Eileen Brennan

Eileen was born Verla Eileen Regina Brennan, to Regina Menehan and John Brennan. Eileen’s mother was said to be a silent movie actor and her father a doctor. She was born on September 3rd, 1932 in Los Angeles, California and grew up in California mostly. She was educated at Georgetown University in DC where she studied comedy in Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society, and later continued to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC.

She started her career waiting tables but also singing in restaurants like a singing waitress. But her talent was recognized soon enough and she got her first break in 1959 when she was picked up and asked to play the lead in the Off-Broadway project called Little Mary Sunshine. This role in the musical comedy fetched her an Obie Award for Best Actress. Eileen appeared on television in the 1960s in Maxwell Anderson’s adaptation play The Star Wagon (1966) with Dustin Hoffman He will play tricks in your mind as you watch his >> Read More... and was also seen in a play Rowan And Martin’s Laugh In. Her stint in the show All In The Family with Carol O’ Conner, Roscoe Lee Brownie and Hector Elizando, was pretty famous during her time.

Eileen’s debut on the big screen was on 1967 through the comic cinema Divorce American Style. She was then cast for Bogdanovich's movie The Last Picture Show in 1971. Bogdanovich also cast her in his three other movies in the following years. She was seen in the adaptation movie Daisy Miller in 1974, as a singing maid in a musical. A movie that focused on her talent was Long Lost Love in 1975 and her iconic role as a Madam brothel was in the award winning movie The Sting in 1973. Her acting was also liked in Jerry Schatzberg’s movie ‘Scarecrow’ in 1973. Eileen’s acting in musicals continued and she was seen in the original production of Hello (1964) and Dolly as Irene Molly. She worked along with Carol Channing on the play and earned appreciation from the audience.

Eileen was also seen in many television shows, of which some earned her Emmy nominations. She was guest starring in Thirty Something, Will And Grace, and ‘Taxi’. But she was taken as a regular cast member in some of the shows like A New Kind Of Family, 13 Queens Boulevard, ‘Blossom’ and the famous comedy show The All New Dennis The Menace show. Eileen also toured in her 60s, playing Ann Sullivan in the Miracle Worker which made her popular, and was also seen as Anna in The King And I. Eileen was mainly known for her soft sultry image playing supporting roles in her career.

But she did attempt to take up different kinds of characters. But after her work on television shows like Private Benjamin, where she played a sharp-tongued Army Captain Doreen Lewis during the 1980s, she got a major fan pooling. The audience also liked her in shows like ‘Clue’, where she plays Mrs. Peacock and a banister in The New Adventures Of Pippi Longstocking (1988). Eileen’s role in Private Benjamin earned her an Oscar nomination and she won an Emmy for the same in the television version.

The Irish-American actor hit bad luck when she met with an accident which took two years off of her career. The accident which took place in Venice Beach California left Eileen severely injured mostly on her legs and had metal inserted in her legs and her face was also distorted on one side. That was a weak moment for the actor who got addicted to painkillers. She was also battling alcoholism but getting over the painkiller addiction was hard for her.

Eileen resumed work in 1984 in ABC’s comedy Off The Rack. But due to her incomplete recovery, she was again hospitalized and returned after a couple of months. She is also said to have successfully come out of Breast Cancer in her life. Her comedy timing was well appreciated and it can be seen on Neil Simmons’ works: Murder By Death in 1976 and in The Cheap Detective in 1978. In 1990 she acted in White Palace as a fortune teller, a minor role in Jeepers Creepers movie in 2001 and in Sandra Bullock’s sequel Miss Congeniality 2.

Eileen often spoke about her addiction and tried to justify her actions. She was married to David Lampson and had two sons, Patrick and Sam. Though she did divorce her husband who was a Brit born poet and a photographer. She excelled at comedy, drama and also musicals in her time. She will always be remembered for her blue eyes and her unique husky voice and her sex appeal. She died on July 28, 2013, suffering from bladder cancer.