Eileen Brennan (September 3, 1932 – July 28, 2013) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role for the TV adaptation, winning both a Golden Globe and Emmy for her performance. She received Emmy nominations for her guest starring roles on Newhart, Thirtysomething, Taxi, and Will & Grace.

Early life

Brennan was born as Verla Eileen Regina Brennen on September 3, 1932^[1] in Los Angeles, California, daughter of Regina "Jeanne" Menehan, a silent film actress, and John Gerald Brennen, a doctor.^[2] Of Irish descent, she was raised Roman Catholic.

Career

Eileen Brennan appeared in plays with the Mask and Bauble Society at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she was employed. She starred there in Arsenic and Old Lace. Her exceptional comic skills and romantic soprano voice propelled her from unknown to star in the title role of Rick Besoyan's off-Broadway tongue-in-cheek musical/operetta Little Mary Sunshine (1959), earning Brennan an Obie Award, and its un-official sequel The Student Gypsy (1963). She went on to create the role of Irene Malloy in the original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! (1964).^[3] Her feature film debut was in Divorce American Style (1967). She soon became one of the most recognizable (if unidentifiable) supporting actresses in film and television. Her roles were usually sympathetic characters, though she has played a variety of other character types, including earthy, vulgar and sassy, but occasionally "with a heart of gold." A year after her feature film debut she became a semi-regular on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, but stayed for only two months.
Brennan received excellent reviews as brothel madam "Billie" in George Roy Hill's Oscar-winning 1973 film The Sting as the confidante of con man Henry Gondorf (Paul Newman). Although her name was not often recognized by the general public, she became a favorite of many directors, in particular Peter Bogdanovich. She appeared in Bogdanovich's 1971 classic The Last Picture Show (for which she received a BAFTA nomination for best supporting actress) and his 1974 adaptation of the Henry James novella Daisy Miller. Bogdanovich was the only director who made use of her musical talents (before, she sang in performances off Broadway) when he cast her as Cybill Shepherd's crude, fun-loving maid in his 1975 musical flop At Long Last Love (which also starred Madeline Kahn; both Brennan and Kahn would work together in two more films: The Cheap Detective and Clue; where she once more displayed her world-weary acting style to great effect).
Brennan also worked with director Robert Moore and writer Neil Simon, appearing in Murder by Death as Tess Skeffington (1976); and The Cheap Detective (1978). Both of these movies also starred James Coco, James Cromwell and Peter Falk. She had a starring role, playing 'Mutha' in the 1978 movie, FM, about rock radio.
In 1980, Brennan received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role as Goldie Hawn's nasty commanding officer in Private Benjamin. She reprised the role in the television adaptation (1981–1983), for which she won an Emmy (supporting actress) as well as a Golden Globe (lead actress). She has one additional Golden Globe nomination and six Emmy nominations.
After having dinner together one night in 1982, Brennan and Hawn left a restaurant. Brennan was hit by a passing car and was critically injured. She took three years off work to recover, and had to overcome a subsequent addiction to painkillers.^[4]
It was during this time that her performance as Mrs. Peacock in Clue (1985) reached theaters. In the 1990s, she appeared in Stella with Bette Midler, Bogdanovich's Texasville, the sequel to The Last Picture Show, and Reckless. She had a recurring role on the sitcom Blossom as the neighbor/confidant of the title character. In 2001, she made a brief appearance in the horror movie Jeepers Creepers as The Cat Lady.
In 2002, she starred in the dark comedy film Comic Book Villains, with DJ Qualls. In recent years, Brennan had guest-starred in television, including recurring roles as the nosy Mrs. Bink in 7th Heaven and as gruff acting coach Zandra on Will & Grace. In 2003 director Shawn Levy cast her in a cameo role of a babysitter to Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt's children in an updated remake of Cheaper by the Dozen. Levy was inspired to cast Brennan after his personal viewing of Private Benjamin on television. Brennan's cameo was deleted from the actual cut of the movie however. Nonetheless she did receive credit for her role on the Deleted Scenes special feature of the film's DVD. In 2004, she appeared in The Hollow as "Joan Van Etten".

Television

Brennan received an Emmy nomination for her guest starring role in Taxi episode "Thy Boss's Wife" (1981). Brennan guest starred on two Murder, She Wrote episodes, "Old Habits Die Hard" (1987) and "Dear Deadly" (1994), and in 1987 she also appeared in the Magnum, P.I. episode, "The Love That Lies".

