BIO

Gale Sondergaard was born Edith Holm Sondergaard in Litchfield, Minnesota, in 1899.   Educated at the University of Minnesota, she studied acting at the Minneapolis School of Dramatic Arts and began touring with a Shakespeare company.

She made her Broadway debut, at the age of 29, playing the Witch in a revival of Faust. She appeared in nine productions through 1980, including a starring role in the short-lived Goodbye Fidel (1980).

Her first film role, at the age of 37, was in Anthony Adverse (1936) with Fredric March.   She was awarded the Oscar for Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance.

Sondergaard was nominated again for an Academy Award for Anna And The King Of Siam (1946).

She appeared in more than 40 feature films during her career.   Her last film appearance was in 1982.

Sondergaard was originally cast as the Witch in The Wizard Of Oz (1939) but refused to wear the prosthetic make-up, feeling it would ruin her future career.

She married Neill O’Malley in 1922.   They were divorced in 1930. She was re-married that same year to the writer/director Herbert Biberman.   The union lasted until his death in 1971.   They raised two children.

Her second husband was accused by of being a communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy during ”Red Scare” congressional hearings of the 1950s.   He was jailed for 6 months on contempt of Congress charges for not answering committee questions.   Both of their careers were irreparably damaged.   They sold their Los Angeles home and moved to New York where she tried to get stage work.   By the late 1960s, Sondergaard began to appear in television roles and a few films again.

She died from cerebral vascular thrombosis in Los Angeles, in 1985.   Sondergaard was 86 years old.

Additional Broadway stage history is available at:

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS

TV SERIES

Ryan's Hope