Joanne Woodward Biography

Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward was born on 27 February 1930 in Thomasville, Georgia, to mother Eleanor and father Wade, who was vice-president of publisher Charles Scribner's Sons. Her middle name Gignilliat is of Huguenot descent and her first name is the southern pronunciation of Joan, as her mother loved Joan Crawford.

She decided to pursue an acting career due to her mother's love of films and at the age of nine, she was taken to the premiere of 'Gone with the Wind'. She rushed into the crowd and sat on Laurence Olivier's lap, the partner of star Vivien Leigh. Joanne later worked with Olivier in the TV production of 'Come Back, Little Sheba' in 1977 and he remembered her doing this.

A beauty at school, she majored in drama at Louisiana State University, then headed to New York City to perform on the stage, where her first instruction was to lose her southern accent.

As an understudy on Broadway in 1952, she met Newman, a bright young prospect, and they soon fell in love. They married in 1958. The couple were married for 50 years, an iconic amount of time for two Hollywood stars, and had three daughters – Elinor Teresa, known as Nell Potts, who was born in 1959, Melissa who was born in 1961 and Claire 'Clea' born in 1965.

Woodward's first film was 'Count Three and Pray', in 1955. Her next film role, in 'The Three Faces of Eve', earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. She and Newman also starred together that year, in 'The Long Hot Summer', the first of many collaborations.

The couple also starred in 'Rally 'Round the Flag Boys!' (1958), 'From the Terrace' (1960), 'Paris Blues' (1961) 'A New Kind of Love' (1963), 'Winning' (1969), 'WUSA' (1970), 'The Drowning Pool' (1975), 'Harry & Son' (1984) and 'Mr and Mrs Bridge' in 1990 together.

Newman also directed Woodward in 'Rachel, Rachel' (1968), 'They Might Be Giants' (1971), 'The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds' (1972), 'The Shadow Box' (1980) and 'The Glass Menagerie' in 1987.

In recent years, she has directed or starred in stage plays. In 1990, she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College alongside her daughter, Clea, and is the current Artistic Director at the Westport Country Playhouse.

She helped Paul with Newman's Own, his range of food products, as well as the Hole in The Wall Gang Camp, which is for kids with terminal or serious illnesses. Newman died from cancer on 26 September 2008. She lives in Westport, Connecticut.