Actress Patricia Neal, 84, who won an Oscar for her performance in the 1963 film Hud, and whose own life was perhaps as interesting as any movie, has passed away from lung cancer.
Neal had many triumphs onscreen, but offscreen her personal life was messy and tragic. She suffered a stroke when she was quite young, one child was injured in an accident while another died of illness, and her husband, author Roald Dahl, left her for a close friend after years of being supposedly a devoted husband.
Before her marriage to Dahl, Neal plunged into an affair with actor Gary Cooper. They met on the set of The Fountainhead, surely one of the all-time worst films. Cooper was 48 and looked older, while Neal was 23 and looked it. The only thing notable about the film WAS the fact both Cooper and Neal were involved offscreen, and their chemistry was quite apparent in this wretched film:
Although the affair lasted around three years, Cooper would not leave his wife and daughter for her. Strangely enough, Neal later became friends or was on friendly terms with Cooper's widow and daughter after Cooper died.
Say what you want about Neal. She was tough and a survivor. She was also a great actress. My favorite Neal performance was her role in A Face in the Crowd (1957) opposite Andy Griffith.
Neal will be missed.
L.A. Times
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