Carmen Mathews Explained

Carmen Mathews
Birth Name:Carmen Sylvia Mathews
Birth Date:8 May 1911
Birth Place:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:Redding, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation:Actress, environmentalist
Years Active:1943 - 1992

Carmen Sylvia Mathews (May 8, 1911  - August 31, 1995) was an American actress and environmentalist.[1]

Biography

Mathews was born in Philadelphia. She studied first at Bennett Junior College and then in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[2] She began her professional acting appearance with the Stratford-on-Avon Shakespearean Company before moving back to the United States.[1]

Her Shakespearean roles included Ophelia in Hamlet and the Queen in Richard II.[1] She also starred as Theresa Tapper in the William Roos, Jack Lawrence, and Don Walker 1951 Broadway musical Courtin' Time.[3] Her film credits include Butterfield 8 (1960), A Rage to Live (1965), Rabbit, Run (1970), Sounder (1972), Top of the Hill (1980) and Daniel (1983). On television she performed on a wide variety of series over a span of four decades. A few of those series include appearances on six episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65), as well as roles in a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone, a 1964 episode of The Fugitive,[4] and a 1972 episode of Cannon. One of her more memorable televised performances is as Colonel Lilian Rayburn on Episode 150 of M*A*S*H. Toward the end of her career, in 1990, she was cast in the Last Best Year with Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters.

In 1975, Mathews set up and ran a residential summer camp for disadvantaged children on her 100-acre farm in Redding, Connecticut. Toward the end of her life, Mathews, a passionate environmentalist, made a perpetual donation of her 100-acre New Pond Farm to the Redding Land Trust,[5] to ensure that it would retain its woods, fields, pond and marsh. The United Nations Association of the United States of America named Mathews one of Connecticut's outstanding women in 1987.[6] [1]

Death

Mathews died at her farm in Redding, Connecticut in 1995, aged 84, from undisclosed causes.[1]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1956Alfred Hitchcock Presents Lizzie Borden Season 1 Episode 17: "The Older Sister"
1956Alfred Hitchcock Presents Katherine Oldham Season 2 Episode 4: "Kill With Kindness"
1956Alfred Hitchcock Presents Joanna Enright Season 2 Episode 8: "Conversation Over a Corpse"
1958Alfred Hitchcock Presents Celia Boerum Season 3 Episode 31: "The Festive Season"
1958Butterfield 8 Mrs. Jescott Uncredited
1959Alfred Hitchcock Presents Miss Hall Season 4 Episode 28: "The Impossible Dream"
1961The Twilight Zone Vinnie Episode: Static
1962Alfred Hitchcock Presents Thelma Malley Season 7 Episode 28: "The Kerry Blue"
1965A Rage to Live Emily Caldwell
1970Rabbit, Run Mrs. Springer
1972Sounder Rita Boatwright
1975Ellery Queen Laticia Alley Episode 8: "The Mad Tea Party"
1978M*A*S*HColonel Lillian RayburnSeason 7, Episode 8:"Lil"
1980Top of the Hill Minna Ellsworth TV movie
1980Gauguin the Savage Madame Jeanette TV movie
1983Daniel Mrs. Ascher

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Carmen Mathews, Environmentalist And an Actress, 84. The New York Times. 1995-09-03. 2014-01-18.
  2. Web site: NPF's Founder, Carmen Mathews . https://web.archive.org/web/20150129020051/http://www.newpondfarm.org/npf_s_founder__carmen_mathews. dead. 2015-01-29. New Pond Farm.org. 2020-03-02.
  3. News: 30. At The Theatre. Brooks Atkinson. June 14, 1951. The New York Times.
  4. Web site: Carmen Matthews. The Hitchcock Zone. 2020-03-02.
  5. News: Obituaries: Carmen Matthews. Variety. 1995-09-18. 2020-03-02.
  6. News: The New York Times. Associated Press. U.N. Group to Honor 110 Connecticut Women. 2015-12-04. 1987-10-11.