Star-Judy Holliday TB

Please drop this item in rural OR Premium Member Only caches.  Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and prevents tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take the travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission is needed to leave the U.S.

Travel bug photos in the logs are appreciated.  I will re-post them here, where they can be seen by other cachers.

This “Star” series of travel bugs is to bring attention to my favorite movie actors.  Some have awards, some do not.  There is no criterion to be included as a favorite beyond I will watch anything that has her/him in it.

Judy Holliday was born Judith Tuvim in New York City in 1921.   She took ballet lessons as a child and in high school developed an interest in theater.  After graduation, she got a job in the Orson Welles Mercury Theater as a switchboard operator.  Judy worked her way on the stage with appearances in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New York City.  In Hollywood had minor rols for a period but in 1944 she appeared in Something for the Boys and Winged Victory.  In the latter, Judy had a few lines of dialogue.  Judy returned to New York to continue her stage career. She returned to Hollywood after five years to appear in Adam's Rib (1949).  This role led to her casting in Born Yesterday (1950), my personal favorite.  She won an Oscar but, because of the role and her New York accent, she was typecast as a dumb blonde. 

As a child, Holliday exhibited a profoundly high intelligence, having a measured IQ score of 172, placing her above the 99.999th percentile.  In 1952, Holliday was called to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to answer claims she was associated with communism.   The House Un-American Activities Committee was flummoxed by Holliday.  She essentially played her dumb Billie Dawn character on the witness stand.  She ended up being the only person ever called before Committee who was neither blacklisted from films nor compelled to name names.  She was blacklisted from radio and television for almost three years.  She was a unique and gifted performer whose life and career were cut tragically short when she lost her 5 year battle with cancer in 1965 at age 44.