Eleanor Parker

Biography: Parker worked on the Cleveland stage and in stock, and had some experience with the Pasadena Playhouse, before being signed by Warner Borthers. Onscreen from 1941, she played roles of increasing importance through the decade, and reached her peak in the '50s; she played a variety of leads, from shrewish vixens to victimized wives, but her work was often diminished by overacting. Parker received three Best Actress Oscar nominations: for Caged (1950), Detective Story (1951), and Interrupted Melody (1955). Later she shifted to character roles, and was rarely onscreen after 1969. She was married four times.