Joan Caulfield
Encyclopedia
Joan Caulfield was an American
actress and former fashion model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures
.
, she moved to West Orange
during childhood but continued attending Miss Beard's School
in Orange, New Jersey
. During her teenage years, the family moved to New York City where Joan eventually attended Columbia University
.
One of her most memorable roles was when she was lent out to Warner Bros.
to appear in The Unsuspected
(1947) alongside Claude Rains
and Audrey Totter
. Later in life she appeared mostly on television, appearing on programs such as Cheyenne
, Baretta
, and Murder, She Wrote
, with Angela Lansbury
. In the 1957-1958 season, Caulfield starred in her own short-lived NBC
situation comedy
, Sally
in the role of a traveling companion to an elderly widow, played by Marion Lorne
. At midseason, Gale Gordon
and Arte Johnson
joined the cast.
An urban legend states that Caulfield's film Dear Ruth (1947) inspired author J.D. Salinger to name the protagonist of his novel The Catcher in the Rye
(1951) "Holden Caulfield
" after seeing a movie theater marquee with the film's stars: Caulfield and William Holden
. However, Holden Caulfield was mentioned in Salinger's short story "Last Day of the Last Furlough
" in the July 15, 1944 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, three years before Dear Ruth . The earliest known use of the Caulfield name, including a mention of Holden, is in the unpublished 1942 story "The Last and Best of the Peter Pans." A more common version of the legend claims that Salinger was taken by Joan Caulfield upon first seeing her in a modeling photo or a publicity still or an acting performance. Since Joan was a leading model by 1941 and her acting career began in 1942 with an appearance in the short-lived Broadway musical Beat the Band , this version of the legend makes his using her surname for his character at least possible.
In 1950, she married the film producer Frank Ross, with whom she had a son Caulfield Kevin Ross. She and Ross were divorced in 1960. She later married Robert Peterson, a dentist, with whom she had her second son John Caulfield Peterson. Her second marriage ended in divorce as well.
She died, aged 69, from cancer
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
in Los Angeles
, and had lived in Beverly Hills, California
.
At the time of her death, she had one grandchild. She died within 24 hours of actress Jean Arthur
, the first wife of her husband Frank Ross, Jr. Arthur had been married to Ross in 1932, and they divorced in 1949.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and former fashion model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
Life and career
Born while her family resided in East Orange, New JerseyEast Orange, New Jersey
East Orange is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the city's population 64,270, making it the state's 20th largest municipality, having dropped 5,554 residents from its population of 69,824 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 14th most...
, she moved to West Orange
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a township in central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 46,207...
during childhood but continued attending Miss Beard's School
Morristown-Beard School
Morristown-Beard School is a coeducational college-preparatory day school, serving students in sixth through twelfth grade, located in Morristown, in Morris County, New Jersey. Morristown-Beard School is the product of the 1971 merger of two institutions, Miss Beard's School for girls, founded in...
in Orange, New Jersey
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a city and township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 30,134...
. During her teenage years, the family moved to New York City where Joan eventually attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
One of her most memorable roles was when she was lent out to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
to appear in The Unsuspected
The Unsuspected
The Unsuspected is a film noir starring Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, and Joan Caulfield. The black-and-white film was directed by Michael Curtiz, based on the novel written by Charlotte Armstrong, and released by Warner Brothers.- Plot :...
(1947) alongside Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
and Audrey Totter
Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter is an American actress and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract star of Austrian-Slovene and Swedish descent...
. Later in life she appeared mostly on television, appearing on programs such as Cheyenne
Cheyenne (TV series)
Cheyenne is a western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1963. The show was the first hour-long western, and in fact the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season...
, Baretta
Baretta
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...
, and Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, with Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
. In the 1957-1958 season, Caulfield starred in her own short-lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, Sally
Sally (1957 TV series)
Sally is an American situation comedy which aired on NBC from September 15, 1957 to March 30, 1958. The series is the first filmed television series produced by Paramount Studios.-Synopsis:...
in the role of a traveling companion to an elderly widow, played by Marion Lorne
Marion Lorne
Marion Lorne MacDougall was an American actress. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne made her first film in 1951, and for the remainder of her life, played small roles in films and television...
. At midseason, Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show...
and Arte Johnson
Arte Johnson
Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson is an American comic actor. Johnson was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered "character" was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase: "Verrrry interesting, but...['stupid', 'not very funny', and other variations]".-Early life:Johnson...
joined the cast.
An urban legend states that Caulfield's film Dear Ruth (1947) inspired author J.D. Salinger to name the protagonist of his novel The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
(1951) "Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield is the 16-to-17 years old protagonist of author J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. He is universally recognized for his resistance to growing older and desire to protect childhood innocence...
" after seeing a movie theater marquee with the film's stars: Caulfield and William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
. However, Holden Caulfield was mentioned in Salinger's short story "Last Day of the Last Furlough
Last Day of the Last Furlough
"Last Day of the Last Furlough" is a short story written by American writer J. D. Salinger in 1944 and published in the Saturday Evening Post...
" in the July 15, 1944 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, three years before Dear Ruth . The earliest known use of the Caulfield name, including a mention of Holden, is in the unpublished 1942 story "The Last and Best of the Peter Pans." A more common version of the legend claims that Salinger was taken by Joan Caulfield upon first seeing her in a modeling photo or a publicity still or an acting performance. Since Joan was a leading model by 1941 and her acting career began in 1942 with an appearance in the short-lived Broadway musical Beat the Band , this version of the legend makes his using her surname for his character at least possible.
In 1950, she married the film producer Frank Ross, with whom she had a son Caulfield Kevin Ross. She and Ross were divorced in 1960. She later married Robert Peterson, a dentist, with whom she had her second son John Caulfield Peterson. Her second marriage ended in divorce as well.
She died, aged 69, from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Originally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and had lived in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
.
At the time of her death, she had one grandchild. She died within 24 hours of actress Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...
, the first wife of her husband Frank Ross, Jr. Arthur had been married to Ross in 1932, and they divorced in 1949.