Personal life

From 1968 to 1974, Brennan was married to David John Lampson, with whom she has two sons: Patrick (formerly a basketball player, now an actor, e.g., in NBC's The Black Donnellys) and Sam (a singer). Brennan was a breast cancer survivor.^{[citation needed]} Brennan died at her home in Burbank, California on July 28, 2013, of bladder cancer.^[5]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Divorce American Style	Eunice Tase
1967	NET Playhouse	Unknown	Episode: "Infancy and Childhood"
1968	Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In	Performer	12 episodes
1970	The Ghost and Mrs. Muir	Paula Tardy	Episode: "Ladies' Man"
1970	The Most Deadly Game	Alice	Episode: "Photo Finish"
1971	The Last Picture Show	Genevieve	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1972	All in the Family	Angelique McCarthy	Episode: "The Elevator Story"
1972	McMillan & Wife	Dora	Episode: "Night of the Wizard"
1973	Jigsaw	Unknown	Episode: "In Case of an Emergency, Notify Clint Eastwood"
1973	Scarecrow	Darlene
1973	The Blue Knight	Glenda	Television film
1973	The Sting	Billie
1974	Daisy Miller	Mrs. Walker
1975	Insight	Carol Harris	Episode: "The Prodigal Father"
1975	At Long Last Love	Elizabeth
1975	Barnaby Jones	Anita Willson	Episode: "Blood Relations"
1975	Kojak	Julie Loring	Episode: "A House of Prayer, a Den of Thieves"
1975	Hustle	Paula Hollinger
1976	Murder by Death	Tess Skeffington
1977	The Death of Richie	Carol Werner	Television film
1977	The Great Smokey Roadblock	Penelope Pearson
1978	FM	Mother
1978	The Cheap Detective	Betty DeBoop
1979	13 Queens Boulevard	Felicia Winters	9 episodes
1979	When She Was Bad	Mary Jensen	Television film
1979	My Old Man	Marie	Television film
1979-1980	A New Kind of Family	Kit Flanagan	11 episodes
1980	Private Benjamin	Captain Doreen Lewis	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1981	When the Circus Came to Town	Jessy	Television film
1981	Taxi	Mrs. McKenzie	Episode: "Thy Boss's Wife" Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
1981-1983	Private Benjamin	Captain Doreen Lewis	37 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1982-1983)
1982	American Playhouse	Millworker	Episode: "Working"
1982	Pandemonium	Candy's mom
1983	The Funny Farm	Gail Corbin
1984	The Love Boat	Helen Foster	2 episodes
1984-1985	Off the Rack	Kate Hollaran	7 episodes
1985	Clue	Mrs. Peacock
1987	Magnum P.I.	Brenda Babcock	Episode: "The Love That Lies"
1987	Murder, She Wrote	Mariam Simpson	Episode: "Old Habits Die Hard"
1988	The New Adventures of Pippy Longstocking	Miss Bannister	Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress
1988	Sticky Fingers	Stella
1988	Rented Lips	Hotel Desk Clerk
1988	CBS Summer Playhouse	Sioban Owens	Episode: "Off Duty"
1988-1989	Newhart	Corinne Denby	2 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
1990	Stella	Mrs. Wilkerson
1990	The Ray Bradbury Theater	Mrs. Annabelle Shrike	Episode: "Touched with Fire"
1990	Texasville	Genevieve Morgan
1990	White Palace	Judy
1991	Blossom	Agnes	3 episodes
1991	thirtysomething	Margaret Weston	Episode: "Sifting the Ashes" Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1992	Home Improvement	Wanda	Episode: "Heavy Meddle"
1993	Tribeca	Claudia	Episode: "Stepping Back"
1993	Jack's Place	Dina	Episode: "The Hands of Time"
1993	Bonkers	Lilith DuPrave	4 episodes
1993	Tales from the Crypt	Ruth Sanderson	Episode: "Til Death Do We Part"
1993	All-New Dennis the Menace	Voice	13 episodes
1994	Murder, She Wrote	Loretta Lee	Episode: "Dear Deadly"
1995	Walker, Texas Ranger	Joelle	Episode: "Mean Streets"
1995	Thunder Alley	Irma	Episode: "Are We There Yet?"
1995	Reckless	Sister Margaret
1996	ER	Betty	2 episodes
1996-2006	7th Heaven	Gladys Bink	9 episodes
1997	Veronica's Closet	Grammy Anderson	Episode: "Veronica's First Thanksgiving"
1998	Nash Bridges	Loretta Bettina	Episode: "Downtime"
1998	Mad About You	Inspector #10	Episode: "Cheating on Sheila"
1998	Pants on Fire	Mom
1999	Touched by an Angel	Dolores	Episode: "The Last Day of the Rest of Your Life"
2000	The Fearing Mind	Irene's mother	Episode: "Gentleman Caller"
2001	Jeepers Creepers	The Cat Lady
2001-2006	Will & Grace	Zandra	6 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
2003	Lizzie McGuire	Marge	Episode: "My Fair Larry"
2003	Strong Medicine	Evelyn Knightly	Episode: "Coming Clean"
2003	Cheaper by the Dozen	Mrs. Drucker	Uncredited (Scene Deleted)
2005	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	Carol Fields
2009	The Kings of Appletown	Coach's blind mother

References