Tall, blonde B-film lead of the 1940s turned character actress from the 1950s on, most typically as cool, aloof women whose surface sophistication only thinly masks their insecurity. Foch made a good impression as one of Bela Lugosi's victims in the enjoyable "Return of the Vampire" (1943) and played another victimized heroine in cult director Joseph H. Lewis's unnerving Gothic noir, "My Name Is Julia Ross" (1945). Foch is perhaps best known for her striking performance as Milo ("as in Venus de"), the wealthy arts patron who attempts to snare painter Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) with her money in Vincente Minnelli's Oscar-winning "An American in Paris" (1951). She was also quite fine in her Oscar-nominated turn as the loyal secretary in the all-star "Executive Suite" (1954) and as one of the fleeing Israelites in Cecil B. DeMille's holiday favorite, "The Ten Commandments" (1956).
Extremely active on TV from the late 1940s on, Foch appeared in many of the live anthology dramas of the 1950s as well as several quiz and news programs. Increased theatre work, some of it in administrative and directing capacities, took up the slack in her film career in the 1960s. She also began teaching film and drama at both USC and the American Film Institute. An Emmy nominee for a guest stint on "Lou Grant", Foch has also graced periodic TV and feature films in more recent years, including "Mahogany" (1975), "Rich and Famous" (1981) and "Sliver" (1993).
- Also Credited As:
Nina Consuelo Maud Fock
- Born:
Nina Consuelo Maud Fock on April 20, 1924 in Leyden, Netherlands
- Died:
December 5, 2008.
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Job Titles:
Actor, Acting coach, Assistant director, Teacher, Theater director, Concert pianist, Painter
Family
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Father: Dirk Fock.
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Mother: Consuelo Flowerton. Was a famous WWI poster model
Significant Others
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Husband: Dennis Brite. Married from 1959-1963
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Husband: James Lipton. Married from 1954-1959; executive producer, writer and host of the Bravo cable television series, Inside the Actors Studio
Education
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American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York, NY
Milestones
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1943 Signed by Columbia Pictures; made her film debut in Return of the Vampire
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1947 Broadway debut, John Loves Mary
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1951 Panelist for the current events game show, It s News to Me ; hosted by Walter Cronkite and John Daly
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1951 Appeared with Gene Kelly in the award-winning musical An American in Paris
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1954 Received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Executive Suite
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1956 Regular on John Houseman s CBS Playhouse 90 television series
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1956 Played Pharaoh s sister who found the baby Moses in Cecil B. DeMille s The Ten Commandments
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1959 Served as George Stevens associate director for the film, The Diary of Anne Frank
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1960 Last film for over a decade, Spartacus opposite Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier
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1962 Played Mrs. Danvers in a TV adaptation of Rebecca starring James Mason and Joan Hackett
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1967 Directed the stage play, Ways and Means
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1971 Returned to films with a supporting role in Otto Preminger s black comedy, Such Good Friends
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1975 Appeared in the film Mahogany starring Diana Ross
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1985 Played Dr. Julianna Moorhouse on the short-lived occult drama series, Shadow Chasers
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1992 Received screen credit as an acting coach for Encino Man
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Acted with touring and stock companies and various little theater groups
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Pursued painting and briefly worked as a concert pianist
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Raised in Manhattan