Ode to The Holm!

Celeste Holm was born a native New Yorker,

in 1917

to Jean Park, a painter and author, and

Theodore Holm, a Norwegian businessman

whose career kept the family moving...

in a good way.

Celeste attended schools, 14 in all(!)

in France, The Netherlands, and the US.

She was supposedly smitten by the theatre

at age 3, when her grandmother took her to see 

Anna Pavlova: 

"There she was, being tossed in midair,

caught, no mistakes, no falls.

She never knew what an impression she made."

 

Celeste's Broadway debut was in 

The Time Of Your Life, with Gene Kelly...

then followed Oklahoma! and Bloomer Girl (above).

Then it was off to Hollywood,

for A Gentleman's Agreement, 

 All About Eve below with Bette,

High Society, and more.

 

 Come To The Stable with Loretta Young, 1949,

and below 

Chicken Every Sunday with Dan Dailey, 1949.

 From High Society, another successful movie for Celeste.

When she moved out to Hollywood,

Oscar Hammerstein told her she wouldn't like it.

And she didn't,

finding the atmosphere deceptive, if balmy.

 As Ado Annie in Oklahoma,

the part that "put her over"

on Broadway,

and led to the invite to Hollywood. 

"Hollywood is a good place to learn how to 

eat a salad

without smearing your lipstick." 

She would go back and forth from

stage to screen (to television)

for the rest of her life.

 From The Tender Trap, 1955,

above with David Wayne

(yes, the leprechaun drinks!).

And taking her turn as

Mame in 1967.

 Okay, maybe we should just forget about this 

episode of Wonder Woman that CH did

with Linda Carter!

 Celeste with a few nobodies:

Sloan Simpson and Jacqueline Kennedy,

at the 'Bal de la Soie, 1954.

 Above, A Gentleman's Agreement,

with Gregory Peck.

Celeste won a Best Supporting Oscar and

a Golden Globe for this baby. 

1947

 Later in her career,

Celeste turned to more television roles,

doing variety shows, soap opera stints,

and Wonder-Woman-esque cameos.

She still found time to collect 5 husbands,

estrange her sons,

and lose most of her money 

paying court costs.

 A smashing dress for the 1988 Academy Awards.

Celeste passed away in 2012,

at the age of 95,

in her Manhattan home. 

Over 2 dozen Broadway shows, 

20 films,

and too many tv appearances to count!