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

Carmen Mathews
Born
Carmen Sylvia Mathews

(1911-05-08)May 8, 1911
DiedAugust 31, 1995(1995-08-31) (aged 84)
Occupation(s)Actress, environmentalist
Years active1943–1992

Biography

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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.[citation needed] 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

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

Filmography

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

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Carmen Mathews, Environmentalist And an Actress, 84". The New York Times. September 3, 1995. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  2. ^ "NPF's Founder, Carmen Mathews". New Pond Farm.org. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  3. ^ Brooks Atkinson (June 14, 1951). "At The Theatre". The New York Times. p. 30.
  4. ^ "Carmen Matthews". The Hitchcock Zone. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "Obituaries: Carmen Matthews". Variety. September 18, 1995. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  6. ^ "U.N. Group to Honor 110 Connecticut Women". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 11, 1987. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
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