Barbara Bel Geddes was born on October 31, 1922, in New York City and died on August 8, 2005, in Northeast Harbor, Maine. He was an Oscar-nominated American actress.

Bel Geddes made her theatrical debut in 1940, her Broadway debut in 1941, and her film debut in 1947.

Over the next decades, she appeared in numerous television, stage, and film roles including I Remember Mama (1948), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), and Vertigo (1958), as well as writing and illustrating two children's books (1963, 1972) and designing a line of greeting cards.

But it is as Miss Ellie, the Ewing matriarch on television's Dallas (1978–91) that she is best-known and loved by contemporary audiences. Barbara Bel Geddes retired from acting in 1990.

Married to theatrical manager Carl Sawyer in 1944. They divorced in 1951. Later that year, she married stage director Windsor Lewis.

Filmography

• "Dallas" (192 episodes, 1978-1990)
• Our Town (1977)
• "Spencer's Pilots" (1 episode, 1976)
• The Todd Killings (1971)
• Summertree (1971)
• "Journey to the Unknown" (1 episode, 1969)
• "Daniel Boone" (1 episode, 1969)
• "CBS Playhouse" (1 episode, 1968)
• "Dr. Kildare" (1 episode, 1965)
• "Death Valley Days" (1 episode, 1962)
• By Love Possessed (1961)
• "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (4 episodes, 1958-1960)
• "Dow Hour of Great Mysteries" (1 episode, 1960)
• 5 Branded Women (1960)
• "Riverboat" (1 episode, 1959)
• The Five Pennies (1959)
• "The DuPont Show of the Month" (1 episode, 1958)
• "The United States Steel Hour" (1 episode, 1958)
• Vertigo (1958)
• "Playhouse 90" (1 episode, 1958)
• "Studio One" (2 episodes, 1957-1958)
• "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (2 episodes, 1957)
• "On Trial" (1 episode, 1957)
• "Campbell Playhouse" (1 episode, 1954)
• Fourteen Hours (1951)
• "Nash Airflyte Theatre" (1 episode, 1950)
• "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse" (1 episode, 1950)
• "Robert Montgomery Presents" (2 episodes, 1950)
• Panic in the Streets (1950)
• Caught (1949)
• Blood on the Moon (1948)
• I Remember Mama (1948)
• The Long Night (1947)

Awards

• Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Actress in a Mature Role in a Prime Time Soap Opera 1984
• Golden Globe Award Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) "Dallas" 1981
• Emmy Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series (for a Continuing or Single Performance in a Regular Series) "Dallas" 1979 - 80
• Theatre World Award "Deep Are the Roots" 1946
• Clarence Derwent Award Outstanding Young Actress of the Year "Deep Are the Roots" 1945
• New York Drama Critics Award Best Actress "Deep Are the Roots" 1945