.

Ms. Grant, when reading your autobiography, it’s very clear that you turn out to be a wonderful and natural writer, and most of all, it’s a brave and honest memoir. If I’m correct, you all wrote it down by hand, didn’t you?

Yes, that’s correct. I don’t use a typewriter or a computer, so everything was written by pen and ink by my little desk. It took me four years to complete it, and as you can see, it wasn’t an easy book to write.

The first thing I thought after I had finished reading it was what a brave and courageous woman you are: blacklisted for twelve years, then coming back the way you did, winning two Academy Awards as well as numerous other awards. You were again recognized as a highly acclaimed actress and, later on, also as a first-rate director. So, in other words, you really are a survivor, aren’t you?

Yes, I’m happy to say that I am a survivor. I think the twelve years of the blacklist created the woman I am. When I was young and still lived at home, I only thought about acting, which was everything to me. Then all of a sudden, everything was taken away from me. Being a stepmother of two boys later on [after her marriage to screenwriter Arnold Manoff in 1951], I became very strong—the opposite of Cinderella, which is what I felt like when I was nominated for an Oscar for “Detective Story” [1951, dir. William Wyler] and was the Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952. But when I heard about that, I couldn’t work in film or television anymore. And I was only twenty-four at the time—and a very young twenty-four. So I think those twelve years were my education, and without them, I would not have become the woman I am now. But after they took my career away from me—and I was an immensely successful young actress back then—after they did that, what else could they do? They couldn’t imprison me, so it freed me in a way because I had nothing to lose after that. I had no film career anymore, but I still had Broadway because there was a contract between the Actors Equity and the Broadway theater producers never to have a blacklist in the theater. With that open to me, and with the New York theater community being so rich, loyal, and beautiful, it freed me to learn how to fight. You know, all the directing I did and all the documentaries I’ve done were based on learning how to stand up for myself and for others. It turned out to be a great education a little Jewish girl could get.

As an actress, what were the standards you used to accept or turn down a role?

Well, it depended. If I needed the job to have money during the blacklisting, I took anything in the theater I could get, and I was very fortunate in the roles that I was offered in every period. I also started teaching at the Uta Hagen acting school to earn a living.

When you appeared in front of the camera again after the blacklist, you played several memorable roles in films such as “In the Heat of the Night” [1967] and “The Landlord” [1970]. When did you decide to become a director?

Well, I am grateful for those parts, and for the Oscar I got for “Shampoo” [1975], being in my late forties, and I made films as “Airport ’77” [1977], “Damien: Omen II” [1978] and “The Swarm” [1978] when I had to yell endlessly ‘The bees are coming!’ Then I realized I had run out of Hollywood time for the kind of parts they had given me. I knew I had to start a new life, I wanted to, and I was ready to use my own voice. That’s when I decided to direct, with films such as “Tell Me a Riddle” [1980] and the HBO documentaries, like “Down and out in America” [1986, which earned her a second Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature], which I like. I think they’re all great.

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on March 29, 1976, with Ms. Grant, feeling like a bride, winning her Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress in Hal Ashby’s “Shampoo”

What did they teach you at the Neighborhood Playhouse in the late 1940s?

When I went to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, I found the road into myself, a belief system, and a way to transform into whatever character. I was given a chance to explore, and the exploration was mind-blowing to me. The doors that opened in me as an adolescent were so astonishing, rewarding and fulfilling, that it was like a religion to me. Finding [acting teacher] Sanford Meisner, and finding all these emotions that I never used before… Having done them in a classroom where it was okay, all of that training and learning just kicked the door open in me and it stayed with me for the rest of my life. That was my fortune, and that’s what I learned [other actors who studied under Mr. Meisner’s instructions, include Gregory Peck, Sydney Pollack, Steve McQueen, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, and Mary Steenburgen].

I always thought you were one of the best character actresses of your generation. Would you agree with that?

Well, I chose to be a character actress very early. I sensed that carrying a play as the leading lady… I was offered the ingenue role in “Detective Story,” that’s what I looked like. I was a pretty girl, but the lines of the ingenue were so insipid that I couldn’t even say them. I just started laughing. So that’s when I asked, ‘Can I play the 40-year-old lady?’ I knew that character from the Neighborhood Playhouse with one of my assignments to go on a bus to listen to people. So that character that I had found in acting school is what I brought to the play. One of the things I realized by turning down the ingenue and on insisting doing the character part instead, was that this character was not only much more interesting, but I also didn’t have to worry about what I looked like, I didn’t have to carry the play, or when I started into films, I didn’t have to be the one bringing in the money. That’s what the people who play the leading roles in movies have to do. If the movie doesn’t bring in the $40,000,000 that it was supposed to, and only brought in $20,000,000—that has nothing to do with how good an actress is in the part, it only has to do with the box office. I never ever entered that game, so being a character actress myself, I never wanted to put myself in the position of having to star and make money for the studio. You know, I worked with Faye Dunaway in “Voyage of the Damned” [1976], and after that, she did “Network” [1977], which won her an Oscar. It was a wonderful movie, and later on, she did a lot of other great movies, but then she made a movie once which didn’t make money, and her agent told me what they were saying about her in the viewing room in the studio. She had become old, this and that—the raising up of a female idol and then the destruction of her by the same business people who had built her, is just terrible. I was wise enough never to be pulled into that orbit.

