Barbara Bel Geddes was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost 5 decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in the television series Dallas. Bel Geddes also starred as Maggie in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. Her notable films included I Remember Mama (1948) and Vertigo (1958). Throughout her career, she was the recipient of several acting awards and nominations.
Bel Geddes in 1952
Bel Geddes as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), photographed by Carl van Vechten
Bel Geddes in Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950)
Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing in the television series Dallas
Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Ewing Farlow is a fictional character from the primetime CBS television series Dallas, a long-running serial centered on the lives of the wealthy Ewing family of Dallas, Texas. Created by writer David Jacobs, the character of family matriarch Miss Ellie was an important part of the show's structure and conflict. The dynamic role was originated by stage and screen actress Barbara Bel Geddes, who was awarded both the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama.
Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing
Donna Reed as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow