Polly Bergen

Bergen was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to Lucy (née Lawhorne; 1909–1985) and William Hugh Burgin (1909–1982), a construction engineer.^[1] Bill Bergen, as he was later known, had singing talent and appeared with his daughter in several episodes of her 18-episode comedy/variety show The Polly Bergen Show, which aired during the 1957–1958 television season to much fanfare. They released a duet Columbia LP, Polly and Her Pop.

 

Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear (1962) opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. She had roles as the romantic interest in three Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy films in the early 1950s: At War with the Army, That's My Boy, and The Stooge. She was featured in a number of Westerns during the 1950s, including Warpath, Arena, and Escape from Fort Bravo. She starred in the horse racing comedy Fast Company; she starred as the first female commander-in-chief in Kisses for My President; and as the wife of James Garner in the romantic comedy Move Over, Darling, which also starred Doris Day. Bergen's later roles included Mrs. Vernon-Williams in Cry-Baby, a John Waters film.

Bergen received an Emmy Award for her portrayal of the true life title subject in the episode "Helen Morgan" of the 1950s television series Playhouse 90.^[2] Signed to Columbia Records, she also enjoyed a successful recording career during this era. She recorded an album in 1957 titled, Bergen Sings Morgan, which included the song "Bill".

In the 1950s, she became known as "The Pepsi Cola Girl", having done a series of commercials for this product.^[3]

She was a regular panelist on the game show To Tell the Truth during its original run. She was an occasional panelist and appeared three times as the mystery guest on What's My Line?. She appeared on the interview program Here's Hollywood. She earned two Emmy Award nominations for her role as Rhoda Henry, wife of Captain "Pug" Henry (played by Robert Mitchum), in two miniseries: The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance.

Bergen starred in a 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies at the Belasco Theater and received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.^[4] In 2003, she starred at the same theatre in Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks opposite Mark Hamill in a role she took over from Rue McClanahan.^[5][6]

In 2004, Bergen played Fran Felstein on HBO's The Sopranos, the former mistress of Johnny Soprano and John F. Kennedy. From 2007 to 2011, Bergen had a guest role in Desperate Housewives as Stella Wingfield, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination.^[7]

She was a semi-regular cast member of Commander-in-Chief (2006) as the mother of Mackenzie Allen, the fictional president of the United States, played by Geena Davis. Bergen had once played the first female president of the United States in the movie Kisses for My President (1964). Another late appearance came in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation Candles on Bay Street (2006), in which she played the assistant to a husband-and-wife team of veterinarians.

In 1965, Bergen created the Polly Bergen Company cosmetics line also known as Oil of the Turtle. She also created lines of jewelry and shoe brands, and wrote three books on beauty.^[3] She had retail stores in Knoxville and Gatlinburg, Tenn., bearing her name.^[8]

Bergen was married to actor Jerome Courtland from 1950 to 1955. In 1957, she married Hollywood agent-producer Freddie Fields, with whom she had two adopted children, Pamela Kerry Fields and Peter William Fields, and stepdaughter, Kathy Fields. Bergen converted from Southern Baptist to Judaism upon marrying Fields.^[9][10] The couple divorced in 1975. She was married to entrepreneur Jeffrey Endervelt in the 1980s.^[9][11]

In 1991, Bergen spoke about having had an abortion, for inclusion in the book The Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion.^[12]

On March 31, 1993, Brandon Lee died accidentally on the set of The Crow, and in early April, Bergen held a memorial at her home in Los Angeles with 200 of Lee's family, friends, and business associates attended.^[13]

Bergen was a liberal-minded, politically active Democrat and feminist. She was an active advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment, women's education, and Planned Parenthood.^[14][15] Bergen's niece is the television producer Wendy Riche.

Bergen died of natural causes on September 20, 2014, at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, surrounded by family and close friends. She had been diagnosed with emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s.^[11][16] Upon her death, she was cremated.^[17]

Albums list adapted from AllMusic and Discogs.^[19][20][21]

• 1955: Little Girl Blue (10" LP)
• 1956: The Girls
• 1956: Today's Hits (EP)
• 1957: Bergen Sings Morgan (Billboard 200 – No. 10)
• 1957: The Party's Over (Billboard 200 – No. 20)
• 1958: Polly and Her Pop (accompanied on guitar & vocals by her father, Bill Bergen)
• 1959: My Heart Sings – Columbia #CS 8018 – orchestra conducted by Luther Henderson (re-released in 1996)
• 1959: All Alone by the Telephone
• 1959: First Impressions – with Farley Granger and Hermione Gingold
• 1960: Four Seasons of Love
• 1961: Sings the Hit Songs from Do-Re-Mi and Annie Get Your Gun
• 1963: Act One, Sing Too

• 1958: "Come Prima" (Billboard Hot 100 – No. 67)

• Bergen, Polly (1962). The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion, and Charm. Prentice Hall. ASIN B0007E27RS.
• Bergen, Polly (1974). Polly's Principles: Polly Bergen Tells You how You Can Feel and Look as Young as She Does. Bantam Books. ASIN B000H4KY1Y.
• Bergen, Polly (1978). I'd Love To, but What'll I Wear. G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0-8722-3523-6.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polly Bergen.

• Polly Bergen at IMDb
• Polly Bergen at the Internet Broadway Database  
• Polly Bergen at the Internet Off-Broadway Database  
• Polly Bergen at AllMusic
• Polly Bergen – Madame President Archived March 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
• Gallery: Polly Bergen in Knoxville, TN