Barbara Bel Geddes

Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American actress, artist and children's author. She is best known for her role in the television drama series Dallas as matriarch Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Ewing. Bel Geddes also starred in the original Broadway production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in the role of Maggie, and also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). She was the recipient of several awards and award nominations for her thespian performances.

Bel Geddes retired from Dallas (and acting) in 1990 and settled in her home in Northeast Harbor, Maine, where she continued to work as a fine artist. She was the author of two children's books and the creator of a line of greeting cards. She was twice married, and the mother of two daughters.

Personal life

Bel Geddes was born in New York City, the daughter of Helen Belle (née Schneider) and stage and industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes. She married theatrical manager Carl Sawyer (aka Carl Schreuer) in 1944; they had one daughter, Susan. They divorced in 1951. Later that year, she married stage director Windsor Lewis with whom she had a daughter, Betsy. When Lewis became ill in 1967, Bel Geddes suspended her career to care for him until his death in 1972.

1940s,1950s, and 1960s

Bel Geddes began her career as a stage actress at the age of eighteen, starring in fifteen major Broadway productions. Her most notable stage performances included the role of Maggie "The...
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