Lee Grant
Known for: Acting
Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, 1925) is an American actress and director. She made her film debut in 1951 as a young shoplifter in William Wyler's Detective Story, co-starring Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker. This role earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as well as the Best Actress Award at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival. In 1952 she was blacklisted from most acting jobs for the next 12 years. She was able to find only occasional work onstage or as a teacher during this period. It also contributed to her divorce. She was removed from the blacklist in 1962 and rebuilt her acting career. She starred in 71 TV episodes of Peyton Place (1965–1966), followed by lead roles in films such as Valley of the Dolls, In the Heat of the Night (both 1967), and Shampoo (1975), for the last of which she won an Oscar. In 1964, she won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performance in The Maids. During her career she was nominated for the Emmy Award seven times between 1966 and 1993, winning twice. In 1986 she directed Down and Out in America which tied for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and in the same year she also won a Directors Guild of America Award for Nobody's Child.
Filmography
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Series
Ironside
Francesca Kirby
1967
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Series
The Fugitive
Millie Hallop
1963
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Virginia Cloyd
1963
Series
Great Performances
Irina Arkadina
1971
Series
Great Performances
1971
Series
Mission: Impossible
Susan Buchanan
1966
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Series
The Big Valley
Rosemary
1965
Series
The Defenders
Norma Burgess
1961
Series
The Defenders
Maria Edwards
1961
Series
Intimate Portrait
Self
1993
Series
Studio One
Emily Brooks
1948
Series
Ben Casey
1961
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
People's Choice Awards
Self
1975
Film '72
Self
1971
Film
Mulholland Drive
Louise
2001
Series
The Name of the Game
Edwina Booker
1968
Series
Empty Nest
1988
Series
Dinah!
Self
1974
Series
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self
1968
Series
The Ray Bradbury Theater
1985
Series
The Mod Squad
1968
Series
Judd, for the Defense
1967
Festival
Lizzie
1963
Series
ABC Stage 67
Laura
1966
Series
ABC Stage 67
Ruth
1966
Series
Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War
Self - Actress
2024
Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
Film
Damien - Omen II
Ann Thorn
1978
Film
In the Heat of the Night
Mrs. Leslie Colbert
1967
Film
Airport '77
Karen Wallace
1977
Playwrights '56
1955
Film
The Swarm
Anne MacGregor
1978
Wedden, dat..?
Self
1986
Series
Backstairs at the White House
Grace Coolidge
1979
Film
Defending Your Life
Lena Foster
1991
Film
Voyage of the Damned
Lili Rosen
1976
Film
Dr. T & the Women
Dr. Harper
2000
Film
Poor Liza
Countess Ekaterina
2000
Film
Valley of the Dolls
Miriam Polar
1967
Film
It's My Party
Amalia Stark
1996
Series
Mussolini: The Untold Story
Rachele Mussolini
1985
Film
Shampoo
Felicia Karpf
1975
Film
Visiting Hours
Deborah Ballin
1982
Film
The Mafu Cage
Ellen
1978
Film
Detective Story
Shoplifter
1951
Series
Bare Essence
Ava Marshall
1982
Film
The Big Town
Ferguson Edwards
1987
Film
Teachers
Dr. Donna Burke
1984
Film
Marooned
Celia Pruett
1969
Film
There Was a Crooked Man...
Mrs. Bullard
1970
Film
Why Me?
Narrator/Self
1974
Film
Earth and the American Dream
Reader (voice)
1992
Film
Little Miss Marker
The Judge
1980
Film
Middle of the Night
Marilyn
1959
Film
She Said No
D.A. Doris Cantore
1990
Film
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
Fritzie Braddock
1968
Film
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
Narrator
2000
Film
Lieutenant Schuster's Wife
Ellie Schuster
1972
Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret
Self
1990
Film
Citizen Cohn
Dora Cohn
1992
Film
The Landlord
Joyce Enders
1970
Film
Divorce American Style
Dede Murphy
1967
Film
Ransom for a Dead Man
Leslie Williams
1972
Film
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen
Mrs. Sylvia Lupowitz
1981
Film
Storm Fear
Edna
1955
Fay
Fay Stewart
1975
Film
Hal
Self
2019
Film
Plaza Suite
Norma Hubley
1971
Film
The Million Dollar Face
Evalyna
1981
Film
The Internecine Project
Jean Robertson
1974
Film
What Sex Am I?
