RIP Marian Seldes

[silverscreenselect]

Tony winning actress best known for her theatre work (she won a lifetime achievement award in 2010); she appeared in the entire run (over 1800 performances) of Deathtrap earning her a spot in the Guinness book of records. She also married playwright Garson Kanin after his first wife Ruth Gordon died. She appeared in a few movies and TV shows, including the mediocre 1999 remake of The Haunting. Age 86.

[Ritterskoop]

Looked her up and finally remembered where I saw her - she was Vanessa Redgrave's partner in the 1961 section of HBO's "If These Walls Could Talk 2". The film follows three female couples who live in the same house over the decades (the first one told three pregnancy-related stories of people who lived in another same house over the decades).

Redgrave and Seldes are a legitimately elderly couple who share the house in 1961 and it is clear (to us but not to the world) that they have been more than roommates for many, many years. When one of them gets sick and dies, the other cannot be with her in the hospital and is evicted from the house by the partner's family (Paul Giamatti). Just excruciating. Redgrave rips me apart in this role.

The middle story is set in 1972 with Michelle Williams and Chloe Sevigny - something about the intersection of radical feminism and lesbians finding their political voices, maybe? I can't remember.

The third story is Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone in 2000, and is relatively positive and I think even funny.

It's been a long time since I saw it, and even after all those years, the first segment with Seldes and Redgrave stands out. Very, very sad, though. Bring a tissue.