This lovely, gentle-voiced lady resides near the very top of my favorite actress list---at #4! I completely love Miss Parker and am definitely on a quest to see as much of her filmography as I can. She was a terrific actress, receiving a Best Actress Academy Award nomination three times. (I go on record as saying that I think she ought to have won in 1950, for her performance in Caged. Though I adore Judy Holliday [who did win], Bette Davis [who was also nominated], and Sunset Boulevard [for which Gloria Swanson was nominated], I definitely feel that Miss Parker's performance was the most brilliant of them all and ought to have garnered her the Oscar.)
It was my search for Robert Taylor films which brought this delightful lady to my attention. The two of them made three movies together (Above and Beyond, Valley of the Kings, and Many Rivers to Cross), and when I watched Above and Beyond for the first time, I was surprised to see a name I recognized from The Sound of Music. I had no idea that the Eleanor Parker of Sound of Music had been part of Hollywood's "golden era" or even that she had made other films. (Of course, since I didn't get into classic films until 2006, it's no surprise that I was ignorant of Miss Parker's career for so many years.) At any rate, I loved Eleanor in Above and Beyond, so in addition to tracking down the other two films she had made with the handsome Mr. Taylor, I sought out several of her other works, and the more I saw of her, the more impressed I became. She very quickly rose to near the very top of my favorite actress list---where she will remain forever.
Besides the afore-mentioned Caged, Above and Beyond, Valley of the Kings, and The Sound of Music, some other highly recommended, very loved, titles include The Man with the Golden Arm, Lizzie, Interrupted Melody, Pride of the Marines, Never Say Goodbye, Detective Story, Escape from Fort Bravo, The Very Thought of You, Scaramouche, and A Hole in the Head. A viewing of any one of those films will showcase Miss Parker's loveliness and the broad range of her talent.
Rest in peace, beloved Eleanor! You will always be one of my most favorite actresses. Thank you for bringing so much enjoyment to my life through so many wonderful movies!!