Is there anyone who inspired you to become a director? Maybe Hal Ashby, because you speak very highly of him in your book.

I adore him. He was such a wonderful character outside of the system, and the work that I did with him, was also so brilliant outside of the system [“The Landlord,” 1970; “Shampoo,” 1975]. The 1970s and 1980s produced many brilliant film directors, they took over, and I was fortunate enough to be there at that time to work with them and to see such fresh things happening. But for me, directing started by accident. The AFI [American Film Institute] called me. They were forming their first-ever women’s directing workshop, and they asked if I could recommend anybody. I thought, why not try it myself, just go and see, and it was just a huge turn of a life experience for me. There was this play by August Strindberg called “The Stronger” that so fascinated me—only three pages—it was an amazing and remarkable piece of work. It’s only with two women, one stays silent through the whole play, and she’s the stronger. It was a great experience for me to make it, and that was the start of it. I fell in love with it, and then everybody seemed to want to help me. Did you ever see “Tell Me a Riddle” [1980], the movie I made with Melvyn Douglas and Lila Kedrova? How lucky I was to have this as my first feature film to direct. Those performances… they were geniuses. It was such a meeting of minds; we had Tillie Olsen’s story, we were able to inject all that political stuff, and we started to say—through the film—all of the things that I needed to say. That was a great experience.

What advice would you give to young actors who start in this business?

I would say, ‘Learn how to be a waiter.’ That’s what so many actors and actresses do. There is really not a lot of work for all the young people who go to Columbia and NYU—I taught there, you know. A lot of those young people are talented, but what kind of space is there in the theater? How big is off-Broadway? Who’s making the movies? How gorgeous do you have to be? What is the lifetime of a young actor today, even the ones who make it in Hollywood? What’s the lifespan? So I don’t know how to answer that question. All I know is that when I was heading the Actors Studio, I saw so much talent that was being unused, people who did beautiful work there and weren’t given a chance to do it on the outside.

Do you also still go out to see a movie?

You know, since I got an Oscar, they send the films to me to see, so that I can watch them at home. Recently I saw one that I loved very much, “Nocturnal Animals” [with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal]. I thought it was fascinating. And I know there are also good documentaries out there that I haven’t watched yet.

In 1980, I saw your daughter Dinah Manhoff in “I Ought to Be in Pictures” on Broadway. She’s no longer acting, is she?

She had been on some very successful television series [including “Empty Nest,” 1988-1995] and when she stopped getting work, she quit acting. But she teaches now, she puts on plays, and she’s a brilliant director. She walked away the same way I did. No more LA, and she has a great life now.

You’ve been awarded a lot during your career. How important are all your awards to you?

Each one at that time was like saying, ‘I’m still here.’ Each award was like being able to say to the blacklisters, ‘So where are you now, what are you doing?’ I was getting awards for being there, and I survived them, so those awards meant a lot to me. And I still feel that way. But, let me ask you something, when did you first see me acting?

That was in the mid-1960, in “Peyton Place.”

So I’m sure you fell in love with the character I played, bad Stella Chernak! [Laughs.]

New York, New York
December 9, 2016

“Detective Story” (1951, trailer)

FILMS

DETECTIVE STORY (1951) DIR – PROD William Wyler SCR Robert Wyler, Philip Yordan (play by Sidney Kingsley) CAM Lee Garmes ED Robert Swink CAST Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O’Donnell, George Macready, Horace McMahon, Gladys George, Lee Grant (Shoplifter), Gerald Mohr

STORM FEAR (1955) DIR – PROD Cornel Wilde SCR Horton Foote (novel by Clinton Seeley) CAM Joseph LaShelle ED Herbert R. Hoffman, Otto Ludwig MUS Elmer Bernstein CAST Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Dan Duryea, Lee Grant (Edna Rogers), David Stollery, Dennis Weaver, Steven Hill

MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (1959) DIR Delbert Mann PROD George Juston SCR Paddy Chayefsky (also play) CAM Joseph C. Brun ED Carl Lerner MUS George Bassman CAST Kim Novak, Frederic March, Glenda Farrell, Albert Dekker, Martin Balsam, Lee Grant (Marilyn), Lee Philips

