Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 12, 1994 TAG: 9409130045
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The New York Times and The Associated Press NOTE: below
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The cause was ovarian cancer, said her husband, actor Hume Cronyn, who was by her side when she died about 6 a.m.
Tandy, who was born in London on June 7, 1909, triumphed on Broadway in 1947 as Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams' ``Streetcar Named Desire,'' which co-starred Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski. She was still a great star more than 40 years later when she played the title character in the 1989 film ``Driving Miss Daisy.''
In the years between, she and her husband played opposite each other in success after success to become the most illustrious theater couple of their day.
With the role of Blanche Dubois, Tandy emerged from a series of minor film roles as a maid for some of Hollywood's leading ladies to establish herself as one of the leading ladies of the stage.
When she was 80, her portrayal of an aging and fiercely independent Southern lady in ``Driving Miss Daisy'' won her critical acclaim from Los Angeles to Berlin and, at last, an Academy Award. When she received the Oscar in March 1990, she was the oldest person ever to win one.
The Academy Award came one year after she won an Emmy for her performance in the television adaptation of ``Foxfire,'' of which her husband was a co-writer. Even after she became seriously ill, she continued to work, completing three films and two television dramas.
When Tandy and Cronyn first appeared together, in ``The Fourposter'' in 1951, audiences found a husband-and-wife team that would come to succeed Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne as the foremost couple of the American theater. One triumph followed another, culminating in ``The Gin Game'' in 1977 and ``Foxfire'' in 1982.
Tandy was nominated five times for a Tony and won three: in 1948 for her role as Blanche Dubois, for ``The Gin Game,'' and for ``Foxfire.'' Cronyn also was nominated for ``The Gin Game'' but did not win. ``I was bitterly disappointed,'' Tandy said. ``His performance is part of mine. I think he's very proud when I win, and vice versa.''
Her memory and her legacy as an actress were honored Sunday night at the Emmy Awards, where she and Cronyn were nominees for their performances in ``Hallmark Hall of Fame: To Dance With the White Dog.'' Tandy was not selected, though Cronyn received an Emmy for his role.
The audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium observed a moment of silence for her.
``I am saddened by the death but inspired by the life of Jessica Tandy,'' said presenter Faye Dunaway.
In July, Tandy and her husband were honored with a special Tony for their life's work in the theater. They had already received the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement medal in December 1986, and the National Medal of Art from President Bush in 1990.
Besides ``Miss Daisy,'' Tandy's movies included ``The Seventh Cross'' (1944), ``Forever Amber'' (1947), Walt Disney's ``Light in the Forest'' (1958), Alfred Hitchcock's ``The Birds'' (1963), ``Butley'' (1974) with Alan Bates, ``The World According to Garp'' (1982) with Robin Williams, ``The Bostonians'' (1984), ``Cocoon'' (1985), ``Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and ``Used People'' (1992).
There was no temperament, no tantrums. Elia Kazan, her director in ``Streetcar'' said: ``She's absolutely sweet-natured. She does her job; she has a sense of humor.''
With each performance her reviews improved. ``I think I've gotten better,'' she said when she was 77. ``I've gotten more confident in myself in the last five to six years. Earlier I think I distrusted myself. I'd be in things I felt weren't being done right, and I didn't speak up. Now I do. I think people trust me.''
by CNB