Zoe Caldwell Biography (1933-)

Original name, Ada Caldwell; born September 14, 1933, in Hawthorn, Victoria,Australia; daughter of A. E. (a plumber) and Zoe (a singer and dancer) Caldwell; married Robert Whitehead (a producer), May 9, 1968 (died June 15, 2002);children: William "Sam" Edgar, Charlie. Addresses: Contact: c/o Whitehead-Stevens, 1501 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.

Nationality
Australian
Gender
Female
Occupation
Actress, director
Birth Details
September 14, 1933
Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia

Famous Works

  • CREDITS
  • Stage Appearances
  • Title role, Major Barbara, Union Theatre Repertory Company, Melbourne, Australia, 1953
  • Bubba, The Seventeenth Doll, Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Sydney, Australia, 1954
  • Ophelia, Hamlet, Elizabethan Theatre Trust, 1954
  • Twelfth Night, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1958
  • Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1958
  • Daughter of Antiochus, Pericles, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1958
  • Margaret, Much Ado about Nothing, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1958
  • Bianca, Othello, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1959
  • Cordelia, King Lear, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1959
  • Helena, All's Well That Ends Well, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1959
  • A fairy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, 1959
  • (London debut) Whore, "Cob and Leach," in Trials by Logue (double-bill), Royal Court Theatre, London, 1960
  • Ismene, Antigone, Royal Court Theatre, 1960
  • Isabella, The Changeling, Royal Court Theatre, 1961
  • Jacqueline, Jacques, Royal Court Theatre, 1961
  • Rosaline, Love's Labour's Lost, Stratford Shakespeare Festival ofCanada, Stratford, Ontario, 1961
  • Sonja Downfahl, The Canvas Barricade, Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada, 1961
  • Pegeen Mike, The Playboy of the Western World, Manitoba Theatre Center, Winnipeg, Canada, 1961
  • Title role, Saint Joan, Adelaide Festival of the Arts, Adelaide, Australia, 1962
  • Ham Funeral, Elizabethan Theatre Trust, 1962
  • Nola Boyle, The Season at Sarsaparilla, Union Theatre Repertory Company, Union Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, 1962
  • Frosine, The Miser, Minnesota Theatre Company, Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, 1963
  • Natalia, The Three Sisters, Minnesota Theatre Company, Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, 1963
  • Woman, Death of a Salesman, Minnesota Theatre Company, Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, 1963
  • Elizabeth Von Ritter, A Far Country, Crest Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1964
  • Title role, Mother Courage, Manitoba Theatre Center, 1964
  • Countess Aurelia, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Goodman Memorial Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1964
  • Millamant, The Way of the World, Minnesota Theatre Company, TyroneGuthrie Theatre, 1965
  • Grusha Vashnadze, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Minnesota Theatre Company, Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, 1965
  • Frosine, The Miser, Minnesota Theatre Company, Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, 1965
  • (Broadway debut) Sister Jean, The Devils, Broadway Theatre, 1966
  • Polly, "The Gnadiges Fraulein," in Slapstick Tragedy (double-bill), Longacre Theatre, New York City, 1966
  • Orinthia, The Apple Cart, Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, 1966
  • Lena Szczepanowska, Misalliance, Shaw Festival, 1966
  • Lady Anne, Richard III, Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada,1967
  • Mrs. Page, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada, 1967
  • Cleopatra, Antony and Cleopatra, Stratford Shakespeare Festival ofCanada, 1967
  • Title role, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Helen Hayes Theatre, 1968
  • Title role, Colette, Ellen Stewart Theatre, New York City, 1970
  • Emma, Lady Hamilton, A Bequest to the Nation, Haymarket Theatre, London, 1970
  • Eve, The Creation of the World and Other Business, Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1972
  • Love and Master Will, Opera House, John F. Kennedy Center for thePerforming Arts, Washington, DC, 1973
  • Alice, Dance of Death, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1974
  • Mary Cavan Tyrone, Long Day's Journey into Night, Eisenhower Theatre, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 1975, then Brooklyn Academy of Music/Opera House, New York City, 1976
  • The Neighborhood Playhouse at 50: A Celebration, Shubert Theatre,1978
  • Title role, Medea, Cort Theatre, New York City, 1982, then Clarence Brown Company, Knoxville, TN, 1982
  • Title role, Lillian (solo show), Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New YorkCity, 1986
  • Katharine Brynne, A Perfect Ganesh, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City, 1993
  • Maria Callas, Master Class, John Golden Theatre, New York City, 1995
  • Come A-Waltzing With Me, Boston University Theatre, Boston, MA, 1997
  • The Play What I Wrote, Lyceum Theatre, New York City, 2003
  • Made stage debut at age nine as Slightly Soiled, Peter Pan, Melbourne; also appeared as Maria Callas, Master Class, Philadelphia TheatreCompany and Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles.
  • Major Tours
  • Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Romeo and Juliet, U.S.S.R. cities, 1958-1959
  • Also toured with her solo show.
  • Stage Work
  • Director, An Almost Perfect Person, Belasco Theatre, New York City, 1977
  • Director, Richard II, Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada, Stratford, Ontario, 1979
  • Director, These Men, Harold Clurman Theatre, New York City, 1980
  • Director, Othello, Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, 1981
  • Director, The Taming of the Shrew, American Shakespeare Theatre, 1985
  • Director, Hamlet, American Shakespeare Theatre, 1985
  • Director, Macbeth, Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York City, 1988
  • Producer and director, A Christmas Carol, Hudson Theatre, New YorkCity, 1990
  • Director, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, American National TheatreAcademy, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1991
  • Director, Vita and Virginia, New York City, 1995
  • Film Appearances
  • Countess, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Orion, 1985
  • Voice of Grand Councilwoman of the United Galactic Federation, Lilo & Stitch (animated), Buena Vista, 2002
  • Voice, Stitch! The Movie (animated), Buena Vista Home Video, 2003
  • Television Appearances
  • Movies
  • Sarah Bernhardt (title role), "Sarah," Great Performances, PBS, 1977
  • Mrs. Kennedy, Lantern Hill (also known as Jane of Lantern Hill), The Disney Channel, 1990
  • Specials
  • Witness to Yesterday, 1974
  • The 36th Annual Tony Awards, 1982
  • Title role, Medea, 1983
  • Carlotta Monterey O'Neill, Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts (alsoknown as American Masters: Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts), 1985
  • The 43rd Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 1989
  • The 50th Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 1996
  • Also appeared in The Seagull; The Apple Cart; Macbeth; The Lady's Not for Burning.
  • Episodic
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, 1970
  • Margaret Lloyd, "Old Lady Lloyd" (also known as "Song in the Night"), Road to Avonlea, The Disney Channel, 1990
  • Voice of Grand Councilwoman, "Lilo & Stitch," Stitch! The TV Series, 2002
  • Radio Appearances
  • Appeared as Arkadina, The Seagull, BBC; Sarah Bernhardt, Sarah, CBC.
  • WRITINGS
  • Autobiography
  • I Will Be Cleopatra: An Actress's Journey, 2002

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

    Books
    • International Dictionary of Theatre, Volume 3: Actors, Directors, and Designers, St. James Press, 1996
    Periodicals
    • New York, September 11, 1995, p. 64; May 13, 1996, p. 48
    • Opera News, September, 1997, p. 28
    • Publishers Weekly, August 20, 2001, p. 67
    • TheaterMania, June 2, 2000; December 31, 2001
    • Variety, January 21, 2002, p. 45