Rita Gam

American actress (1927–2016)

Rita Gam

Gam in 1969

Born|

Rita Eleanore MacKay

(1927-04-02)April 2, 1927

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Died| March 22, 2016(2016-03-22) (aged 88)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Occupation| Actress
Years active| 1950–1997
Spouses|

Sidney Lumet

(m. 1949; div. 1954)​

Thomas Guinzburg

(m. 1956; div. 1963)​

Children| 2

Rita Gam (born Rita Eleanore MacKay, April 2, 1927 – March 22, 2016) was an American film and television actress and documentary filmmaker. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.

## Background

[edit]

Gam was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Belle (née Fately), who was born in Romania, and Milton A. MacKay, who was born in France to parents from Romania. Her father died in New York in 1931 and her mother remarried. Gam took the surname of her stepfather, Benjamin J. Gam.[1][2][3][4]

## Career

[edit]

Gam was a model before she ventured into acting. Her acting career began on Broadway and in television, after which she moved on to films. Her Broadway credits included There's a Girl in My Soup, The Insect Comedy, A Flag is Born, and A Temporary Island.[5]

She appeared first in the 1952 film noir The Thief, which starred Ray Milland. In October 1952, she signed a long-term MGM contract.[6] Another notable role was Herodias in 1961's King of Kings.

Gam was also an occasional panelist on the televised CBS game show What's My Line during the 1950s and early 1960s.

She shared the Silver Bear for Best Actress award with Viveca Lindfors at the 1962 Berlin Film Festival, for their performances in Tad Danielewski's No Exit.[7]

In 1963, Gam was a leading member of the Minnesota Theatre Company in the opening season of the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.[citation needed] Gam appeared in a few more American films before working in Europe. She returned to the U.S. to appear in small parts in films, including Klute in 1971, before taking up documentary filmmaking.[citation needed]

In 2003, she appeared in the rotating cast of the Off Broadway stage reading of Wit & Wisdom.[8] In 2004, she appeared in one of a series of ads for the Royal Bank of Scotland.

## Personal life and death

[edit]

Gam's first husband was director Sidney Lumet, whom she married in 1949. The marriage ended in divorce in 1955.[5]

In 1956, Gam was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier in Monaco.[9] Gam's 1956 marriage to publisher Thomas Guinzburg ended in divorce in 1963.[5][10]

Gam died on March 22, 2016, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, from respiratory failure.[11]

## Books

[edit]

Gam was the author of two books, Actress to Actress and Actors: A Celebration.[12][13][5]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1952  | The Thief | The Girl  | No dialog; MacGuffin
1953  | Saadia | Saadia  |
1954  | Night People | Ricky Cates  |
1954  | Sign of the Pagan | Kubra  |
1956  | Magic Fire | Cosima Liszt |
1956  | Mohawk | Onida  |
1958  | Sierra Baron | Felicia Delmonte  |
1959  | Wild Cats on the Beach | Rita Eldmont  |
1959  | Hannibal | Sylvia  |
1961  | King of Kings | Herodias |
1962  | No Exit | Estelle  | Also known as Sinners Go to Hell
1971  | Klute | Trina  |
1971  | Shoot Out | Emma  |
1971  | Such Good Friends | Doria  |
1974  | The Gardener | Helena Boardman  |
1974  | Law and Disorder | Woman in Cab  |
1987  | Distortions | Mildred Tyson  |
1989  | Midnight | Heidi  |
1996  | Rowing Through | Iris Biglow  |
1997  | Monaco |  | Short, Voice, (final film role)

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1950  | Believe It or Not! |  | "The Secret of Nefertiti"
1951  | Lights Out | Girl  | "The Pattern"
1951  | Trapped |  | "The Nobody"
1951  | Somerset Maugham TV Theatre |  | "Appearances and Reality"
1951  | Danger |  | "Marley's Ghost", "Inherit Murder"
1951  | Lux Video Theatre | Leah  | "A Child Is Born"
1952  | Cameo Theatre |  | "Dark of the Moon"
1952  | Casey, Crime Photographer |  | "Blackmail"
1952  | The Adventures of Fu Manchu: The Zayat Kiss |  | TV film
1954  | The Motorola Television Hour | Anna  | "Nightmare in Algiers"
1954  | The Jack Benny Program | Woman in Commercial  | "The Jam Session Show", "San Diego Naval Training Center Show"
1955  | Ford Theatre | Mimi  | "Mimi"
1955  | Kraft Television Theatre |  | "Trucks Welcome"
1956  | Front Row Center | Anna Deasy  | "Deadlock"
1956  | Screen Directors Playhouse | Lotti  | "Affair in Sumatra"
1956  | Westinghouse Studio One | Rain  | "The Laughter of Giants"
1957  | The Steve Allen Show | Comedian  | "3.11"
1958  | DuPont Show of the Month |  | "The Bridge of San Luis Rey"
1958  | Armchair Theatre | Elsie  | "Time of Your Life"
1960  | The United States Steel Hour | Polly Chalmers  | "The Women of Hadley", "Revolt in Hadley"
1964  | Festival | Yelena  | "Uncle Vanya"
1964  | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Detta  | "The Mist of Silence"
1966  | The Jackie Gleason Show | Rosita  | "The Honeymooners: You're in the Picture"
1966  | Family Affair | Louise Marshall  | "Beware the Other Woman"
1968  | Hidden Faces | Mimi Jaffe  | TV series
1973  | McMillan & Wife | Pam Crane  | "The Devil You Say"
1974  | Mannix | Dr. Ernestine Waldo  | "Race Against Time: Parts 1 & 2"
1975  | Matt Helm |  | "Now I Lay Me Down to Die"
1976  | Harry O | Naomi Cline  | "Book of Changes"
1977  | Love of Life | Nita Ray  | TV series
1978  | Greatest Heroes of the Bible | Xantha  | "The Story of Noah: Parts 1 & 2"
1979  | The Rockford Files | Cynthia Zakarian  | "Guilt"
1981  | Tales of the Unexpected | Lisa Brisson  | "Completely Foolproof"
1983  | Romance Theatre | Mitzi  | "Love in the Present Tense: Parts 1-5"
1983  | Tucker's Witch | Beatrice  | "Formula for Revenge"
1983  | The Edge of Night | Dora Coburn  | TV series