THE BALCONY (1963) DIR Joseph Strick PROD Joseph Strick, Ben Maddow SCR Ben Maddow (play by Jean Genet) CAM George J. Folsey ED Chester W. Schaeffer CAST Shelley Winters, Peter Falk, Lee Grant (Carmen), Peter Brocco, Joyce Jameson, Jeff Corey, Leonard Nimoy, Kent Smith

AN AFFAIR OF THE SKIN (1963) DIR – SCR Ben Maddow PROD Ben Maddow, Helen Levitt CAM Roger Barlow, David Shore ED Verna Fields MUS Shiko Ozaki, Leroy Vinnegar Jr. CAST Viveca Lindfors, Kevin McCarthy, Lee Grant (Katherine McCleod), Diana Sands, Herbert Berghof, Nancy Malone

TERROR IN THE CITY (1964) DIR – SCR Allen Baron PROD Allen Baron, Dorothy E. Reed, Merrill S. Brody CAM Merrill S. Brody, Donald Malkames ED Ralph Rosenblum MUS Robert Mersey CAST Lee Grant (Suzy), Richard Bray, Michael Higgins, Robert Marsach, Robert Allen, Sylvia Miles, Roscoe Lee Browne

DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE (1967) DIR Bud Yorkin PROD Norman Lear SCR Norman Lear (story by Robert Kaufman) CAM Conrad L. Hall ED Ferris Webster MUS Dave Grusin CAST Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, Jason Robards, Jean Simmons, Van Johnson, Joe Flynn, Shelley Berman, Martin Gabel, Lee Grant (Dede Murphy), Tom Bosley, Tim Matheson, Eileen Brennan

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1968) DIR Norman Jewison PROD Walter Mirisch SCR Stirling Silliphant (novel by John Ball) CAM Haskell Wexler ED Hal Ashby MUS Quincy Jones CAST Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant (Mrs. Colbert), Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, Beah Richards, Harry Dean Stanton

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1967) DIR Mark Robson PROD Mark Robson, David Weisbart SCR Dorothy Kingsley, Helen Deutsch (novel by Jacqueline Susann) CAM William H. Daniels ED Dorothy Spencer CAST Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, Paul Burke, Sharon Tate, Tony Scotti, Martin Milner, Charles Drake, Lee Grant (Miriam Polar), Joey Bishop, Susan Hayward, Frank Coghlan Jr., Richard Dreyfuss, Marvin Hamlisch

BUENO SERA, MRS. CAMPBELL (1968) DIR – PROD Melvin Frank SCR Melvin Frank, Sheldon Keller, Denis Norden CAM Gabor Pogany ED Bill Butler MUS Riz Ortolani CAST Gina Lollobrigida, Shelley Winters, Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford, Telly Savalas, Lee Grant (Fritzie Braddock), Janet Margolin, Naomi Stevens

THE BIG BOUNCE (1969) DIR Alex March PROD William Dozier SCR Robert Dozier (novel by Elmore Leonard) CAM Howard Schwartz ED William H. Ziegler MUS Mike Curb CAST Ryan O’Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young, Van Heflin, Lee Grant (Joanne), James Daly, Robert Webber, Cindy Eilbacher

THE LANDLORD (1970) DIR Hal Ashby PROD Norman Jewison SCR Bill Gunn (novel by Kristin Hunter) CAM Gordon Willis ED William A. Sawyer, Edward Warschilka MUS Al Kooper CAST Beau Bridges, Lee Grant (Mrs. Enders), Diana Sands, Pearl Bailey, Walter Brooke, Louis Gossett Jr., Susan Anspach, Trish Van Devere, Hector Elizondo

THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN… (1970) DIR – PROD Joseph L. Mankiewicz SCR Robert Benton, David Newman CAM Harry Stradling Jr. ED Gene Milford MUS Charles Strouse CAST Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith, John Randolph, Lee Grant (Mrs. Bullard), Arthur O’Connell, Martin Gabel, Michael Blodgett, Alan Hale Jr., Ann Doran

PLAZA SUITE (1991) DIR Arthur Hiller PROD Howard W. Koch SCR Neil Simon (also play) CAM Jack A. Marta ED Frank Bracht MUS Maurice Jarre CAST Walter Matthau, Lee Grant (Norma Hubley), Barbara Harris, Maureen Stapleton, Louise Sorel, Dan Ferrone, José Ocasio

PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT (1972) DIR Ernest Lehman PROD Ernest Lehman, Sidney Beckerman SCR Ernest Lehman (novel by Philip Roth) CAM Philip H. Lathrop ED Sam O’Steen, Gordon Scott MUS Michel Legrand CAST Richard Benjamin, Karen Black, Lee Grant (Sophie Portnoy), Jack Somack, Renée Lippin, Jeannie Berlin, Kevin Conway, Jill Clayburgh, John Carradine

