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Shelley Winters Dies at 85
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 15, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 15, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Shelley Winters, the actress who typically played blowsy and loud women, died today in California. She suffered heart failure while at a nursing center. Her career started in New York theater, had a long run as the sexpot in film, then later drunken shrew, and the later part of her career, comedians would make fun of her weight. The NY Times obituary included this quote of hers that "[described her life as a] rocky road out of the Brooklyn ghetto to one New York apartment, two Oscars, three California houses, four hit plays, five Impressionist paintings, six mink coats and 99 films." Winters was actually born in East St. Louis, but grew up in Brooklyn - and her father even served time at Sing Sing.
Here's her IMDB filmography (she won Oscars for The Diary of Ann Frank and PAtch of Blue), and our favorite Shelley Winters movies are The Night of the Hunter, A Place in the Sun, Lolita, Alfie, and yes, the Poseidon Adventure. And there were once Poseidon Adventure dolls.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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