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Judith Balaban Quine (1990). The Bridesmaids: Grace Kelly and Six Intimate Friends. Pocket Books. ISBN 9780671707705. Retrieved June 2, 2016 - via Internet Archive. "Rita Gam was born in Pittsburgh."
2. ^ "Person Details for Rita Mackay in household of Milton Mackay, "United States Census, 1930"". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
3. ^ "Person Details for Rita Gam in household of Benjamin J Gam, "United States Census, 1940"". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
4. ^ "Person Details for Milton A. Mackay, "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949"". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
5. ^ a b c d "Rita Gam, actress - obituary". The Telegraph. April 10, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
6. ^ "Rita Gam". Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
7. ^ "Berlinale 1962: Prize Winners". Berlinale.de. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
8. ^ "Wit & Wisdom - Off-Broadway | Tickets, Reviews, Info and More". Theatermania.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
9. ^ LIFE Magazine, May 5, 1952, p. 144
10. ^ Staff. "RITA GAM REMARRIED; Film Actress Is Wed Here to Thomas H. Guinzburg", The New York Times, March 24, 1956; accessed September 13, 2010.
11. ^ "Rita Gam Dead: Glamorous Actress Was 88". The Hollywood Reporter. March 22, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
12. ^ Gam, Rita (1986). Actress to Actress. N. Lyons. ISBN 0941130231.
13. ^ Gam, Rita (1988). Actors: A Celebration. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312017456.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rita Gam.

* Rita Gam at IMDb
* Rita Gam at the Internet Broadway Database
* Rita Gam at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
* Rita Gam at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection

* v
* t
* e

Silver Bear for Best Actress

1956–1975|

* Elsa Martinelli (1956)
* Yvonne Mitchell (1957)
* Anna Magnani (1958)
* Shirley MacLaine (1959)
* Juliette Mayniel (1960)
* Anna Karina (1961)
* Rita Gam / Viveca Lindfors (1962)
* Bibi Andersson (1963)
* Sachiko Hidari (1964)
* Madhur Jaffrey (1965)
* Lola Albright (1966)
* Edith Evans (1967)
* Stéphane Audran (1968)
* Shirley MacLaine / Simone Signoret (1971)
* Elizabeth Taylor (1972)
* Kinuyo Tanaka (1975)

1976–2000|

* Jadwiga Barańska (1976)
* Lily Tomlin (1977)
* Gena Rowlands (1978)
* Hanna Schygulla (1979)
* Renate Krößner (1980)
* Barbara Grabowska (1981)
* Katrin Sass (1982)
* Yevgeniya Glushenko (1983)
* Inna Churikova (1984)
* Jo Kennedy (1985)
* Marcélia Cartaxo / Charlotte Valandrey (1986)
* Ana Beatriz Nogueira (1987)
* Holly Hunter (1988)
* Isabelle Adjani (1989)
* Victoria Abril (1991)
* Maggie Cheung (1992)
* Michelle Pfeiffer (1993)
* Crissy Rock (1994)
* Josephine Siao (1995)
* Anouk Grinberg (1996)
* Juliette Binoche (1997)
* Fernanda Montenegro (1998)
* Juliane Köhler / Maria Schrader (1999)
* Bibiana Beglau / Nadja Uhl (2000)

2001–2020|

* Kerry Fox (2001)
* Halle Berry (2002)
* Nicole Kidman / Julianne Moore / Meryl Streep (2003)
* Catalina Sandino Moreno / Charlize Theron (2004)
* Julia Jentsch (2005)
* Sandra Hüller (2006)
* Nina Hoss (2007)
* Sally Hawkins (2008)
* Birgit Minichmayr (2009)
* Shinobu Terajima (2010)
* Sareh Bayat / Sarina Farhadi / Leila Hatami / Kimia Hosseini (2011)
* Rachel Mwanza (2012)
* Paulina García (2013)
* Haru Kuroki (2014)
* Charlotte Rampling (2015)
* Trine Dyrholm (2016)
* Kim Min-hee (2017)
* Ana Brun (2018)
* Yong Mei (2019)
* Paula Beer (2020)

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International|

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* Germany
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* IdRef
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*[div.]: divorced
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