Patricia Neal- an Unquiet Life by Stephen Michael Shearer

Author:Stephen Michael Shearer [Shearer, Stephen Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780813123912
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2006-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

20

Stardom

Twelve years ago, Pat Neal left Hollywood with both her professional and personal life a shambles. Today, she’s married to a brilliant writer, her career is at its pinnacle, and once again she is able to say: “I’m a happy woman.”

—John Keating, “The Second Life of Patricia Neal,”

Cosmopolitan, May 1964

Hud seemed a sure bet to capture a share of the 1964 Academy Awards, and Patricia was considered a favorite for the Best Actress Oscar. After all, she had already received numerous pre-Oscar accolades, including Best Actress awards from the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle, Best Supporting Actress from the Cleveland Critics Circle, and Best Foreign Actress from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

There had been some speculation about whether Patricia would be nominated as Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recognizing the dramatic importance of her role in Hud, placed her in the more prestigious Best Actress category, along with Rachel Roberts for This Sporting Life, Natalie Wood for Love with the Proper Stranger, Leslie Caron for The L-Shaped Room, and Shirley MacLaine for Irma La Douce.

Hud was passed over in the Best Picture category, but it received six nominations other than Patricia’s: Best Actor (Paul Newman), Best Supporting Actor (Melvyn Douglas), Best Director (Martin Ritt), Best Cinematography for Black and White (James Wong Howe), Best Art Direction for Black and White (Hal Pereira and Tambi Larsen), and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr.).

Patricia, awaiting the birth of her fourth child in England, would not be able to attend the April 13 Academy Award ceremony in Hollywood. Hedda Hopper wrote in a column published March 11, “Pat Neal writes me from her home in Buckinghamshire, England: ‘I have been basking in glory! Glory that I never dared hope since “Hud” was released. I knew it was a lovely part in a splendid film but never dreamed of any further honor than the joy of doing it. Thank you for your part in my success of the moment.’”1 Not to be outdone, Louella Parsons reported March 18 that Patricia “sounded great when we talked via phone between Beverly Hills and London. I told Pat she may well be an Oscar winner as well as a new mother by June. ‘I hope so,’ she said, adding, ‘It would make me very happy.’”2

Facing page: Patricia Neal, 1963. From the Patricia Neal Collection.

When Gregory Peck stepped up to the podium at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to announce the Best Actress winner, Hud had already received two Oscars, for Douglas and Howe. When he read Patricia’s name, Annabella Power rushed to the stage to accepted the Oscar on Patricia’s behalf. “I chose Annabella Power to accept my award for me because she is so lively,” Patricia told the press.3 Hedda Hopper said Annabella “seemed jet-propelled when she raced to the stage to receive Pat Neal’s Oscar.”4

Patricia got the news in a 5:00 A.

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