Sunrise at Campobello (play)
Encyclopedia
Sunrise at Campobello is a 1958 play by American
producer and writer Dore Schary
based on U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's struggle with polio. The film version
was released in 1960.
production was presented at the Cort Theatre
by The Theatre Guild
and Dore Schary and directed by Vincent J. Donehue
. It opened on January 30, 1958 and closed on May 30, 1959 running for 556 performances. It starred Ralph Bellamy
as Roosevelt. Bellamy won a Tony Award
for Best Actor
. Others in the cast included Henry Jones
as Louis McHenry Howe
; Mary Fickett
as Eleanor Roosevelt
; Anne Seymour
as Sara Delano Roosevelt and, in his Broadway debut, James Earl Jones
.
The production won three other Tonys including Best Play
(producers were Lawrence Langner
, Theresa Helburn
, Armina Marshall and Dore Schary
), Best Director of a Play
(Vincent J. Donehue) and Henry Jones
won for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.. Mary Fickett was nominated for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play.
Campobello Island was Roosevelt's summer home in New Brunswick
, Canada
. Most of the play's actions take place there, where we see Roosevelt struggle to overcome the paralyzation of his legs. The play ends with the 1924 Democratic National Convention
speech, which catapulted him back into politics after an absence of several years.
, in 1960, starred Bellamy again with Greer Garson
as Eleanor and Hume Cronyn
as Louis Howe. The film also starred Jean Hagen
, Tim Considine
and Lyle Talbot
. Ann Shoemaker who played FDR's mother, also played that role on Broadway after the original actress left the show.
Schary, who began his career in Hollywood, wrote and produced the film which, like the stage version, was directed by Vincent J. Donehue.
Despite it being perhaps Bellamy's most famous role, it was Greer Garson who received the critical attention. She won the Golden Globe and National Board of Review Award
for Best Actress. The film received four Academy Award nominations: Best Actress (Garson), Art Direction, Sound and Costume Design.
In 2005, HBO premiered an original made-for-television film called Warm Springs
, which was also based on FDR's struggle to overcome polio. It too, had a splashy ending at the 1924 convention, but was otherwise almost completely different from Sunrise at Campobello, which had omitted the entire Warm Springs portion of FDR's life. It starred Kenneth Branagh
as FDR and Cynthia Nixon
as Eleanor. The film won several Emmy Award
s, including one for Best Made-for-Television Film.
Nominations
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
producer and writer Dore Schary
Dore Schary
Isadore "Dore" Schary was an American motion picture director, writer, and producer, and playwright who became head of production at MGM and eventually president of the studio...
based on U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's struggle with polio. The film version
Sunrise at Campobello
Sunrise at Campobello is a 1960 American biographical film made by Dore Schary Productions and Warner Bros. It tells the story of the initial struggle by future President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family when he was stricken with paralysis at the age of 39 in August...
was released in 1960.
Background
The original BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production was presented at the Cort Theatre
Cort Theatre
The Cort Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in the Theatre District of midtown Manhattan in New York City...
by The Theatre Guild
Theatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.Its original purpose was to...
and Dore Schary and directed by Vincent J. Donehue
Vincent J. Donehue
Vincent Julian Donehue was an American director noted mainly for his theatre work, with occasional film and television credits....
. It opened on January 30, 1958 and closed on May 30, 1959 running for 556 performances. It starred Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy was an American actor whose career spanned sixty-two years.-Early life:He was born Ralph Rexford Bellamy in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lilla Louise , a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy. He ran away from home when he was fifteen and managed to get into a road show...
as Roosevelt. Bellamy won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Actor
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play presented since 1947, is awarded to actors in productions of new or revival plays.-1940s:*1947 - José Ferrer – Cyrano de Bergerac / Fredric March – Years Ago...
. Others in the cast included Henry Jones
Henry Jones (actor)
Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...
as Louis McHenry Howe
Louis McHenry Howe
Louis McHenry Howe was an intimate friend and close political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He, along with Eleanor Roosevelt and Margurite "Missy" LeHand, was one of the few close associates who supported FDR throughout the most difficult stages of his personal and political...