THE INTERNECINE PROJECT (1974) DIR Ken Hughes PROD Barry Levinson SCR Barry Levinson, Jonathan Lynn (novel by Mort W. Elkind) CAM Geoffrey Unsworth ED John Shirley MUS Roy Budd CAST James Coburn, Lee Grant (Jean Robertson), Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Michael Jayston, Christiane Krüger, Keenan Wynn, Julian Glover,

SHAMPOO (1975) DIR Hal Ashby PROD Warren Beatty SCR Warren Beatty, Robert Towne CAM László Kovács ED Robert C. Jones MUS Paul Simon CAST Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Lee Grant (Felicia), Jack Warden, Tony Bill, George Furth, Carrie Fisher, Brad Dexter, Susan Blakely, Robert Towne

VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED (1976) DIR Stuart Rosenberg PROD Robert Fryer SCR David Butler, Steve Shagan (book ‘Voyage of the Damned’ [1974] by Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan-Witts) CAM Billy Williams ED Tom Priestley MUS Lalo Schifrin CAST Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant (Lili Rosen), Malcolm McDowell, Orson Welles, James Mason, Max von Sydow, Katharine Ross, Luther Adler, Michael Constantine, Denholm Elliott, José Ferrer, Lynne Frederick, Helmut Griem, Julie Harris, Wendy Hiller, Fernando Rey, Maria Schell, Janet Suzamn, Sam Wanamaker, Ben Gazarra, Laura Gemser

AIRPORT ‘77 (1977) DIR Jerry Jameson PROD William Frye SCR Michael Scheff, David Spector (story by Charles Kuenstle, H.A.L. Craig; novel ‘Airport’ [1968] by Arthur Hailey) CAM Philip Lathrop MUS John Cacavas CAST Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant (Karen Wallace), Brenda Vaccaro, George Kennedy, James Stewart, Joseph Cotton, Olivia de Havilland, Darren McGavin, Christopher Lee, Robert Foxworth, Robert Hooks, Monte Markham, Kathleen Quinlan, Gil Gerard, Pamela Bellwood, James Booth, M. Emmet Walsh, Chris Lemmon

DAMIEN: OMEN II (1978) DIR Don Taylor PROD Harvey Bernhard, Mace Neufeld SCR Mike Hodges, Stanley Mann (story by Harvey Bernhard; characters created by David Seltzer) CAM Bill Butler ED Robert Brown Jr. MUS Jerry Goldsmith CAST William Holden, Lee Grant (Ann Thorn), Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Robert Foxworth, Nicholas Pryor, Lew Ayres, Sylvia Sidney, Lance Henricksen, Ian Hendry, Leo McKern

THE SWARM (1978) DIR – PROD Irwin Allen SCR Stirling Silliphant (novel by Arthur Herzog) CAM Fred J. Koenekamp ED Harold F. Kress MUS Jerry Goldsmith CAST Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson, Lee Grant (Anne MacGregor), José Ferrer, Patty Duke, Slim Pickens, Bradford Dillman, Fred MacMurray, Henry Fonda, Cameron Mitchell, Alejando Rey, Don ‘Red’ Barry

THE MAFU CAGE (1978) DIR Karen Arthur PROD Diana Young SCR Don Chastain (play by Éric Wesphal) CAM John Bailey ED Carol Littleton MUS Roger Kellaway CAST Lee Grant (Ellen), Carol Kane, Will Geer, James Olson, Budar, William Sherwood

WHEN YOU COMIN’BACK, RED RYDER? (1979) DIR Milton Katselas PROD Marjorie Gortner SCR Mark Medoff (also play) CAM Jules Brenner ED Richard Chew MUS Jack Nitsche CAST Marjorie Gortner, Hal Linden, Peter Firth, Lee Grant (Clarisse Ethridge), Pat Hingle, Bill McKinney, Candy Clark, Anne Ramsey, Leon Russell

LITTLE MISS MARKER (1980) DIR Walter Bernstein PROD Jennings Lang SCR Walter Bernstein (story by Damon Runyon) CAM Philip H. Lathrop ED Eve Newman MUS Henry Mancini CAST Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, Tony Curtis, Bob Newhart, Lee Grant (The Judge), Sara Stimson, Brian Dennehy, Kenneth McMillan

TELL ME A RIDDLE (1980) DIR Lee Grant PROD  SCR Joyce Eliason, Alev Lytle (story by Tillie Olsen) CAM Fred Murphy ED Suzanne Pettit MUS Shalom Sherman, Sheldon Shkolnik CAST Melvyn Douglas, Lila Kedrova, Brooke Adams, Dolores Dorn, Bob Elross, Zalman King, peter Coyote, Shalom Sherman

CHARLIE CHAN AND THE CURSE OF THE DRAGON QUEEN (1981) DIR Clive Donner PROD Jerry Sherlock SCR David Axlerod, Stan Burns (story by Jerry Sherlock; characters created by Earl Derr Biggers) CAM Paul Lohmann ED Phil Tucker, Walter Hannemann MUS Patrick Williams CAST Peter Ustinov, Lee Grant (Mrs. Lupowitz), Angie Dickinson, Richard Hatch, Brian Keith, Roddy McDowall, Rachel Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer

