Eileen Brennan (born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen; September 3, 1932 – July 28, 2013) was an American actress.
She made her film debut in the satire Divorce American Style (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show (1971), which earned her a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
She gained further critical acclaim as Captain Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in TV adaptation, winning Primetime Emmy Award.
Brennan starred opposite Peter Falk in two Neil Simon-penned murder mystery spoofs: Murder by Death (1976) and The Cheap Detective (1978). She also appeared in the ensemble cast of the mystery-comedy Clue (1985).
She worked prolifically in TV, receiving Emmy nominations for her guest roles on Newhart, Thirtysomething, Taxi, and Will & Grace.
Occupational Inheritance
Verla Eileen Regina Brennen was born September 3, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, to Regina Menehan, a former silent film actress, and John Gerald Brennen, a doctor.
After graduating from high school in California, Brennan relocated to Washington, D.C., to attend Georgetown University, where she was a member of the Mask and Bauble Society.[6][7] She later relocated to New York City to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she was roommates with Rue McClanahan.[8
Brennan began her acting career while attending university, appearing in Georgetown’s stage productions of Arsenic and Old Lace.
Her exceptional comic skills and soprano voice propelled her from unknown to star in the title role of Rick Besoyan’s off-Broadway tongue-in-cheek musical/operetta Little Mary Sunshine (1959), earning Brennan an Obie Award, and its unofficial sequel The Student Gypsy (1963), on Broadway.
She played Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker at the 1961 Central City Opera Summer Festival in Central City, Colorado directed by Arthur Penn, who had just won Tony for his direction of the play on Broadway.
She created the role of Irene Molloy in the original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! (1964).
Brennan’s work in theatre attracted attention from TV producers. Carl Reiner, who was seeking an actress to play Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, flew her from NY to LA to audition for the part; however, the role was given to Mary Tyler Moore.
Her feature-film debut was in Divorce American Style (1967). She soon became one of the most recognizable supporting actresses in film and television. She usually played sympathetic characters, though she played a variety of other character types, including earthy, vulgar and sassy, but occasionally “with a heart of gold”. A year after her feature-film debut, she became a semi-regular on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, but stayed for only two months. Brennan also appeared in the Barnaby Jones episode titled “Blood Relations” (1975).
Brennan became a favorite of a number of directors, in particular Peter Bogdanovich. She appeared in Bogdanovich’s drama The Last Picture Show as Genevieve (1971), for which she received a BAFTA nomination for best supporting actress.
In 1972, Brennan appeared in an All in the Family episode, “The Elevator Story” (1972), as Angelique McCarthy, followed by a role as brothel madam Billie in George Roy Hill’s Academy Award-winning film The Sting (1973) as the confidante of con man Henry Gondorf (Paul Newman). In 1974, she reunited with director Bogdanovich, appearing in his adaptation of the Henry James novella Daisy Miller. Bogdanovich was the only director who made use of her musical talents (save for The Cheap Detective; and she sang in performances off Broadway) when he cast her as Cybill Shepherd’s crude, fun-loving maid in his musical flop At Long Last Love (1975) (which also starred Madeline Kahn; Brennan and Kahn worked together in two more films: The Cheap Detective and Clue).
Brennan worked with director Robert Moore and writer Neil Simon, appearing in Murder by Death as Tess Skeffington (1976) and also appearing in The Cheap Detective (1978). Both of these movies also starred James Coco, James Cromwell and Peter Falk. She had a starring role, playing the disc jockey Mother in the film FM (1978), a comedy-drama about life at a rock-music radio station.
In 1980, Brennan received Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination as Goldie Hawn’s nasty commanding officer in Private Benjamin. She reprised the role in the television adaptation (1981–1983), for which she won an Emmy (supporting actress) as well as a Golden Globe (lead actress). She had six Emmy nominations. Brennan received an Emmy nomination for her guest-star role in Taxi episode “Thy Boss’s Wife” (1981).
In 1985, Brennan portrayed the iconic Mrs. Peacock in the Paramount adaptation of Clue.
Brennan guest-starred on two Murder, She Wrote episodes, “Old Habits Die Hard” (1987) and “Dear Deadly” (1994), and in 1987, she also appeared in the Magnum, P.I. episode “The Love That Lies”.
In the 1990s, she appeared in Stella with Bette Midler, Bogdanovich’s Texasville (sequel to The Last Picture Show), and Reckless.
She had recurring role on sitcom Blossom as the neighbor-confidante of title character. She also appeared opposite Vincent D’Onofrio in a segment of Boys Life 2, an anthology film about gay men in America.
In 2001, she made brief appearance in the horror Jeepers Creepers, and the following year starred in the dark comedy Comic Book Villains, with DJ Qualls.
In recent years, Brennan had guest-starred in television, including recurring roles as the nosy Mrs. Bink on 7th Heaven and as gruff-acting coach Zandra on Will & Grace. In 2003, director Shawn Levy cast her in a cameo role of a babysitter to Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt’s children in an updated remake of Cheaper by the Dozen. Levy was inspired to cast Brennan after seeing Private Benjamin on TV. However, Brennan’s cameo was deleted from the actual cut of the movie. Nonetheless, she did receive credit for her role on the deleted scenes special feature of the film’s DVD. In 2004, she appeared in the horror film The Hollow as Joan Van Etten. That same year, Brennan was nominated for an Emmy for her performance as Zandra, Jack McFarland’s caustic drama teacher, on Will & Grace.
From 1968 to 1974, Brennan was married to British poet and photographer David John Lampson, with whom she had two sons: Patrick, a former basketball player turned actor, and Sam, a singer.
In 1982, Brennan was hit by passing car in Venice Beach while leaving restaurant with Goldie Hawn and suffered massive injuries. She took 2 years off work to recover and overcome subsequent addiction to painkillers. She also fell from the stage in 1989 during a production of Annie, breaking a leg.
The following year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, for which she was successfully treated.
Brennan died at her home in Burbank, California, on July 28, 2013, of bladder cancer. She was 80 years old.
Her Private Benjamin co-star Goldie Hawn said she was a “brilliant comedian, a powerful dramatic actress and had the voice of angel.”
