Audrey Christie

Audrey Christie (June 27, 1912 – December 19, 1989) was an American actress, singer, and dancer born in Chicago, Illinois. She attended a fine arts school in Chicago before leaving at age 15 to perform with the Six Chicago Steppers, marking the beginning of a career that would span Broadway, film, and television across several decades.

Christie began her professional life as a teenager in vaudeville, working initially as a singer and dancer before expanding into dramatic acting. Her Broadway career stretched from 1933 to 1968, encompassing a wide range of productions. Early stage credits included Follow Thru (1929), Sailor, Beware! (1933), The Women (1936), and I Married an Angel (1938). She went on to appear in the comedy Without Love (1942), the musical Banjo Eyes, The Voice of the Turtle, The Duchess Misbehaves, and Light Up the Sky, among other productions. Her performance in The Voice of the Turtle earned her a Donaldson Award. She also took on a lead role in The Desk Set in 1956.

Her film work was equally extensive. Christie appeared in Keeper of the Flame (1943), Deadline – U.S.A. (1952), Carousel (1956), Splendor in the Grass (1961), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), Harlow (1965), Frankie and Johnny (1966), The Ballad of Josie (1967), Mame (1974), and Harper Valley PTA (1978).

On television, Christie acted in multiple episodes of the anthology series Studio One and appeared in the series Fair Exchange. During the 1964–1965 season she held a recurring role on the situation comedy The Cara Williams Show. In 1975 she appeared on Maude as Maude's overbearing mother, and she appeared in two episodes of Barney Miller, playing a madam in the episode The Courtesans and an overbearing stage mother in the episode Old Love.

Christie was married twice. Her first husband was performer Guy Robertson, with whom she had a daughter. Her second husband was actor Donald Briggs, who predeceased her; they had a son and three grandchildren. Christie died of emphysema on December 19, 1989, at her home in West Hollywood, California.