PATRICIA NEAL BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:  

Patricia Neal was born on January 20th, 1926 in Packard, Kentucky with the middle name Louise.  She was raised in Knoxville and as a young girl developed an interest in acting.  When she was in high school she won the Tennessee State award for dramatic reading.  Then at the age of sixteen she received the chance to work at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia to gain some experience.  After high school, Neal attended Northwestern University and focused on drama for two years and then decided she was now ready to pursue a career as an actress.
 
Neal relocated to New York City and found work as an understudy for the stage production, "The Voice of the Turtle" (1947) and soon she was being cast in a number of other plays such as, "Another Part of the Forest" (1948) for which she ended up winning a Tony Award.
 
Soon she was offered a seven year film contract from Warner Brothers and did a couple films with them such as, "The Fountainhead" (1949) and "The Hasty Heart" (1949) before doing the film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) with 20th Century Fox.  Warner Brothers actually ended her contract early and she proceeded to sign with Fox.  

Neal also continued to work as a stage actress gaining a great deal of popularity with her roles in, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), "Suddenly Last Summer" (1959), "The Children's Hour" (1961) and "The Miracle Worker" (1962).    

She then took on some of her best film roles such as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) starring Audrey Hepburn and "Hud" (1963) starring Paul Newman and portraying the housekeeper Alma for which she won a Best Actress Oscar.  In 1965 Patricia got the romantic role starring opposite John Wayne "In Harm's Way".  Sadly Neal, then at the height of her professional career, suffered from a series of strokes and had to take time of acting to recover.  By 1968, Neal was able to return to acting, although she was well aware that the strokes had caused her to suffer memory loss, partial paralysis and partial blindness.
 
She was cast in the film "The Subject Was Roses" (1968) and despite her slight memory loss, Neal's had the determination to put forth her best work and received an Oscar nomination for her performance.  She continued to work in the industry but no where reaching the level of success she once had prior to her strokes.    

Patricia Neal married only once to Roald Dahl in 1953 and they had a total of five children together before divorcing in 1983.  They lost one daughter, Olivia at the age of seven to complications from measles.  She did not remarry and dedicated a lot of her time helping other stroke victims such as showing a great deal of commitment to the rehabilitation center at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee.   

On August 8th, 2010 she passed away from lung cancer in Edgarton, Massachusetts at the age of eighty four. 

 
Filmography

2009 Flying By
2000 For the Love of May
1999 Cookie's Fortune
1993 Heidi
1992 A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story
1990 Murder, She Wrote
1975-1990 Hallmark Hall of Fame 
1989 An Unremarkable Life
1984 Shattered Vows
1984 Love Leads the Way: A True Story
1984 Glitter
1981 Ghost Story
1979 The Passage
1978 The Bastard
1978 A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story 
1977 Nido de viudas
1977 Tail Gunner Joe
1976 The American Woman: Portraits of Courage
1975 Movin' On
1975 Little House on the Prairie 
1975 Hay que matar a B.
1974 Things in Their Season
1974 Kung Fu
1973 Happy Mother's Day, Love George
1973 Baxter!
1972 Circle of Fear 
1971 The Waltons
1971 The Night Digger 
1971 The Homecoming: A Christmas Story
1968 The Subject Was Roses
1965 In Harm's Way
1964 Psyche 59
1963 Espionage
1963 Hud
1963 Ben Casey
1962 Zero One
1962 Westinghouse Presents: That's Where the Town Is Going
1962 The Untouchables
1962 Checkmate
1962 Drama 61-67
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's 
1961 Special for Women: Mother and Daughter 
1960 Play of the Week 
1960 Strindberg on Love
1959 Clash by Night
1959 Rendezvous
1958 Pursuit 
1954-1958 Studio One in Hollywood 
1957-1958 Playhouse 90
1958 Suspicion 
1957 A Face in the Crowd 
1956 Matinee Theatre 
1955 Omnibus 
1954 Immediate Disaster 
1954 Goodyear Playhouse
1954 La tua donna 
1952 Something for the Birds
1952 Washington Story
1952 Diplomatic Courier 
1951 Week-End with Father 
1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still 
1951 Raton Pass 
1951 Operation Pacific 
1950 Three Secrets 
1950 The Breaking Point 
1950 Bright Leaf 
1949 The Hasty Heart
1949 The Fountainhead
1949 John Loves Mary