VISITING HOURS (1982) DIR Jean-Claude Lord PROD Claude Héroux SCR Brian Taggert CAM René Verzier ED Jean-Claude Lord, Lise Thouin MUS Jonathan Goldsmith CAST Michael Ironside, Lee Grant (Deborah Ballin), Linda Purl, William Shatner, Lenore Zann, Harvey Atkin,

TEACHERS (1984) DIR Arthur Hiller PROD Aaron Russo SCR W.R. McKinney CAM David M. Walsh ED Don Zimmerman CAST Nick Nolte, JoBeth Williams, Judd Hirsch, Ralph Macchio, Allen Garfield, Lee Grant (Dr. Donna Burke), Richard Mulligan, Laura Dern, Morgan Freeman, Steven Hill

BILLIONS FOR BORIS (1984) DIR Alexander Grasshoff PROD Robert Bordiga SCR Sandy Russell Gartin, Mary Rodgers, Tim Kazurinsky CAM Peter Stein ED Sheila Bakerman MUS Robert Christianson CAST Scott Schutzman Tiler, Mary Tanner Bailey, Seth Green, Tim Kazurinsky, Lee Grant (Sascha Harris), Rik Colitti, Jim Lovelett

THE BIG TOWN (1987) DIR Ben Bolt PROD Martin Ranshohoff SCR Robert Roy Pool (novel by Clark Howard) CAM Ralf D. Bode ED Stuart H. Pappé MUS Michael Melvoin CAST Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Dern, Lee Grant (Ferguson Edwards), Tom Skerritt, Suzy Amis, David Marshall Grant, Lolita Davidovich

DEFENDING YOUR LIFE (1991) DIR – SCR Albert Brooks PROD Michael Grillo CAM Allen Daviau ED David Finfer MUS Michael Gore CAST Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, Lee Grant (Lena Foster), Buck Henry, Susan Walters, Shirley MacLaine

UNDER HEAT (1994) DIR Peter Reed PROD Peter Reed, Denise Kasell, Frances N. Murdock SCR Peter Reed, Michael David Brown (novel by Michael David Brown) CAM Manfred Reiff MUS Elizabeth Swados CAST David Conrad, Mark Dalton, Dion Flynn, Lee Grant (Jane), Deborah Hedwall, Olivia Isopo

IT’S MY PARTY (1996) DIR – SCR Randal Kleiser PROD Randal Kleiser, Joel Thurm CAM Bernd Heinl ED Ila von Hasperg MUS Basil Poledouris CAST Margaret Cho, Bruce Davison, Lee Grant (Amalia Stark), Devon Gummersall, Gregory Harrison, Marlee Matlin, Roddy McDowall, Olivia Newton-John, Bronson Pinchot, Eric Roberts, George Segal, Christopher Atkins, Dennis Christopher, Sally Kellerman, Nina Foch, Greg Louganis

THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE (1997) DIR Daniel J. Sullivan PROD Jon Robin Baitz, Ron Kastner, Randy Finch SCR Jon Robin Baitz (also play) CAM Robert D. Yeoman ED Pamela Martin MUS Joseph Vitarelli CAST Tony Goldwyn, Timothy Hutton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ron Rifkin, Lee Grant (Cora Cahn), Tom McDermott, George Morfogen, Viola Davis

POOR LIZA (2000) DIR Slava Tsukerman PROD Slava Tsukerman, Sophia Romma, Nina V. Kerova, Renee Lekach SCR Sophia Romma (novel by Nikolai M. Karamzin) CAM Andrey Gorelov CAST Barbora Bobulova, Elena Doronina, Lee Grant, Irina Kupchenko, Gabriel Olds, Sergey Taramaev, Ben Gazarra (narration)

T & THE WOMEN (2000) DIR Robert Altman PROD Robert Altman, James McLindon SCR Anne Rapp CAM Jan Kiesser ED Geraldine Peroni MUS Lyle Lovett CAST Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Farrah Fawcett, Laura Dern, Shelley Long, Tara Reid, Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler, Robert Hays, Lee Grant (Dr. Harper), Janine Turner

THE AMATI GIRLS (2000) DIR – SCR Anne De Salvo PROD James Alex, Steven Johnson, Michael I. Levy, Henry M. Shea Jr. CAM Frank Byers ED David L. Bertman, Carroll Timothy O’Meara MUS Conrad Pope CAST Mercedes Ruehl, Cloris Leachman, Lee Grant (Aunt Spendora), Sean Young, Dinah Manoff, Mark Harmon, Paul Sorvino, Jamey Sheridan, Anne De Salvo

