Judith Tuvim, later known as Judy Holliday, was born on June 21, 1921, in New York City, to a piano teacher mother who was attending a play when she suddenly went into labor and made it to the hospital just in time. Judy was an only child, and by the age of four, her mother had already enrolled her in ballet school, which fostered a lifelong interest in show business. Two years later, her parents divorced.
In high school, Judy began to develop an interest in theater, appearing in several high school plays. After graduation, she got a job as a switchboard operator at the Orson Welles Mercury Theater, where she worked her way onto the stage with appearances in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Judy then toured the nightclub circuit with a group called "The Revuers," founded by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
In 1944, Judy made her first foray into the film world with Greenwich Village, but most of her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. Undeterred, she earned two more roles that year in Something for the Boys and Winged Victory, in which she had a few lines of dialogue. Judy returned to New York to continue her stage career, only to return to Hollywood five years later to appear in Adam's Rib (1949) alongside Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Tom Ewell.
Her success in Adam's Rib led to her being signed to play Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1950),a role she originated on Broadway. She won the best actress Oscar for her performance, and after filming The Marrying Kind (1952),Judy was summoned before the Un-American Activities Committee to testify about her political affiliations. Although she was not blacklisted, the experience damaged her career, and she was off-screen for four years.
Judy continued to work in stage and musical productions, but with limited time on the screen. Her last film was the MGM production of Bells Are Ringing (1960) with Dean Martin, which is considered one of her best. Judy Holliday passed away on June 7, 1965, just two weeks shy of her 44th birthday, in New York City.
