Actress Stockard Channing is the recipient of an Emmy Award, a Tony Theater Award and other prestigious awards. In addition, she was once nominated for an Oscar for her brilliant performance in the psychological drama Six Degrees of Alienation.
Early biography and early career
The full name of the actress Stockard Channing is Susan Antonia Williams Stockard. She was born in 1944 in New York to a wealthy Irish Catholic family. Her father, Lester Napier Stockard, worked in the shipping business. After his death in 1960, Susan inherited a large inheritance - this freed her from the need to think about earning money.
In 1963, while still a college student, the girl became the wife of Walter Channing. And although this marriage ended in divorce pretty soon, later the actress gained fame under the creative pseudonym Stockard Channing.
She began her career on the Boston theater scene in the late sixties. And already in 1971, she made her Broadway debut in the musical Two Gentlemen from Verona, based on an early Shakespearean play with a similar title.
In 1973, Stockard got her first major role on TV - the role of Miriam in the TV movie "Girls Like It Best …" At the beginning of the film, Miriam suffers from an inferiority complex due to her not very attractive appearance. Peers humiliate Miriam and openly mock her. But one day, as a result of an accident, she ends up in the hospital, where she is decided to undergo experimental plastic surgery. Miriam leaves the hospital already beautiful. And she longs to take revenge on her offenders …
The creativity of the actress from 1975 to the present day
In 1975, Stockard starred in The State, starring Jack Nicholson. Despite the fact that her performance (she appeared here in the image of the wealthy heiress Frederica Biggars) was highly appreciated by many critics (and the actress herself considered this work one of the best in her career), this role did not become a breakthrough role for her. On top of that, the movie didn't go well at the box office.
In 1978, Stockard Channing starred opposite renowned actor John Travolta in Grease, an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. Channing, despite her age (at that time she was already 33), very convincingly coped with the role of lively high school student Betty Rizzo here. On top of that, her vocals can be heard in the two musical compositions in this film.
But the eighties were not very successful for Stockcard. After several failed TV and film projects in the early 1980s, the actress returned to the theater scene. However, here she proved that she is still a great actress - in 1985 she was awarded the Tony Award (this is the most prestigious and prestigious theater award in the United States) for her role in the production of The Day at the Death of Joe Egg. It should be noted that sometimes Channing still appeared in American films of those years in secondary roles (for example, she can be seen in the 1986 film "Men's Club").
New success in the big cinema awaited the actress only in 1993, when the film "Six Degrees of Alienation" was released. This film tells the story of the wealthy spouses Wiza (played by Stockard) and Flan (played by Donald Sutherland). According to the script, the couple are engaged in the sale of works of art in New York and lead an active social life. Once at a party, they meet a young black guy named Paul. Thanks to his manners and his stories, he enters into the trust of the couple. However, it soon turns out that Paul is a very dangerous schemer …
The role of Wiza turned out to be very expressive, Stockard was even nominated for an Oscar for her. But the Academy members that year still preferred another actress - Holly Hunter.
In the second half of the nineties and at the beginning of the two thousandth, the actress was noted for a number of good roles in films. In particular, she starred in the films "Practical Magic" (1998), "Real Woman" (1999), "Voices" (1999), "Where the Heart is" (2000) and "Something Else" (2003).
But the main television project in which Channing appeared was the political series The West Wing. Since 1999, Channing has played the first lady of the United States, Abby Bartlett. For two seasons she was only a guest actress, but since 2001 she entered the main caste. And already in 2002 for the role of Abby Channing she received an Emmy award (as the best supporting actress).
She played in the West Wing until the very end. Although in the final seventh season (2005-2006), she managed to appear in only four episodes out of twenty-two. This was due to the fact that at that time Stockard was already engaged in the sitcom of the CBS channel "Out of Practice". However, this project did not become as long as the "West Wing" - a year later the series was closed.
After 2010, on TV, and in big movies, Channing is not seen as often as before. One of her most recent notable appearances is the role of Elizabeth Taylor in the television series Urban Legends.
Personal information
The actress has no children, although she was married four times. The first husband, as already indicated, was a businessman and winery owner Walter Channing. Their romance lasted from 1963 to 1967.
The second husband was Slavic professor Paul Schmidt (this marriage lasted about six years - from 1970 to 1976), the third - the writer and producer David Debin (the actress lived with him from 1976 to 1980), the fourth - a businessman David Rawl (they got married in 1980 and divorced in 1988).
In 1988, on the set of the film "Time of Destiny", she met the cameraman Dan Gillham, and since then they have been in a relationship (although they did not officially formalize the marriage). Dan and Stockard live in the US state of Maine.
