Joan Lorring
Joan Lorring (April 17, 1926 – May 30, 2014) was an actress and singer known for her work in film and theatre. For her role as Bessy Watty in The Corn is Green (1945), Lorring was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Lorring also originated the role of Marie Buckholder in Come Back, Little Sheba on Broadway in 1950, for which she won a Donaldson Award (an early version of the Tony Award).
Personal life
Lorring was born Mary Magdalene Ellis in Hong Kong, the daughter of Ania Ellis (1904-1995), a Russian Jewish immigrant. They fled Hong Kong in 1938 following the Japanese invasion in 1937 at the start of World War II, traveling by boat to Honolulu, and then landing in San Francisco. Soon after, they moved to Los Angeles, and Mary (known by her nickname "Dellie") began working as a child actress in radio and film.
Eventually she adopted Joan Lorring as her stage name.
She was married to doctor Martin Sonenberg (1920-2011). The couple had two daughters, Santha and Andrea.