Self
1985
Film
Hello Actors Studio
Self
1988
Film
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Self
1997
Film
Plaza Suite
Norma Hubley / Muriel Tate / Karen Nash
1982
Film
Under Heat
Jane
1994
Film
In My Daughter's Name
Maureen Leeds
1992
Series
Peyton Place
Stella Chernak
1964
Film
The Substance of Fire
Cora Cahn
1996
Film
Will There Really Be a Morning?
Lillian Farmer
1983
Film
Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story
Carol Gertz
1992
Film
The Spell
Marion Matchett
1977
Film
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
Self
2021
Film
The John Garfield Story
Self
2003
Film
Tell Me a Riddle
Flight Attendant (voice)
1980
Film
Truth and Lies: The Family Manson
2017
Film
For Ladies Only
Anne Holt
1981
Series
Inside the Actors Studio
Self
1994
Film
The Balcony
Carmen
1963
Film
TVTV Looks at the Oscars
Self
1976
Film
Dangerous Citizen: The Life and Times of Abraham Polonsky
self
2026
Tribute To Burgess Meredith
Self (voice)
2006
Film
When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?
Clarisse Ethridge
1979
Film
The Amati Girls
Aunt Spendora
2001
Film
Three Plays by Tennessee Williams
Jane (Segment "Moony's Kid Don't Cry")
1958
Film
The Love Song of Barney Kempinski
Laura
1968
Film
An Affair of the Skin
Katherine McCleod
1963
Film
The Seagull
Irina Arkadina
1975
Film
You Can't Go Home Again
Esther Jack
1979
Film
Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women
Self
2014
Film
Calling the Shots
Self
1988
Film
The World of Sholom Aleichem
The Goatseller / Avenging Angel
1959
Film
Going Shopping
Winnie
2005
Film
The Good Doctor
Various Roles
1978
Film
Down and Out in America
Narrator (voice)
1986
Film
A Billion for Boris
Sascha Harris
1984
Film
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Maxine Lochman
1982
Film
Scandal: The Trial of Mary Astor
Narrator (voice)
2018
Film
Perilous Voyage
Virginia Monroe
1976
Film
Portnoy's Complaint
Sophie Portnoy
1972
Film
Night Slaves
Marjorie Howard
1970
Film
The Big Bounce
Joanne
1969
Film
The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro
Marilyn Klinghoffer
1989
Film
Actresses Turned Producer/Directors
2014
Film
The Omen Legacy
Self
2001
Film
The Neon Ceiling
Carrie Miller
1971
Film
Seeing is Believing: Women Direct
Self
2017
Deadlock
Virginia Cloyd
1967
Film
What Are Best Friends For?
Adele Ross
1973
Film
Partners in Crime
Judge Meredith Leland
1973
Film
Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
Miriam (archive footage)
2006
Film
Pie in the Sky
Suzy
1964
Film
The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer
Narrator
1992
Film
Killian & the Comeback Kids
Ms. Hunter (voice)
2020
Film
Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood
Self
2023
Film
A Crime to Fit the Punishment
Narrator
1982
Film
When Women Kill
Herself
1983
Film
Hidden Values: The Movies of the Fifties
Self
2001
Film
Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval
Narrator
1995
Say It, Fight It, Cure It
Narrator/Host
1997
Film
Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist: None Without Sin
Self
2003
Film
Battered
Narrator
1989
Confronting the Crisis: Childcare in America
Narrator
1999
Film
Women on Trial
Narrator
1992
Film
The Willmar 8
Narrator
1981