Joan Lorring

Actress Joan Lorring was born in Hong Kong in April 1926, as Madeline Ellis, known to friends and family as Dellie. (Some sources give her birth name as Mary Magdalene Ellis.) Lorring was of Russian-Anglo descent, and following the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1939, she and her mother fled to the United States. Lorring and her mother chose to make San Francisco their home, and shortly afterward, young Dellie Ellis began working in radio. After establishing herself in the non-visual medium, the actress made her first screen appearances at the tender age of 18 in the film "Song of Russia" (1944), for which the studio changed her name to Joan Lorring. Lorring appeared in the second film version of Thornton Wilder's best-selling novel "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" (1944). The following year, Lorring appeared opposite screen legend Bette Davis in the melodrama "The Corn Is Green." Her role as conniving Bessie Watty was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Following her nomination, Lorring was cast in a few Hollywood noir thrillers including "The Verdict" (1946) and "Three Strangers" (1946). During the 1950s and '60s, Lorring began working primarily on stage -- including an acclaimed lead role in the 1950 production "Come Back Little Sheba" -- and in televised plays. Her final big screen role came in the gritty Burt Lancaster-directed crime drama "The Midnight Man" (1974), followed by a year-long stint on the popular soap opera "Ryan's Hope" (ABC 1975-1989). Joan Lorring died on May 30, 2014 in the New York City suburb of Sleepy Hollow.