A tribute to Patricia Neal: 1926-2010

SURVIVOR: It is hard to believe that Patricia Neal died yesterday at the age of 84.

The Oscar winning actress had simply been indomitable throughout her life – especially after suffering a stroke at the height of her career and being forced to walk and talk all over again.

In her extraordinary career, she starred in many classics including 1963’s Hud opposite Paul Newman, a role that won her the Academy Award for best actress.

One of her first films was 1949’s The Fountainhead opposite Gary Cooper with whom she an affair. She went on to star in The Hasty Heart, Bright Leaf, The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Face in the Crowd and in Breakfast at Tiffanys as George Peppard’s sugar mama.

It was shortly after winning the Oscar that Miss Neal, then pregnant with her fifth child British author Roald Dahl suffered a severe stroke. But she was able to come back and by 1968, earned another Oscar nod for the drama The Subject Was Roses.

She continued to act steadily throughout the next four decades in films (An Unremarkable Life, Cookie’s Fortune) and television (Homecoming: A Christmas Story, The Bastard). Her final screen role was in last year’s TV movie Flying By.

Miss Neal, with her signature throaty voice, appeared with Dahl in a series of Maxwell House coffee commercials in the 70s. Remember the line: “My husband, is a very demanding man.”

It turns out the husband was also a very unfaithful man. Their 30-year marriage ended in divorce in 1983 after Miss Neal learned of Dahl’s affair with her friend, Felicity Crosland. Their marriage, and Dahl’s role in her recovery from a stroke, had been the focus of the 1981 television movie The Patricia Neal Story with Glenda Jackson in the title role.

In 1988, Miss Neal published her autobiography titled As I Am. I devoured it back then and remember it as a very juicy read.

Rest in peace, Patricia Neal.