MULHOLLAND DR. (2001) DIR – SCR David Lynch PROD Neal Edelstein, Tony Krantz, Michael Polaire, Alain Sarde, Mary Sweeney CAM Peter Deming MUS Angelo Badalamenti CAST Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Dan Birnbaum, Scott Wulff, Robert Forster, Brent Briscoe, Ann Miller, Dan Hedeya, Lee Grant (Louise Bonner), Chad Everett

GOING SHOPPING (2005) DIR Henry Janglom PROD Judith Ryan SCR Henry Janglom, Victoria Foyt CAM Hanania Baer MUS Harriet Schock CAST Victoria Foyt, Rob Morrow, Lee Grant (Winnie), Bruce Davison, Mae Whitman, Jennifer Grant, Juliet Landau, Sabrina Janglom, Katharine Kramer, Charles Matthau

TV MOVIES

WHERE IS THY BROTHER? (1958) DIR Ernest Knoy CAST Lee Grant (Hannah), Will Kuluva, Eli Wallach, Paul Lipson, Frank Marth, David Opatoshu, Gene Saks

THE WORLD OF SHOLOM ALEICHEM (1959) DIR Donald Richardson TELEPLAY Arnold Perl (story ‘Bontsche the Silent’ by Y.L. Peretz) CAST Jack Gilford, Lee Grant (Avenging Angel), Sam Levene, Zero Mostel, Nancy Walker, Elsa Freed, Frederick Wolf

NIGHT SLAVES (1970) DIR Ted Post PROD Everett Chambers TELEPLAY Robert Specht, Everett Chambers (novel by Jerry Sohl) CAM Robert B. Hauser ED Michael Kahn MUS Bernardo Segáll CAST James Franciscus, Lee Grant (Marjorie Howard), Scott Marlowe, Andrew Pine, Tisha Sterling, Leslie Nielsen, Morris Buchanan, Elisha Cook Jr., Sharon Gless

THE NEON CEILING (1971) DIR Frank Pierson PROD William Sackheim TELEPLAY Carol Sobieski, Howard Rodman (story by Carol Sobieski) CAM Edward Rosson ED Robert F. Shugrue MUS Billy Goldenberg CAST Gig Young, Lee Grant (Carrie Miller), Denise Nickerson, Herb Edelman, William Smithers, James McEachin

LIEUTENANT SCHUSTER’S WIFE (1972) DIR David Lowell Rich PROD Steven Bochco TELEPLAY Steven Bochco, Bernie Kuboff CAM Bud Thackery ED John Woodcock MUS Gil Melle CAST Lee Grant (Ellie Schuster), Jack Warden, Don Galloway, Nehemiah Persoff, Eartha Kitt, Paul Burke, Murray Matheson, John Herzfeld

PARTNERS IN CRIME (1973) DIR Jack Smight PROD John Epstein TELEPLAY David Shaw CAM Jack A. Marta ED Robert F. Shugrue MUS Gil Melle CAST Lee Grant (Judge Meredith Leland), Robert Cummings, Harry Guardino, Richard Jaeckel, Charles Drake, Richard Anderson, Lorraine Gary, Gary Crosby, Vic Tayback, Don ‘Red’ Barry

WHAT ARE BEST FRIENDS FOR? (1973) DIR Jay Sandrich PROD Lillian Gallo TELEPLAY Rubin Carson, J.A. Vapors (story by Rubin Carson) CAM Ben Colman ED John A. Martinelli MUS Jack Elliott, Allyn Ferguson CAST Ted Bessell, Lee Grant (Adele Ross), Larry Hagman, Barbara Feldon, Nita Talbot, George Furth, Alan Oppenheimer

FOR THE USE OF THE HALL (1975) DIR Lee Grant PROD George Turpin TELEPLAY (play by Oliver Hailey) MUS Robert Prince CAST Aline MacMahon, David Hedison, Barbara Barrie, Susan Anspach, Joyce Van Patten, George Furth

PERILOUS VOYAGE (1976) DIR William A. Graham PROD Jack Laird TELEPLAY Sidney L. Stebel, Robert Weverka, Oscar Millard (story by Sidney L. Stebel, Robert Weverka) CAM Bud Thackery ED Carl Pingitore MUS Gil Melle CAST Michael Parks, Lee Grant (Virginia Monroe), William Shatner, Frank Silvera, Victor Jory, Charles McGraw, Louise Sorel, Stuart Margolin

THE SPELL (1977) DIR Lee Philips PROD David Manson TELEPLAY Brian Taggert CAM Matthew F. Leonetti ED David Newhouse MUS Gerald Fried CAST Lee Grant (Marilyn Matchett), Susan Myers, Lelia Goldoni, Helen Hunt, Jack Colvin, James Olson, Kathleen Hughes

YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN (1979) DIR Ralph Nelson PROD Bob Markell TELEPLAY Ian McLellan Hunter (novel by Thomas Wolfe) CAM Jack Priestley ED Murray Solomon MUS Charles Gross CAST Lee Grant (Esther Jack), Chris Sarandon, Hurd Hatfield, Tammy Grimes, Christopher Murney, Roland Winters, Paul Sparer, Malachy McCourt

THE MILLION DOLLAR FACE (1981) DIR Michael O’Herlihy PROD Alan Godfrey TELEPLAY Robert Hamner, Jud Kinberg (story by Matthew Howard, Robert J. Shaw; novel by Lois Wyse) CAM Robert L. Morrison ED John Woodcock MUS Morton Stevens CAST Tony Curtis, David Huffman, Herschel Bernardi, Gayle Hunnicutt, William Daniels, Deidre Hall, Sylvia Kristel, Roddy McDowall, Murray Matheson, Polly Bergen, Lee Grant (Evalyna), Stefan Gierasch, Michael Anderson Jr.

FOR LADIES ONLY (1981) DIR Mel Damski PROD Gregory Harrison, Franklin R. Levy TELEPLAY John Riley CAM Tony Imi ED David Finfer MUS Lee Holdridge CAST Gregory Harrison, Lee Grant (Anne Holt), Marc Singer, Dinah Manoff, Patti Davis, Viveca Lindfors, Louise Lasser, Tom Quinn

THOU SHALT NOT KILL (1982) DIR I.C. Rapoport PROD S. Bryan Hickcox TELEPLAY I.C. Rapoport, Lonne Elder III (story by Lonne Elder III) CAM Charles W. Short ED Bud S. Isaacs MUS Lee Holdridge CAST Lee Grant (Maxine Lochman), Gary Graham, Diane Scarwid, Robert Culp, James Keach, Scott Marlowe, Albert Salmi

BARE ESSENCE (1982) DIR Walter Grauman PROD Philip Saltzman TELEPLAY Robert Hamilton (book by Meredith Rich) CAM Jacques R. Marquette ED Sidney M. Katz MUS Billy Goldenberg CAST Bruce Boxleitner, Linda Evans, Genie Francis, Lee Grant (Ava Marshall), Joel Higgins, Donna Mills, Frank M. Benard, John Dehner

PLAZA SUITE (1982, filmed stage version) DIR Harvey Medlinsky TELEPLAY Neil Simon CAST Lee Grant, Jerry Orbach

WILL THERE REALLY BE A MORNING? (1983) DIR Fielder Cook PROD Everett Chambers TELEPLAY Dalene Young (autobiography ‘Will There Really Be a Morning?’ by Frances Farmer) CAM Michel Hugo ED George Jay Nicholson MUS Billy Goldenberg CAST Susan Blakely, Lee Grant (Lillian Farmer), Royal Dano, Joe Lambie, John Heard, Melanie Mayron

A MATTER OF SEX (1984) DIR Lee Grant PROD Joseph Feury, Mary Beth Yarrow TELEPLAY Joyce Eliason CAM Fred Murphy ED Ralph Brunjes, Bryon White MUS Matthew McCauley CAST Jean Stapleton, Nancy Beatty, J. Winston Carroll, Peter Dvorsky, Jeannie Elias, Gillian farrell, Judge Reinhold, Dinah Manoff

THE HIJACKING OF THE ACHILLE LAURO (1989) DIR – TELEPLAY Robert L. Collins PROD Sue Milliken MUS Chris Boardman CAST Karl Malden, Lee Grant (Marilyn Klinghoffer), E.G. Marshall, Vera Miles, Christina Pickles

NO PLACE LIKE HOME (1989) DIR Lee Grant PROD Joseph Freury, Christopher Keyser, Amy Lippman TELEPLAY Ara Watson, Sam Blackwell CAM Laszlo George, Tony Pierce-Roberts ED Rick Shaine MUS Charles Gross CAST Christine Lahti, Jeff Daniels, Scott Marlowe, C.C.H. Pounder, Kathy Bates, Anne Pitoniak

SHE SAID NO (1990) DIR John Patterson PROD Barry Bernardi TELEPLAY Michael O’Hara CAM King Baggot ED Nicholas C. Smith MUS Charles Bernstein CAST Veronica Hamel, Judd Hirsch, Lee Grant (D.A. Doris Cantore), Ray Baker, Mariclare Costello, Arthur Rosenberg, Rae Allen

SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR: THE ALISON GERTZ STORY (1992) DIR Tom McLoughlin TELEPLAY Deborah Joy LeVine CAM Shelly Johnson ED Charles Bornstein, Sidney Wolinsky MUS David Shire CAST Molly Ringwald, Lee Grant (Carol Gertz), Perry King, Roxana Zal, George Coe, Christopher Meloni, Kim Myers, Martin Landau

