#Fact1At the same time she left Dallas (1978), she had no choice other than to sell her 200-year-old farmhouse in upstate New York. [1990].2Long lives ran in her family.3Really hated to discuss her acting days.4Really hated to talk about the theater and/or films.5Created the role of Miss Ellie Ewing on Dallas (1978).6In 1927, when Bel Geddes was only 4, her father, Norman Bel Geddes, opened an industrial-design studio, and designed a wide range of commercial products, from cocktail shakers to commemorative medallions to radio cabinets.7Was often admired by Larry Hagman, who became a fan of hers, since he was a teenager.8Had signed a contract with Paramount in 1958.9Lifelong friend of Barry Nelson.10After four movies, Howard Hughes, who had bought control of RKO in 1948, dropped her contract because 'she wasn't sexy enough.'.11In 1945, Bel Geddes made a splash on Broadway at 22, with her first important role in "Deep Are the Roots," winning the New York Drama Critics Award as Best Actress.12On Dallas (1978), her original TV husband (Jim Davis) had died in a plane crash, after his character was down in South America drilling for oil, in real-life, she lost Davis herself, to multiple myeloma, the year after Season 5 was about to go in production.13Carcinoma ran in her family.14When Bel Geddes was growing up, in New York, she was always fascinated by actors and directors and all theatre people.15Was the most difficult star to be interviewed.16Rented a brownstone duplex in Manhattan.17On Dallas (1978), her character had lost her TV husband. In real-life she lost her husband before the show began.18After herself, her ex-Dallas (1978) co-star, Howard Keel, also underwent open heart surgery. She was also the only person and the only reason why she'd been an inspiration to him, after her own surgery went so successful.19Barbara Bel Geddes passed away on August 8, 2005, at age 82; and within five months of three other legends, who were born in 1923, aged 82: Hank Stram, Jean Carson and Don Adams.20She was most widely known to be a very private lady.21Began working on Dallas (1978) when she was age 55.22Lived in Los Angeles, California, from 1947 to 1951, and again from 1958 to 1962.23Her father Norman Bel Geddes staged more than 200 plays.24Bel Geddes received the prestigious Woman of the Year Award by Hasty Pudding Theatricals USA, America's oldest theater company in 1952.25She did not participate in the Dallas Reunion: Return to Southfork (2004) because she was too ill to attend. She delivered a telegram to the cast. She died the following year.26Served as honorary chairperson and enthusiastic supporter of Lifeline for Wildlife, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1978, by her daughter, Betsy Lewis.27Left acting temporarily to take care of her ailing husband, Windsor Lewis. Lewis died in 1972.28Was David Jacobs's first and only choice for the female starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing on Dallas (1978). She accepted the job only because she was flat broke, much due in part of her savings after her husband's death, six years earlier.29Lived in a farm house, in Ellenville, New York, from 1962 to 1990.30Although her income from Dallas (1978) should have been enough to leave her financially secure, a $9 million lawsuit against her agent forced her to file for bankruptcy.31Played Larry Hagman's mother on Dallas (1978), in real-life, Bel Geddes was 9 years Hagman's senior.32Acting mentor and friends of Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal, Steve Kanaly and Charlene Tilton.33She commuted from her farm house in New York to Los Angeles every weekend for 13 years while starring in Dallas (1978).34At a young age, she spent a lot of time with her father, who was involved in hundreds of theater productions in many capacities.35When she left Dallas (1978) in 1984, her co-star Larry Hagman suggested that his real-life mother Mary Martin replaced her in the same role, when Bel Geddes was temporarily replaced by Donna Reed.36Bel Geddes was the only cast member of the original Dallas (1978) series to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, as well as a Golden Globe Award.37She had the following animals: ducks, geese, fish, turtles and goats.38In the book "Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's Favorite Prime-Time Soap" by Barbara A. Curran, producer Leonard Katzman said that at the time no one was looking for big-name actors. When asked what attracted her to the young serial, the actress said: "I needed a job and I needed to make some money.".39Life Magazine named her 'Hollywood's Most Attractive New Star' on April 12, 1948.40Began her career as a contract player for RKO Pictures in 1946.41Received the Theatre World Award and the Clarence Derwent Award in 1946 for her first mature performance in Deep Are the Roots, directed by Elia Kazan.42Worked with Patrick Duffy's wife's (Carolyn Rosser) father in her first Broadway play, The Moon is Blue. Patrick Duffy later played her youngest son in the long-running series Dallas (1978).43Before she was a successful actress, she alongside an experienced actress, Carol Goodner, once did a commercial for Lux Soap, in Bel Geddes's early career.44Had appeared in nearly each and every episode of Dallas (1978), for 6 1/2 yrs, until 1983 when she suffered a heart attack, and left temporarily in 1984. The following year, she came back, a second time, who appeared in nearly every show, until she left, for good, in 1990, to enjoy her quiet retirement.45Theater ran in her family.46Survived by 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren.47Was a spokesperson for Campbell's Soup Products in 1985.48She died only 9 months after her