Trivia

According to biographer Gary Carey, in its search for subversives in the film industry the Un-American House Activities Committee (UHAC) was flummoxed by Holliday, who essentially played her Oscar-winning Born Yesterday (1950) character "Billie Dawn" on the witness stand.

Gave birth to her only child at age 31, a son Jonathan Oppenheim on November 11, 1952. Child's father was her husband, David Oppenheim.

Despite her image as a "dumb blonde", she allegedly had an IQ of 172. She often said that it took a lot of smarts to convince people that her characters were stupid.

To help build up her image, particularly in the eyes of Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn, Katharine Hepburn deliberately leaked stories to the gossip columns suggesting that her performance in Adam's Rib (1949) was so good that it had stolen the spotlight from Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. This got Cohn's attention and Holliday won the part in Born Yesterday (1950).

Following her divorce, she became involved with jazz musician Gerry Mulligan. After learning she had breast cancer, she stopped filming and began writing songs with him. He wrote the music and she wrote the lyrics. Some of these songs appear on the album "Holliday With Mulligan", which they recorded together in 1961. It was not released until 1980, 15 years after Holliday's death.

Worked briefly as a switchboard operator for Orson Welles' Mercury Theater.

Won Broadway's 1957 Tony Award as best actress in a musical for Bells Are Ringing, a role that she recreated in the film version of Bells Are Ringing (1960).

During the Broadway musical "Bells Are Ringing", she had a brief fling with co-star Sydney Chaplin, the son of Charles Chaplin.

Was the 35th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Born Yesterday (1950) at The 23rd Academy Awards on March 29, 1951.

In 2006 her performance as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1950) was ranked #96 on "Premiere Magazine"'s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

Her son became a documentary film editor before dying in 2020.

Listed by Madonna as one of her biggest influences.

Returned to work six months after giving birth to her son Jonathan Oppenheim to begin filming It Should Happen to You (1954).

Lived in the building where John Lennon lived when he was murdered, The Dakota.

Died on Dean Martin's birthday, her costar in "Bells are Ringing".

Is one of 14 actresses to have won both the Best Actress Academy Award and the Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Golden Globe for the same performance; hers being for Born Yesterday (1950). The others, in chronological order, are: Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins (1964), Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968), Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972), Glenda Jackson for A Touch of Class (1973), Diane Keaton for Annie Hall (1977), Sissy Spacek for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Cher for Moonstruck (1987), 'Jessica Tandy for Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Helen Hunt for As Good as It Gets (1997), Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005), Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose (2007), and Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (2012).

She was a lifelong liberal Democrat.

She was born on the same day as fellow screen actress Jane Russell.

Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. (1999)

Is one of 14 Best Actress Oscar winners to have not accepted their Academy Award in person, Holliday's being for Born Yesterday (1950). The others are Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Anna Magnani, Ingrid Bergman, Sophia Loren, Anne Bancroft, Patricia Neal, Elizabeth Taylor, Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson and Ellen Burstyn.

Husband David Oppenheim, originally a clarinetist and classical music and television producer, was in 1969 named Dean of New York University's School of the Arts (now Tisch School of the Arts), which includes its acclaimed film school.

Was originally cast as Ruth Sherwood in My Sister Eileen (1955) but due to contract disputes she was replaced by Betty Garrett.

An only child, she was the daughter of Abraham (1893-1958), born in New York, and Helen (née Gollomb) Tuvim (1885-1973), born in Russia. She was the paternal granddaughter of Russian immigrants David (1865-1937) and Sarah (née Abramowitz) Tuvim (1870-1952) and the maternal granddaughter of Julius (1860-1903) and Rose (née Brass) Gollomb (1864-1947), also born in Russia. She was the niece of writer Joseph Gollomb.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 217-218. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Is one of 25 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a comedy; hers being for Born Yesterday (1950). The others, in chronological order, are: Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night (1934)), Loretta Young (The Farmer's Daughter (1947)), Josephine Hull (Harvey (1950)), Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday (1953)), Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower (1969)), Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class (1973)), Lee Grant (Shampoo (1975)), Diane Keaton (Annie Hall (1977)), Maggie Smith (California Suite (1978)), Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard (1980)), Jessica Lange (Tootsie (1982)), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck (1987)), Cher (Moonstruck (1987)), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)), Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King (1991)), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny (1992)), Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway (1994)) Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite (1995)), Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996)), Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets (1997)), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)), and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook (2012)).

Until the age of six she lived at 251 E. 108th Street in Manhattan, New York. After her parents divorced she and her mother moved to 39-45 44th Street in Sunnyside, Queens, New York.

Is one of 22 Oscar-winning actresses to have been born in the state of New York. The others are Alice Brady, Teresa Wright, Anne Revere, Celeste Holm, Claire Trevor, Shirley Booth, Susan Hayward, Patty Duke, Anne Bancroft, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Lee Grant, Beatrice Straight, Whoopi Goldberg, Mercedes Ruehl, Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Connelly, Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway.

The only time she acted out giving birth in a movie was in Full of Life (1956).

Her films (Italian titles): "Nata ieri", "Piena di vita", "Vivere insieme", "Phffft... e l'amore si sgonfia", "La costola di Adamo", "La ragazza del secolo", "Susanna agenzia squillo", and "Una Cadillac tutta d'oro" were dubbed by Rina Morelli.