Stockard Channing created her stage name from the last name she was born with (Stockard) and the last name of her first husband (Channing). She graduated summa cum laude from Radcliffe College of Harvard University and started acting in theater soon after. She’s won a Tony and three Emmys and been nominated for an Oscar, and while Channing probably isn’t well-known for frock flicks, several of her earliest roles were historical movies. Let’s take a look!
Freddie Bigard in The Fortune (1975)
Bess in The Cheap Detective (1978)
Rizzo in Grease (1978)
Margaret in A Time of Destiny (1988)
Viola Elliot in Avonlea (1994)
Corella in Lily Dale (1996)
Mrs. Allworthy in Moll Flanders (1996)
Florence Maybelle in Isn’t She Great (2000)
Margarethe Fisher Van Den Meer in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2002)
Mrs. Melrose Ape in Bright Young Things (2003)
Klara Hitler in Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
Lily Kilworth in The Piano Man’s Daughter (2003)
Frances Field in Julia (2023)
Which of Stockard Channing’s historical costume movie or TV roles do you know best?
What about Practical Magic? She played aunt Francis.
Not a frock flick!
Re: The Cheap Detective, I was like, ” Nazis?”. It was then that I remembered the Cincinnati Gestapo. :)
I’ve never seen Channing in a costume role; she does have a good mid-century face and style. (“Six Degrees of Separation” and “The West Wing” are my faves among her more contemporary parts.)
She also would have made a more convincing Elizabeth Taylor than Bonham Carter.
I’m always delighted to see an actress I exclusively associate with 20th Century tomboy-ish unexpectedly rock some Serious Frock Flicks couture: it’s a very lovely way to discover a performer’s true range.
Also, really really pretty.