M'el Dowd

M'el Dowd or Mel Dowd (born February 2, 1938)^[1] is an American stage, musical theatre and film actress whose career has spanned over 50 years.^[2] Beginning in Shakespeare roles and films in the 1950s, Dowd continued to perform on stage, film and television into the 21st century. A frequent performer on Broadway in the 1960s, Dowd originated the role of Morgan le Fay in Camelot.

Personal life

Dowd was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1938, the daughter of John J. Dowd and Catherine O'Conner Dowd. In 1962, she married Henri G. Eudes; the couple had one son.

Career

Making her professional debut Off-Broadway in the 1950s, Dowd soon appeared in a number of Broadway shows throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, most notably originating the role of Morgan Le Fay in the long-running musical Camelot. She also appeared in several films, TV movies and guest spots on TV episodes, including the 1986 film F/X as "Joyce Lehman", and the 1977 TV movie The Prince of Homburg, starring Frank Langella.^[3]

Dowd has continued to act in recent years. In Goodspeed Musicals' 2003 production of Me and My Girl, according to Variety, "Dowd in particular, charmingly partnered by Dorian's tiddly Sir John, is the cement that holds this production together."^[4] The New York Daily News wrote in 2001 that she played Mme. Armfeldt in A Little Night Music "deliciously".^[5]

Selected stage roles

• Macbeth – Lady Macbeth (1955; Off-Broadway, Jan Hus Theatre, NYC)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream – Titania, (1956; Jan Hus Theatre, NYC)
• Romeo and Juliet – Lady Capulet (1956; Jan Hus Theatre, NYC)
• Julius Caesar – Portia (1957; Jan Hus Theatre, NYC)
• Back to Methuselah – Lilith (1958; Ambassador Theatre and national tour)
• Sweet Bird of Youth – Understudy for Princess Kosmonopolis (1959–60; Martin Beck Theatre)
• Camelot – Morgan Le Fey (1960–63)
• A Case of Libel – Anita Corcoran (1963–64; Longacre Theatre)
• The Right Honourable Gentleman – Mrs. Emilia Pattison (1965–66; Billy Rose Theatre, nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play)
• The Sound of Music – Elsa Schraeder (1967; City Center Theatre)
• Heartbreak House – Hesione Hushabye (1967; Arena Stage, Washington, DC)
• Everything in the Garden – Louise (1967–68; Plymouth Theatre)
• Tiger at the Gates – Andromache (1968; Vivian Beaumont Theatre)
• Dear World – Countess Aurelia (1969; Mark Hellinger Theatre)
• Not Now, Darling – Maude Bodley (1970; Brooks Atkinson Theatre)
• Ambassador – Amelia Newsome (1972; Lunt-Fontanne Theatre)
• The Night of the Iguana – Frau Fahrenkopf (1985; Morris Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore, MD)
• A Little Night Music – Madame Armfeldt (2001; Goodspeed Musicals)^[6]
• Me and My Girl - Maria, Duchess of Dene (2003; Goodspeed Musicals)

Film and TV roles

• The Wrong Man – Miss O'Connor (Warner Bros., 1956)
• The Adventures of Jim Bowie – Nun in "The Bounty Hunter" (1957)
• This Could Be the Night - Mrs. Flint (MGM, 1957)
• Man on Fire – Rita (MGM, 1957)
• Flipper – Amy Field in "City Boy" (1964)
• The Best of Everything – Kate Farrow (1970)
• The 300 Year Weekend – Carole (Cinerama, 1971)
• The Adams Chronicles (1975 mini-series)
• The Prince of Homburg (1977)
• F/X (1986) – Joyce Lehman
• Murder, She Wrote - Sister Margaret-Mary in "Old Habits Die Hard" (1987)
• See You in the Morning (1989) – Real Estate Lady
• Third Watch "Black and Blue" (2004)
• Law & Order – Mrs. Haiduk in "License to Kill" (2005)

Notes

1. ^ Born in 1938 per Intelius
2. ^ IMDb profile
3. ^ M'el Dowd Biography" at Film Reference website: FR-M-el-Dowd
4. ^ Variety review of Me and My Girl
5. ^ Kissel, Howard. "Sondheim's Sparkler in a Nutmeg Setting". December 7, 2001, accessed February 14, 2011
6. ^ NY Times review of Dowd in A Little Night Music

References

• IMDb profile
• Biodata/credits at FilmReference.com
• Sprague, Arthur Colby. "Shakespeare on the New York Stage, 1955-1956" in Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Autumn, 1956), pp. 393–98

External links

• M'el Dowd at the Internet Broadway Database
• New York Times webpage: New York Times profile

Persondata
Name	Dowd, Mel
Alternative names
Short description	Actress, singer
Date of birth	February 2, 1938
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death