Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes
Estelle Parsons

Estelle Parsons

Highest Rated: 100% I Never Sang for My Father (1970)

Lowest Rated: 13% That Darn Cat (1997)

Birthday: Nov 20, 1927

Birthplace: Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA

The first female political reporter on network TV during her five-year stint with "The Today Show" (NBC) in the early 1950s, Estelle Parsons made her Broadway debut as a reporter in the Ethel Merman musical "Happy Hunting" (1956) and later won a Theatre World Award in the title role of "Mrs. Dally Takes a Lover" (1962). Although she had acted in the feature "Ladybug, Ladybug" (1963), it was her second film (and first Hollywood movie) role as the shrewish Blanche Barrow in Arthur Penn's landmark "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) that established her credentials as a wonderful screen character actress. Hysterical with bullets whizzing by and grief-stricken after the shoot-out that blinded her in one eye and left her husband Buck (Gene Hackman) dead, she unwittingly provided law enforcement with the info that would lead to the demise of Bonnie (Faye Dunaway) and Clyde (Warren Beatty). Her tour de force performance earned that year's Best Supporting Actress Oscar, and her next outing as Joanne Woodward's schoolteacher colleague in Paul Newman's directing debut, "Rachel, Rachel" (1968), garnered another Academy Award nomination in the category.

Highest rated movies

100% I Never Sang for My Father
93% Diane
92% Rachel, Rachel
90% Bonnie and Clyde
88% Watermelon Man
83% Looking for Richard
80% Wilde Salomé
73% Boys on the Side

Photos

BONNIE AND CLYDE, Estelle Parsons, 1967 I WALK THE LINE, Estelle Parsons, 1970 WATERMELON MAN, Estelle Parsons, Melvin Van Peebles, Godfrey Cambridge, 1970 WATERMELON MAN, Estelle Parsons, Scott Garrett, Erin Moran, Godfrey Cambridge, 1970 WATERMELON MAN, Estelle Parsons, Godfrey Cambridge, 1970 BONNIE AND CLYDE, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, 1967 BONNIE AND CLYDE, Warren Beatty, Michael J. Pollard, Faye Dunaway, Estelle Parsons, Gene Hackman, 1967 WATERMELON MAN, from left: Estelle Parsons, Godfrey Cambridge, 1970 WATERMELON MAN, Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, 1970 I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, 1970 BONNIE AND CLYDE, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, 1967 WATERMELON MAN, Estelle Parsons, Godfrey Cambridge, 1970 WATERMELON MAN, Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, 1970 BONNIE AND CLYDE, Faye Dunaway, Estelle Parsons, Gene Hackman, Michael J. Pollard, Warren Beatty, 1967 I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, Melvyn Douglas, Estelle Parsons, Gene Hackman, 1970 I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, Estelle Parsons, Gene Hackman, 1970 WATERMELON MAN, Estelle Parsons, Godfrey Cambridge, 1970 BONNIE AND CLYDE, Estelle Parsons, Gene Hackman, 1967 WATERMELON MAN, from left: Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, 1970 WATERMELON MAN, from left: Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Erin Moran, Scott Garrett, 1970
See all photos

Filmography

Movies

Credit
93% 69% Diane Mary (Character) $339.4K 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet She's the Best Thing In It Self - 2015
80% 56% Wilde Salomé Unknown (Character) - 2011
No Score Yet 46% Strip Search Roberta Gray (Character) - 2004
No Score Yet 74% Freak City Mrs. Stanapolous (Character) - 1999
No Score Yet 78% The Love Letter Beatrice Corrigan (Character) - 1998
13% 23% That Darn Cat Old Lady McCracken, Rucluse Widow (Character) $18.3M 1997
83% 79% Looking for Richard Queen Margaret/Herself (Character) $1.4M 1996
73% 68% Boys on the Side Louise (Character) $22.2M 1995
No Score Yet 44% A Private Matter Mary Chessen (Character) - 1992
No Score Yet No Score Yet Open Admissions Clare Block (Character) - 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Come Along With Me Mabel Lederer/Angela Motorman (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Gentleman Bandit Marjorie Seebode (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet No Score Yet Foreplay 1st Lady/Barmaid (Character) - 1975
No Score Yet 53% The UFO Incident Betty Hill (Character) - 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Gun and the Pulpit Sadie Underwood (Character) - 1974
50% 53% For Pete's Sake Helen Robbins (Character) - 1974
No Score Yet No Score Yet Two People Barbara Newman (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Terror on the Beach Arlene Glynn (Character) - 1973
100% 83% I Never Sang for My Father Alice (Character) - 1970
No Score Yet 69% I Walk the Line Ellen Haney (Character) - 1970
88% 70% Watermelon Man Althea Gerber (Character) - 1970
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Front Page Mollie Malloy (Character) - 1970
No Score Yet 37% Don't Drink the Water Marion Hollander (Character) - 1969
92% 77% Rachel, Rachel Calla Mackie (Character) - 1968
90% 88% Bonnie and Clyde Blanche (Character) - 1967
No Score Yet 88% Ladybug, Ladybug JoAnn's Mother (Character) - 1963

TV

Credit
93% 50% The Conners Bev (Guest Star) 2018-2021
76% 78% Roseanne Future Roseanne (Guest Star) 1989-1997 2018
90% 87% Grace and Frankie Babe (Guest Star) 2016
93% 91% The Good Wife Nana Joe (Guest Star) 2013
No Score Yet No Score Yet Empire Falls Bea (Character) 2005
95% 94% Frasier Celeste's Mother (Guest Voice),
Opal (Guest Star) 		2004
78% 82% Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Rose Rinato (Guest Star) 2002
No Score Yet No Score Yet Touched by an Angel Unknown (Guest Star) 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet Inside the Actors Studio Guest 1994
66% No Score Yet Archie Bunker's Place Unknown (Guest Star) 1979
No Score Yet 88% All in the Family Unknown (Guest Star) 1976 1978
No Score Yet No Score Yet What's My Line? Unknown (Character),
Guest 		1969 1973-1974