; Mary Fickett
Mary Fickett
Mary Fickett was an American actress, best-known for her roles in the American television dramas, The Edge of Night — as Sally Smith , and as Dr...
as Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
; Anne Seymour
Anne Seymour
Anne Seymour may refer to:* Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, née Stanhope, wife of the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and aunt of Edward VI of England...
as Sara Delano Roosevelt and, in his Broadway debut, James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
.
The production won three other Tonys including Best Play
Tony Award for Best Play
The Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
(producers were Lawrence Langner
Lawrence Langner
Lawrence Langner the Great was a playwright, author, and producer.Born near Swansea, South Wales and working most of his life in the United States, he started his career as one of the founders of the Washington Square Players troupe in 1914.In 1919 he founded the Theatre Guild, where he supervised...
, Theresa Helburn
Theresa Helburn
Theresa Helburn was an important figure in 20th century American theater and a Bryn Mawr College alumna, best known for her work with New York's Theatre Guild....
, Armina Marshall and Dore Schary
Dore Schary
Isadore "Dore" Schary was an American motion picture director, writer, and producer, and playwright who became head of production at MGM and eventually president of the studio...
), Best Director of a Play
Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play
The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: Dramatic and Musical. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play...
(Vincent J. Donehue) and Henry Jones
Henry Jones (actor)
Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...
won for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.. Mary Fickett was nominated for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play.
Campobello Island was Roosevelt's summer home in New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Most of the play's actions take place there, where we see Roosevelt struggle to overcome the paralyzation of his legs. The play ends with the 1924 Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
speech, which catapulted him back into politics after an absence of several years.
Film adaptations
The film version, released by 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,...
, in 1960, starred Bellamy again with Greer Garson
Greer Garson
Greer Garson, CBE was a British-born actress who was very popular during World War II, being listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top ten box office draws in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award...
as Eleanor and Hume Cronyn
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn, OC was a Canadian actor of stage and screen, who enjoyed a long career, often appearing professionally alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.-Early life:...
as Louis Howe. The film also starred Jean Hagen
Jean Hagen
-Early life:Hagen was born as Jean Shirley Verhagen in Chicago, Illinois, to Christian Verhagen , a Dutch immigrant, and his Chicago-born wife, Marie. The family moved to Elkhart, Indiana when she was 12 and she subsequently graduated from Elkhart High School...
, Tim Considine
Tim Considine
Timothy Daniel "Tim" Considine is a former American child actor and young adult actor who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
and Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot , born Lisle Henderson, was an American actor on stage and screen, best known for his long career in movies from 1931 to 1960 and for his frequent appearances on TV in the 1950s and '60s, including his decade-long role as Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and...
. Ann Shoemaker who played FDR's mother, also played that role on Broadway after the original actress left the show.
Schary, who began his career in Hollywood, wrote and produced the film which, like the stage version, was directed by Vincent J. Donehue.
Despite it being perhaps Bellamy's most famous role, it was Greer Garson who received the critical attention. She won the Golden Globe and National Board of Review Award
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...
for Best Actress. The film received four Academy Award nominations: Best Actress (Garson), Art Direction, Sound and Costume Design.
In 2005, HBO premiered an original made-for-television film called Warm Springs
Warm Springs (film)
Warm Springs is a 2005 television film about American President Franklin D. Roosevelt's struggle with polio, his discovery of the Warm Springs, Georgia spa resort and his work to turn it into a center for the aid of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career...
, which was also based on FDR's struggle to overcome polio. It too, had a splashy ending at the 1924 convention, but was otherwise almost completely different from Sunrise at Campobello, which had omitted the entire Warm Springs portion of FDR's life. It starred Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
as FDR and Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
as Eleanor. The film won several Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s, including one for Best Made-for-Television Film.
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1958 Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Play - 1958 Tony Award for Best Actor in Play - Ralph Bellamy
- 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play - Henry Jones
- 1958 Tony Award for Best Director - Vincent J. Donehue
Nominations
- 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play - Mary Fickett