Hope Lange was an American film, stage, and television actress.Lange was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress - Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Selena Cross in the 1957 film Peyton Place. In 1970, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Carolyn Muir in the sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir.
She began working in television in the 1950s with appearances on Kraft Television Theatre, which caught the eye of a Hollywood producer. Lange came to prominence in her first film role in Bus Stopwith Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray, whom she married on April 14, 1956. Murray later said that Monroe grew jealous of another blonde being hired for the movie and asked the studio producers to dye Lange's blonde hair light brown.
As a result of favorable reviews, Lange landed a major role in the then-risqué 1957 film Peyton Place. Her strong performance earned her a nomination for a Golden Globe Award and another for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She would become a rather well-recognized supporting actress of ingénue roles. Lange later said that she became somewhat typecast in her ingénue film appearances and this is why her movie career was short-lived.
She went on to appear in Nicholas Ray's 1957 film, The True Story of Jesse James as James' wife, opposite Robert Wagner. She appeared in The Young Lions alongside Montgomery Clift. She starred as the wife of Jeffrey Hunter's character in Anton Myrer's wartime drama In Love and War in 1958. These roles eventually led to Lange earning top billing in 1959's The Best of Everything, with Suzy Parker and Joan Crawford.
Lange appeared as Elvis Presley's older psychologist love interest in Wild in the Country in 1961, despite being only 13 months Elvis' senior. She then appeared in Frank Capra's final movie, Pocketful of Miracles, alongside Glenn Ford. The next year, she appeared with Ford again in the romantic comedy Love Is a Ball.
Lange returned to television for a 1966 role in the series The Fugitive (1963). She starred from 1968 to 1970 in the popular television series, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir for which she earned two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award nomination. This success was followed by three seasons on The New Dick Van Dyke Show as Dick Van Dyke's wife, Jenny Preston, from 1971 to 1974, declining to return for a fourth season of the show. She also appeared in twelve television movies. In 1977, she returned to the Broadway stage where her acting career had originally begun. She also played the wife of Charles Bronson in the original Death Wish film. In 1985, she appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge and in 1986, she took a role as Laura Dern's mother in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. She took a Broadway role in Same Time, Next Year and then made appearances in the television movie based on Danielle Steel's Message from Nam and in 1994's Clear and Present Danger.
Known For
Credits
Cast Credits
Knight & Daye (1989)
Starring as Gloria Daye
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1x02: Sugar Momma (Jul 12, 1989)
- Episode 1x01: Knight & Daye (Jul 8, 1989)
Murder, She Wrote (1984)
Guest starring as Charlotte Newcastle
- Episode 3x11: Night of the Headless Horseman (Jan 4, 1987)
Guest starring as Helen Lewis
- Episode 9x17: The Big Kill (Mar 7, 1993)
The Love Boat (1977)
Guest starring as Sandra Newberry
- Episode 2x05: Julie's Aunt / Where is it Written? / The Big Deal (Oct 14, 1978)
Guest starring as Elaine Palmer
- Episode S01 Special: The Love Boat II - For the Love of Sandy / Here's Looking at You, Love / Unfaithfully Yours / The Heckler (Jan 21, 1977)
Fantasy Island (1977)
Guest starring as tba
- Episode 6x09: Naughty Marietta / The Winning Ticket (Jan 8, 1983)
The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971)
Starring as Jenny Preston
(4 episodes)
- Episode 3x24: Lt. Preston of the 4th Calvary ()
- Episode 3x11: Exit Laughing (Nov 26, 1973)
- Episode 2x01: The Former Mr. Preston (Sep 17, 1972)
- Episode 1x01: Smoke Rings (Sep 18, 1971)
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968)
Starring as Carolyn Muir
(50 episodes)
- Episode 2x24: Wedding Day (Mar 13, 1970)
- Episode 2x23: Curious Cousin (Mar 6, 1970)
- Episode 2x22: Amateur Night (Feb 27, 1970)
- Episode 2x21: Martha Meets the Captain (Feb 20, 1970)
- Episode 2x20: Pardon My Ghost (Feb 13, 1970)
- Episode 2x19: Dig for the Truth (Feb 6, 1970)
- Episode 2x18: No Hits, No Runs, No Oysters (Jan 30, 1970)
- Episode 2x17: Tourist, Go Home (Jan 23, 1970)
- Episode 2x16: Not So Faust (Jan 8, 1970)
- Episode 2x15: Ladies' Man (Jan 1, 1970)
- Episode 2x14: The Ghost of Christmas Past (Dec 25, 1969)
- Episode 2x13: Host to the Ghost (Dec 18, 1969)
- Episode 2x12: Puppy Love (Dec 11, 1969)
- Episode 2x11: The Spirit of the Law (Nov 27, 1969)
- Episode 2x10: The Firehouse Five Plus Ghost (Nov 20, 1969)
- Episode 2x09: Surprise Party (Nov 13, 1969)
- Episode 2x08: Medium Well-Done (Nov 6, 1969)
- Episode 2x07: Not So Desperate Hour (Oct 30, 1969)
- Episode 2x06: Madam Candidate (Oct 23, 1969)
- Episode 2x05: Today I Am a Ghost (Oct 16, 1969)
- Episode 2x04: Double Trouble (Oct 9, 1969)
- Episode 2x03: There's a Seal in My Bathtub (Oct 2, 1969)
- Episode 2x02: Centennial (Sep 25, 1969)
- Episode 2x01: The Great Power Failure (Sep 18, 1969)
- Episode 1x26: The Music Maker (Mar 29, 1969)
- Episode 1x25: Son of the Curse (Mar 15, 1969)
- Episode 1x24: Medicine Ball (Mar 8, 1969)
- Episode 1x23: Jonathan Tells It Like It Was (Mar 1, 1969)
- Episode 1x22: Make Me a Match (Feb 22, 1969)
- Episode 1x21: Buried on Page One (Feb 15, 1969)
- Episode 1x20: It's a Gift (Feb 8, 1969)
- Episode 1x19: Chowderhead (Feb 1, 1969)
- Episode 1x18: Strictly Relative (Jan 25, 1969)
- Episode 1x17: A Pain in the Neck (Jan 18, 1969)
- Episode 1x16: Dog Gone! (Jan 11, 1969)
- Episode 1x15: Dear Delusion (Jan 4, 1969)
- Episode 1x14: Mister Perfect (Dec 28, 1968)
- Episode 1x13: Love is a Toothache (Dec 21, 1968)
- Episode 1x12: Madeira, My Dear? (Dec 14, 1968)
- Episode 1x11: Captain Gregg's Whiz-Bang (Dec 7, 1968)
- Episode 1x10: The Monkey Puzzle Tree (Nov 30, 1968)
- Episode 1x09: Way Off Broadway (Nov 16, 1968)
- Episode 1x08: Uncle Arnold the Magnificent (Nov 9, 1968)
- Episode 1x07: The Real James Gatley (Nov 2, 1968)
- Episode 1x06: Vanessa (Oct 26, 1968)
- Episode 1x05: Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow (Oct 19, 1968)
- Episode 1x04: The Ghost Hunter (Oct 12, 1968)
- Episode 1x03: Treasure Hunt (Oct 5, 1968)
- Episode 1x02: Haunted Honeymoon (Sep 28, 1968)
- Episode 1x01: Pilot (Sep 21, 1968)
Oscars (1953)
Guest starring as Hope Lange
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1960-04-04: The 32nd Annual Academy Awards (Apr 4, 1960)
- Episode 1958-03-26: The 30th Annual Academy Awards (Mar 26, 1958)