As a testament to her remarkable talent, Broadway has honored esteemed stage actress Zoe Caldwell four times with Tony Awards: for "Slapstick Tragedy" (1966), for her title role in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1968), for her searing performance as "Medea" (1982), and as opera diva Maria Callas in "Master Class" (1995). The Australian-born ...
Oh, a diva I'm not. Maria Callas was a diva. I never set out to be a diva, I set out to do what I could do, and I was so lucky to have that opportunity. I think if everyone could do what really makes them happy, and earn a living at it, the world would be very different.
2
I knew at a very early age that my job would be to stand in front of people, keeping them awake and in their seats by telling other people's stories and using other people's words. I knew this because it was the only thing I could do.
3
Our job is not to get in the way of the playwright's words. We're in big trouble when you hear actors talk about themselves as 'artists.' We're more like priestesses and priests. We take the word from the playwright to the populace. If you don't get in the way too much, the audience will understand exactly what the playwright wants them to know. If you start bringing your own life into it -- saying, "Oh, my God, if I dug deeply enough, I can remember a time when I was so hurt...blah, blah, blah.' That's fine. Write your own play.
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Fact
1
She was awarded the 1995 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Best Leading Actress for "Master Class" in a Gordon Davidson/Mark Taper Forum production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
2
She was awarded the 1995 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Actress for "Master Class" in a Gordon Davidson/Mark Taper Forum production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
3
She was awarded the 1995 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Lead Actress for "Master Class" in a Gordon Davidson/Mark Taper Forum production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
4
Pound Ridge, Westchester, New York [January 2009]
5
Donated 30 acres near her home in Westchester County for a wildlife habitat to be called "Robert Whitehead Preserve" named after her late husband.
6
Played Cordelia to Charles Laughton's King Lear at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1959. Caldwell, loathed Laughton, and she credits the tension between the two with deepening the drama of their performances, where the characters are engaged in a clash of wills.
7
One of her primary acting rules is never to get romantically involved with a co-star. She believes that actors playing at being in love are showing the audience what they're feeling at each stage in the relationship, which is the exact opposite of what a real love affair needs, which is privacy. Acting, the audience becomes an intimate partner of the staged lovers, where in real life, lovers need to curtain themselves off from the rest of the world to create real intimacy. Though she admits in her 2001 memoir, "I Will Be Cleopatra", that she violated the rule, she was reticent in providing details. However, she was named as a correspondent by Albert Finney's wife Jane Wenham in their divorce.
8
Her first stage role was as "Slightly Soiled" (one of the Lost Boys) in J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan", at the age of nine, in her native Australia.
9
In 2002, she spoke to graduate and selected undergraduate acting students at New York University - Tisch School of the Arts.
10
Has won four Tony Awards, one for each time she was nominated: as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic), in 1966 for Tennessee Williams's "Slapstick Tragedy," and as Best Actress (Play), in 1968 for playing the title role in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie;" in 1982 for playing the title role in a revival of "Medea," which she recreated in a television version of the same name, Medea (1983); and in 1996 for playing Maria Callas in Terence McNally's "Master Class.".
11
Graduated from the Methodist Ladies College and, much later, received an honorary degree from the University of Melbourne.
12
She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1970 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to theatre and the John Gielgud Award by the Shakespeare Guild.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
2011
Oskar's Grandmother
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
2010
Video Game
Grand Councilwoman (voice)
Leroy & Stitch
2006
Video
Grand Councilwoman (voice)
Stitch's Great Escape
2004
Short
The Grand Councilwoman (voice)
Birth
2004
Mrs. Hill
Lilo & Stitch: The Series
2003
TV Series
Grand Councilwoman
Stitch! The Movie
2003
Video
Grand Councilwoman (voice)
Lilo & Stitch
2002
Grand Councilwoman (voice)
Stitch Experiment 626
2002
Video Game
Grand Councilwoman (voice)
Avonlea
1990
TV Series
Old Lady Lloyd
Lantern Hill
1989
TV Movie
Mrs.Kennedy
American Masters
1986
TV Series documentary
Carlotta Monterey O'Neill
The Purple Rose of Cairo
1985
The Countess
Medea
1983/I
TV Movie
Medea
BBC Play of the Month
1978
TV Series
Mme. Arkadina
Great Performances
1971
TV Series
Sarah Bernhardt
The Secret of Michelangelo
1968
TV Movie
Narrator
Festival
1962-1965
TV Series
Winnie / Orinthia / Jennet Jourdemayne
Playdate
1964
TV Series
Streetwalker
Dear Liar
1964
TV Movie
Mrs. Patrick Campbell
Macbeth
1961
TV Movie
Lady Macbeth
Theatre 70
1960
TV Series
The Herries Chronicle
1960
TV Series
Mirabell Starr / Mirabell Herries
Suspense
1960
TV Series
Kathy Harrison
ITV Television Playhouse
1960
TV Series
Louise
BBC Sunday-Night Play
1960
TV Mini-Series
Ruth Honeywill
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1959
TV Movie
Fairy
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life
2017
Documentary post-production
Herself
Altina
2014
Documentary
Herself
Spotlight on Broadway
2013
TV Series
Herself
American Experience
2006
TV Series documentary
Herself / Mary Tyrone
The Story Room: The Making of 'Lilo & Stitch'
2005
Video documentary
Herself
The 50th Annual Tony Awards
1996
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Best Leading Actress in a Play
The 49th Annual Tony Awards
1995
TV Special
Herself - Performer (Master Class)
The 43rd Annual Tony Awards
1989
TV Special
Herself - Presenter: Best Revival
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
TV Movie
Herself
The 36th Annual Tony Awards
1982
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Play
The 35th Annual Tony Awards
1981
TV Special
Herself - Presenter: Best Direction of a Play
13 Stars for Channel 13
1968
TV Movie
Herself
The 22nd Annual Tony Awards
1968
TV Special
Herself - Winner: Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999
TV Movie documentary
Herself (uncredited)
Known for movies
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) as Oskar's Grandmother
$100,000
