Polly Bergen

Polly Bergen began her entertainment career as a radio performer at age fourteen and went on to work in nearly every sector of the industry. She recorded for Columbia and performed in nightclubs during the 1950s and 1960s, earned an Emmy for dramatic television work, and later received a Tony nomination for playing Carlotta in Stephen Sondheim’s *Follies* after turning seventy. She also appeared as Felicity Huffman’s mother on *Desperate Housewives* (2004).

Born Nellie Burgin in Knoxville, Tennessee, on July 14, 1930, she was the daughter of William and Lucy Burgin and sister of Barbra. The family moved to Los Angeles, where Bergen sang professionally on radio by age fourteen and took gigs with local bands. After attending Compton Junior College, studio executive Hal B. Wallis signed her to Paramount. She had previously appeared as Polly Burgin in the Monogram western *Across the Rio Grande* (1949). Wallis cast her in supporting roles opposite Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in *At War with the Army* (1950), *That’s My Boy* (1951) and *The Stooge* (1951). Subsequent drama parts at MGM and Universal—including *Escape from Fort Bravo*, *Arena* and *Cry of the Hunted* (all 1953)—did not lead to further film work, prompting her to leave her contract.

Bergen turned to television in the 1950s, promoting Columbia albums through guest appearances on variety shows and hosting *The Polly Bergen Show* (1957). Her signature closing song was “The Party’s Over.” She also performed in cabarets and nightclubs nationwide, made her Broadway debut with Harry Belafonte in *John Murray Anderson’s Almanac* (1953), and later appeared in productions such as *Top Man* and *Champagne Complex*. From 1956 she served five seasons as a regular panelist on *To Tell the Truth*.

Her down‑to‑earth personality suited comedy, while her dramatic talent earned her an Emmy for portraying torch singer Helen Morgan in the television special *The Helen Morgan Story* (1957). The film version of that story starred Ann Blyth with vocals by Gogi Grant, and Bergen did not return to feature films until five years later. As Gregory Peck’s wife in *Cape Fear* (1962), she re‑entered cinema, followed by roles in *The Caretakers* (1963), *Move Over, Darling* (1963) opposite Doris Day and James Garner, and as the White House chief executive in *Kisses for My President* (1964). After a brief resurgence, her film work again slowed, leading her back to television.

Bergen appeared in TV movies through the 1970s and 1980s, most notably in the miniseries *The Winds of War* (1983) opposite Robert Mitchum, and its sequel *War and Remembrance* (1988), which earned her supporting‑actor Emmy nominations. Later television credits include *The Sopranos* (1999), *Desperate Housewives* (2004) and *Commander in Chief* (2005).

She resumed singing in 1999 after a three‑decade hiatus caused by health and vocal issues, adopting a huskier tone and performing on the New York stage in *Follies* (2001), *Cabaret* (2002) and *Camille Claudel* (2007). She also gave concert tours and nightly performances.

Outside of acting, Bergen authored three best‑selling beauty books, founded a mail‑order cosmetics business in 1965 that she sold to Fabergé in 1973, and created shoe and jewelry lines. She married MGM actor Jerome Courtland from 1950 to 1955, then agent/producer Freddie Fields in 1957; the marriage lasted eighteen years and produced two adopted children, Pamela and Peter. A third marriage in the 1980s ended in divorce. Her memoir *Polly’s Principles* was published in 1974.

Bergen’s final film role was as a grandmother in the dramedy *Struck by Lightning* (2012). She died on September 20, 2013, at age eighty‑four.