Hope Holiday (November 30, 1938) was born in New York, NY. She has extensive Broadway musical comedy background and has acted in 1960s, '70s and '80s film and TV. Perhaps her best-known film role was that of Mrs. Margie MacDougall, Jack Lemmon's partner in self-pity on Christmas Eve night, in the Billy Wilder film The Apartment (1960). She has also produced and directed films. She is the widow of actor Frank Marth.
I don't know whether I'm an extrovert or an introvert who has developed extrovert tendencies as a cover.
2
[on her brief period as a vocalist with Ralph Flanagan's orchestra, before she was fired] I hadn't sung a note but I figured since my dad [Allen Zee] had booked him [at the Capitol Theatre], he would at least listen to me. I got the job but I was terrible, if not worse. Most of the time I just sat on the bandstand, snapping my fingers. Customers would ask me, "Say, when are you going to sing?". Finally, I was allowed to. Crazy!
3
[1960, interview in the "Los Angeles Times"] I spent seven years as the most successful failure in show business
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Fact
1
Her father, Allen Zee, former night manager of WHN radio in New York City, produced live shows at Loew's Capitol Theatre in both New York and Washington. Her mother Doris Piscillia was a showgirl.
2
Her first husband, Sandy Glass, was an agent at the William Morris Agency. Hope was a client with the agency at the time.
3
At the age of eight or nine she studied tap with Fred Kelly, the brother of Gene Kelly, and modern dance with Hanya Holm and Jose Limon.
4
Originally auditioned for Joyce Jameson's "Marilyn Monroe"-like character in The Apartment (1960) but Billy Wilder thought better and re-auditioned her for the "Margie MacDougall" role.
5
Was fired in the early 1950s as a band singer with Ralph Flanagan's outfit because her voice wasn't good enough.
6
Her older sister Judy (Sinclair) was also a singer/actress and both debuted on Broadway in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" starring Carol Channing in 1949. Judy quickly retired from the business after marriage.
7
Lost her contract with Jerry Lewis and Paramount after she got carried away with her slap scene with Lewis in his movie The Ladies Man (1961).
8
As a student she attended P.S. 117 in Jamaica, Forest Hills High School in Garden Hills and Rhodes in New York but never graduated from high school.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Low Blow
1986
School Head Mistress (uncredited)
Killpoint
1984
Anita
Raw Force
1982
Hazel Buck
Texas Lightning
1981
Mrs. Stover
The Last Reunion
1980
Sally the Singer
Vega$
1980
TV Series
Josie
The Return of Mod Squad
1979
TV Movie
Willy
The Hughes Mystery
1979
Switch
1977
TV Series
Landlady
How to Seduce a Woman
1974
Mary
Love, American Style
1970
TV Series
Delila (segment "Love and the Good Samaritan")
That Girl
1969
TV Series
Joanne Ferrer
The Felony Squad
1968
TV Series
Mary Carter
The Rounders
1965
Sister
Harris Against the World
1964
TV Series
Phyllis
The Great Adventure
1964
TV Series
Mavis
The Farmer's Daughter
1964
TV Series
Vickie
The New Phil Silvers Show
1963
TV Series
Mildred Flitterman
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
TV Series
Carol Burlingame
Irma la Douce
1963
Lolita
The Jack Benny Program
1963
TV Series
Zelda
Ben Casey
1962
TV Series
Louise
Target: The Corruptors
1962
TV Series
Ellie Gordon
The Bob Cummings Show
1962
TV Series
Have Gun - Will Travel
1961
TV Series
Big Red
The Ladies Man
1961
Miss Anxious
Checkmate
1961
TV Series
Verne
The Apartment
1960
Mrs. Margie MacDougall
Li'l Abner
1959
Chorus Dancer (uncredited)
Best Foot Forward
1954
TV Movie
Minerva
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Return to Justice
1990
executive producer
Rage to Kill
1988
executive producer
Space Mutiny
1988
executive producer
Code Name Vengeance
1987
executive producer
Low Blow
1986
associate producer
Go for the Gold
1984
associate producer - as Hope Holliday
Killpoint
1984
associate producer
Texas Lightning
1981
associate producer
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Last Reunion
1980
performer: "Hard-Headed Hannah"
Best Foot Forward
1954
TV Movie performer: "GOTTA DANCE", "THE THREE B'S", "BUCKLE DOWN WINSOCKI"
$200,000