IN MY DAUGHTER’S NAME (1992) DIR Jud Taylor PROD Dennis E. Doty TELEPLAY Bill Wells, Mimi Rothman Schapiro (story by Sharon Michaels, Phyllis Vernick) CAM Kees Van Oostrum ED Jerrold L. Ludwig MUS Charles Fox CAST Donna Mills, John Getz, John Rubinstein, Ron Frazier, Adam Storke, Ari Meyers, Lee Grant (Maureen Leeds), Roger Floyd

CITIZEN COHN (1992) DIR Prank Pierson PROD Doro Bachrach TELEPLAY David Franzoni (biography by Nicolas von Hoffman) CAM Paul Elliott ED Peter Zinner MUS Thomas Newman CAST James Woods, Joe Don Baker, Joseph Bologna, Ed Flanders, Frederic Forrest, Lee Grant (Dora Cohn), Pat Hingle, John McMartin, Josef Sommer, Allen Garfield, Fritz Weaver

SEASONS OF THE HEART (1994) DIR Lee Grant PROD Joseph Feury SCR Robbyn Burger CAM Doug Milsome (color) MUS Marvin Hamlisch ED David Ray CAST Carol Burnett, George Segal, Malcolm McDowell, Eric Lloyd, Jill Teed, Margaret Sophie Stein, Florence Paterson, Scott Marlowe, Harvey Atkin

FOLLOWING HER HEART (1994) DIR Lee Grant PROD Sally Young SCR Merry M. Helm ED Patrick McMahon CAST Ann-Margret, George Segal, Brenda Vaccaro, William Morgan Sheppard, Kirk Blatz, Scott Marlowe, Greg Mullavy, Alexandra Powers, Thom Gossom Jr.

REUNION (1994) DIR Lee Grant PROD Dyson Lovell TELEPLAY Ronald Bass, John Pielmeier (book by Linda G. Sexton) CAM Billy Williams ED Evan A. Lottman, Phillip Schopper MUS David Shire CAST Marlo Thomas, Peter Strauss, Frances Sternhagen, Courtney Chase

SAY IT, FIGHT IT, CURE IT (1997) DIR – PROD Lee Grant CAST Lee Grant, Rosie O’Donnell, Mary Kay Sanders

MULHOLLAND DR. (1999) DIR – SCR David Lynch PROD Neal Edelstein, Michael Polaire, Mary Sweeney CAM Peter Deming MUS Angelo Badalamenti CAST Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Dan Birnbaum, Scott Wulff, Robert Forster, Brent Briscoe, Ann Miller, Dan Hedeya, Lee Grant (Louise Bonner), Chad Everett

THE LORETTA CLAIBORNE STORY (2000) DIR Lee Grant PROD Suzy Beugen TELEPLAY Grace McKeaney CAM Laszlo George ED Drake Silliman MUS Stanley Clarke CAST Kimberly Elise, Tina Lifford, Camryn Manheim,  Damon Gupton, Nicole Ari Parker, Nancy Palk, Anais Granofsky

THE GUN DREADLOCK (2001) DIR Lee Grant CAST Charlton Heston, Rosie O’Donnell, Anne Lauterbach

TV MINI-SERIES

MUSSOLINI: THE UNTOLD STORY (1985) DIR William A. Graham PROD Stirling Silliphant, Alan David, Hal W. Polaire TELEPLAY Stirling Silliphant CAM Robert Steadman ED Ronald J. Fagan, Noelle Imparato, Rod Stephens CAST George C. Scott, David Suchet, Spencer Chandler, Lee Grant (Rachele Mussolini), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Raul Julia, Virginia Madsen, Robert Downey Jr., Gabriel Byrne

DOCUMENTARIES

THE WILLMAR 8 (1981) DIR Lee Grant PROD Mary Beth Yarrow CAM Judy Irola ED Suzanne Pettit MUS Peter Yarrow CAST Lee Grant (narration)

WHEN WOMEN KILL (1984) DIR Lee Grant TELEPLAY Janet Roach CAST Lee Grant (narration),

WHAT SEX AM I ? (1985) DIR Lee Grant

DOWN AND OUT IN AMERICA (1986) DIR Lee Grant PROD Joseph Feury, Carol Cuddy CAM Tom Hurwitz ED Milton Moses Ginsberg MUS Tom Manoff CAST Lee Grant (narration), Jeff Farmer, Bob Hanson, Robert Hayes, Ted Hayes, Ann Kanten, Bob Killeen

CONFRONTING THE CRISIS: CHILDCARE IN AMERICA (1999) DIR Lee Grant

…A FATHER …A SON …ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2005) DIR Lee Grant PROD Lee Grant, Joseph Feury CAM Rob LaRussa MUS John Califra CAST Glenn Close, Antonio Banderas, Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, Diana Douglas, Joel Douglas, Sherry Lansing, Karl Malden, Kathleen Turner, Jack Valenti, Catherine Zeta-Jones