Dallas (1978) co-star Howard Keel.49Was a breast cancer survivor.50Went into semi-retirement in the late 1960s to take care of her dying husband.51Had appeared in her first movie at age 24.52Her parents were separated when she was only 4, she, her father and her sister moved to Millburn, New Jersey.53Her hobbies included spending time with family, dining, gardening, painting, drawing, traveling and taking care of farm animals.54When she attended Putney School, she had displayed no dramatic talent whatsoever.55Met her first husband, Carl Schreuer, after failing to get a contract for movie roles.56Was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame, located in the Gershwin Theatre in New York City, in 1993, a distinction she shared with her father, stage and industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes.57Was referred by Dallas (1978)'s co-stars, Larry Hagman's and Patrick Duffy's characters to both call her 'Mama.'.58Like her father, Bel Geddes was also born in New York.59Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes were scattered from a simple wooden boat into the harbor waters bordering her home.60She and the rest of her Dallas (1978) cast, attended the funeral of her one-time co-star and best friend, Jim Davis, on 1 May 1981.61Her father married twice more, just before Norman's death in 1958.62Before her first birthday, her father's revolutionary vision as a set designer led to a pivotal collaboration with Max Rheinhardt in the theatrical production of 'The Miracle.'.63Stepmother, Edith Lutyens Bel Geddes died on August 16, 2002, at age 95.64Her parents were originally from both Michigan and Ohio.65Her older sister, Joan, died on September 4, 2001, at age 84. Her sister worked worked in a 4-year stint as a researcher and theatrical assistant for their father.66Followed in her father's and her sister's footsteps in becoming an author.67Her last name 'Bel Geddes' was described as a theatrical flourish, while another called it 'an act of prehistoric feminism.'.68Her parents, Norman Bel Geddes and Helen (Belle) Sneider, were married in Toledo, Ohio, in 1916, almost 7 years before they had her.69Her mother died when she was only age 15, at that time, she moved in with her father in Putney, Vermont.70Friends with: Shirley Jones, Jane Wyman, Betty Grable, Larry Hagman, Jim Davis, Howard Keel, Ken Kercheval, Linda Gray, David Jacobs, Leonard Katzman, Marlon Brando and his sister Jocelyn Brando, Elia Kazan, Tennessee Williams, George Kennedy, Priscilla Pointer, Julie Harris, Barry Nelson, Dennis Patrick, Betty Hutton, Frances Bergen, Ellen Corby, Conrad Bachmann, Harry Guardino, Charles McGraw, Alfred Hitchcock, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Alexis Smith, Dale Robertson, Martha Scott, David Wayne, Don Porter, Steve Forrest, Richard Basehart, Frank Faylen, Keenan Wynn, Maureen O'Hara and Paul Douglas.71After her long role on Dallas (1978), she retired from acting at age 67.72Graduated from Andrewbrook, an all-girls French convent school, in Tarrytown, New York, in 1940.73Left Dallas (1978) at the end of the seventh season, due to health problems. She came back at the beginning of the ninth season until she retired from acting in 1990.74She did not appear in two Dallas (1978) reunion movies, nor Dallas Reunion: Return to Southfork (2004), just the year before her death.75Of Scottish-German ancestry by her father.76Before she was a successful actress, she used to work at a summer stock as an apprentice in Clinton, Connecticut.77Like her ex-Dallas (1978) co-star, Larry Hagman, Bel Geddes was also a heavy smoker for years, which eventually lead to her heart attack, decades before being diagnosed with lung cancer, which claimed her life.78She attended Putney School, a private school in Putney, Vermont.79Made her Broadway debut when she was 18.80Best remembered by the public for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow on Dallas (1978).81Prior to her retirement, she was the best-selling author of 2 children's books.82Was the first and only choice to audition for the role of Miss Ellie Ewing on Dallas (1978).83Her future Dallas (1978) co-star's, Patrick Duffy's father-in-law, worked with her father Norman Bel Geddes, long before Duffy's future wife saw her in a Broadway play.84A longtime smoker, she was forced to quit by her doctors after her heart attack in March 1984.85Was twice nominated for Broadway's best dramatic actress Tony Award: in 1956 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and in 1961 for Mary, Mary.86She played the lead in Mary, Mary on Broadway. Debbie Reynolds garnered the role in the Hollywood film version - Mary, Mary (1963).87She played the showgirl in The Sleeping Prince on Broadway. Marilyn Monroe garnered the role in the Hollywood film version - The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).88Operated on for breast cancer in 1971/72, and relived the experience in Dallas (1978) when Miss Ellie underwent a mastectomy.89Spent her retirement years in Northeast Harbor, Maine up until her death.90Designed stationery for Caspari and Crane in her retirement years.91Grandmother of: Samantha, Hannah, Joshua, Maggie, and Oliver.92At age 16 she was kicked out of the fancy Putney Finishing School in New England for being a disruptive influence.93Stepdaughter of famous theatrical costumer designer Edith Lutyens-Bel Geddes94Daughter of stage designer/art director Norman Bel Geddes and Helen Belle Sneider Geddes.95Mother of: Susan and Betsy.96She played Maggie the Cat in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Elizabeth Taylor garnered the role in the Hollywood film version - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)).