Biography
The daughter of show folk, Hope Lange was 12 when she appeared in her first Broadway play, Sidney Kingsley's The Patriots. Fourteen years later, with dozens of plays and TV programs to her credit, Lange made her screen debut in
Bus Stop (1956), managing to garner critical and audience attention despite her omnipresent co-star
Marilyn Monroe (Lange's first husband was
Bus Stop leading man
Don Murray). Signed to a 20th Century Fox contract, Lange was Oscar nominated for her performance in
Peyton Place (1957) and was equally impressive in such films as
The Young Lions (1957) and
The Best of Everything (1959).
In the early 1960s, Lange was briefly linked romantically with
Glenn Ford, who insisted that she co-star with him in
Pocketful of Miracles, a fact that inspired a stream of published invective from the film's director,
Frank Capra, who'd wanted
Shirley Jones for the part. Despite Capra's reservations in regards to her acting ability, Lange continued to prosper as a film actress until turning to TV in 1968 as star of the weekly The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, a project that would earn her two Emmys. She then spent three years in a thankless "supportive housewife" part in
The New Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1974, Lange received some of her best reviews in years for her work in
Death Wish -- in which she spent most of her time in a coma before expiring in Reel Two! Subsequent projects in which Lange was involved included the 1977 play Same Time Next Year and the first of the
Nightmare on Elm Street films. Hope Lange was first married to Don Murray, then producer/director Alan J. Pakula. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide