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Paula Prentiss

Birth Place: San Antonio, TX, USA

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Paula Prentiss BIO

Prentiss leapt to fame playing the role of Tuggle in Where the Boys Are (1960). Her co-star was Jim Hutton. The film was a hit and response to Prentiss and Hutton was very favorable, so MGM decided to reteam them in three more comedies, promoting them as a new William Powell and Myrna Loy: The Honeymoon Machine (1961) with Steve McQueen, Bachelor in Paradise (1961) with Bob Hope, and The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962). They were the two tallest male and female contract players at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Hutton and Prentiss were also meant to be in Follow the Boys (1963), a Where the Boys Are-style comedy, but he dropped out, and so Prentiss' co-star became Russ Tamblyn.

Howard Hawks cast her as the female lead opposite Rock Hudson in Man's Favorite Sport? (1963) at Universal, her first film outside MGM. Hawks would later say: "Paula Prentiss was good, but she couldn't remember what she was doing from one shot to the next. Her shots never matched".

Prentiss appeared on stage in a production of As You Like It in 1963 at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park.

She had notable roles in The World of Henry Orient (1964) and In Harm's Way (1965) and made a cameo as herself in Looking for Love (1964). She also had a strong supporting role in What's New, Pussycat? (1965) with Peter Sellers. However, on the set of that film she had a nervous breakdown. "One day during shooting," she told People in 1976, "I just climbed up the ropes to the catwalk and started walking the beams. Very loudly and clearly I called down to everyone on the set, 'I'm going to jump.' A French technician grabbed me, and there I was, hanging by one arm." She was hospitalized for nine months.

For one season (1967–1968), Prentiss co-starred with her husband, Richard Benjamin, in the CBS sitcom He & She. For her role, Prentiss was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy.

In 1969 she appeared Off-Broadway in the double production, Arf and The Great Airplane Snatch, directed by Benjamin.

Prentiss returned to films with a small role in Catch-22 (1970). She had the female lead in Move (1970) with Elliott Gould and Born to Win (1971) with George Segal. She was one of the leads in Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Alan Arkin. Next, Prentiss was in the made-for-television film, The Couple Takes a Wife (1972).

She was the female lead in Crazy Joe (1974) and had a small but pivotal part in The Parallax View (1974) with Warren Beatty. She was second lead in The Stepford Wives (1975), alongside Katharine Ross.

In 1976, Prentiss and Benjamin appeared on Broadway in The Norman Conquests. After that, they traveled to Australia to make No Room to Run (1977).

Prentiss was in Having Babies II (1977), Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979), and Top of the Hill (1980). She had a starring role in The Black Marble (1980), but it was not widely seen.

She did Saturday the 14th (1981) with her husband and was in director Billy Wilder's last film, Buddy Buddy (1981), with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. She then made Packin' It In (1983) with her husband and did the made-for-television film, M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (1983).

Prentiss guest starred on TV shows like Murder, She Wrote and Burke's Law.

Except for brief cameo roles, Prentiss had not appeared in a feature film for more than 30 years, until 2016's I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, a horror film directed by Oz Perkins. It premiered September 10, 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Paula Prentiss STAGE CREDITS


Paula Prentiss Movies

Where the Boys Are
[ 1960 ] Tuggle Carpenter
The Honeymoon Machine
[ 1961 ] Pam Dunstan
Bachelor in Paradise
[ 1961 ] Linda Delavane
The Horizontal Lieutenant
[ 1962 ] Lt. Molly Blue
Follow the Boys
[ 1963 ] Toni Denham
Man's Favorite Sport?
[ 1964 ] Abigail Page
The World of Henry Orient
[ 1964 ] Stella Dunworthy
Looking for Love
[ 1964 ] Paula Prentiss
In Harm's Way
[ 1965 ] Bev
What's New Pussycat
[ 1965 ] Liz Bien
Move
[ 1970 ] Dolly
Catch-22
[ 1970 ] Nurse Duckett
Born to Win
[ 1971 ] Veronica
Last of the Red Hot Lovers
[ 1972 ] Bobbi Michele
The Parallax View
[ 1974 ] Lee Carter
Crazy Joe
[ 1974 ] Anne
The Stepford Wives
[ 1975 ] Bobby Markowe
The Black Marble
[ 1980 ] Sgt. Natalie Zimmerman
Saturday the 14th
[ 1981 ] Mary Hyatt
Buddy Buddy
[ 1981 ] Celia Clooney
Hard Four
[ 2007 ] Sweet Cherrie
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
[ 2016 ] Iris Blum

Paula Prentiss TV Shows

He & She
Paula Hollister

Paula Prentiss News


Richard Kind & James Pickens, Jr. to Star in A TAILOR NEAR ME at The New Jersey Repertory Company This Summer


The New Jersey Repertory Company will present the world premiere of Michael Tucker's comedy A Tailor Near Me, directed by James Glossman. See who is starring and learn how to purchase tickets!

Last Chance To Vote For The BroadwayWorld New Jersey Awards; Capital Productions HELLO, DOLLY! Leads Best Musical!


This is the last chance to vote for the 2021 BroadwayWorld New Jersey Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor productions which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

Final Weeks To Vote For The BroadwayWorld New Jersey Awards; Capital Productions' HELLO, DOLLY! Leads Best Musical


Time is running out to vote for for the 2021 BroadwayWorld New Jersey Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor productions which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

BWW Interview: Theatre 40's David Hunt Stafford - Already Planning Their 56th Season


Theatre 40 celebrates its 55th Anniversary season with the world premiere of Marilyn Anderson’s AS GOOD AS GOLD September 16, 2021. Got the chance to chat with David Hunt Stafford, Theatre 40’s artistic and managing director on Theatre 40’s history and plans for the future.

Maryann Plunkett, Jay O. Sanders and More Star in CHRISTMAS EVE 1953 Online Reading to Benefit Shadowland Stages


SHADOWLAND STAGES today announced that the theatre will present a special online benefit reading of CHRISTMAS EVE 1953, a short story by Tom Hanks that has been adapted for the stage by SHADOWLAND STAGES' artistic associate, James Glossman.

60th Anniversary Of WHERE THE BOYS ARE Celebrated With A Photo Restrospective By History Fort Lauderdale


History Fort Lauderdale will present, “Where the Boys Are,” an exclusive 60th anniversary film photo exhibition at The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale.

Photo Flash: Remembering Buck Henry


As BroadwayWorld reported earlier this month, Buck Henry passed away at the age of 89. Henry was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Graduate (1967) and for Best Director for Heaven Can Wait (1978) alongside Warren Beatty.

Photo Flash: Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, and More at West Coast Premiere of MY LIFE ON A DIET


The award-winning, autobiographical comedy MY LIFE ON A DIET, starring Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Renee Taylor ("The Nanny"), is now on tour. The current stop is at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210), where the show opened this weekend, and will perform a limited engagement through Sunday, April 14.

BWW Interview: 13 THINGS ABOUT ED CARPOLOTTI's Penny Fuller & The Many Wonderful Things About Her


Actress/LA theatre inaugurator, Penny Fuller has embarked on a new leg of her career as a cabaret artiste. Ms. Fuller will be bringing her solo musical play 13 THINGS ABOUT ED CARPOLOTTI to the Broad Stage beginning January 11. I had the most delightful opportunity to chat with the vibrant, vivacious Ms. Fuller. She possesses a memory of an elephant, effortlessly listing off names of cast compatriots and retelling intriguing incidents of her theatre highlights.

BWW Review: Superlative Reading of Adams' Love Letters at THEATRE 40 with RICHARD BENJAMIN and PAULA PRENTISS


Only one more night tonight Monday February 15 to catch celebrated stars of stage, screen and television Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss in Dearest Friend, a reading of the actual love letters of second U.S. President John Adams and his First Lady, Abigail Adams. These powerful and moving letters, written as our nation was being formed, by one of America's founders and his wife are extraordinary, moving and deeply insightful into their love for each other and for our great country.

FIRST LOOK: Richard Benajmin and Paula Prentiss Celebrate Valentine's Day with DEAREST FRIEND


Celebrated stars of stage, screen and television Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss star in Dearest Friend, as the famed couple perform a reading of the actual love letters of second U.S. President John Adams and his First Lady, Abigail Adams. These powerful and moving letters, written as our nation was being formed, by one of America's founders and his wife are extraordinary, moving and deeply insightful into their love for each other and for our great country.

Photo Coverage: On the Red Carpet for TWELFTH NIGHT's Opening Night Arrivals


Two-time Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance stars in TWELFTH NIGHT and Richard III, two startlingly different performances in repertory, as the suddenly love struck noblewoman Olivia in Twelfth Nightand as the ruthless and conniving title monarch in Richard III. The critically heralded all-male Shakespeare's Globe productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, which delighted audiences and broke all box office records in London's West End earlier this year, opened last night, Sunday, November 10 at the Belasco Theatre, and BroadwayWorld was there for all of the opening night festivities. Check out photos from Twelfth Night's opening night theatre arrivals below!

Photo Coverage: Inside Opening Night Theatre Arrivals at RICHARD III


Two-time Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance stars in TWELFTH NIGHT and Richard III, two startlingly different performances in repertory, as the suddenly love struck noblewoman Olivia in Twelfth Nightand as the ruthless and conniving title monarch in Richard III. The critically heralded all-male Shakespeare's Globe productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, which delighted audiences and broke all box office records in London's West End earlier this year, opened last night, Sunday, November 10 at the Belasco Theatre, and BroadwayWorld was there for all of the opening night festivities. Check out photos from Richard III's opening night theatre arrivals below!

Moving Image Presents THE COMPLETE HOWARD HAWKS Retrospective, Now thru 11/10


Howard Hawks, the quintessential Hollywood director known for his mastery of many genres, will be the subject of a complete retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image from today, September 7 through November 10, 2013. The Museum will present 39 features. All of the films will be shown in 35mm-many in stunning restorations-except for Red Line 7000, which will be shown in 16mm.

Moving Image to Present THE COMPLETE HOWARD HAWKS Retrospective, 9/7-11/10


Howard Hawks, the quintessential Hollywood director known for his mastery of many genres, will be the subject of a complete retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image from September 7 through November 10, 2013. The Museum will present 39 features. All of the films will be shown in 35mm-many in stunning restorations-except for Red Line 7000, which will be shown in 16mm.

Moving Image to Screen FUN CITY: NEW YORK IN THE MOVIES 1967-75, Begin. Today


Movies filmed in New York City that tapped into the turmoil, chaos, and social and cultural energies of the late 1960s and early 1970s are the subject of the screening series Fun City: New York in the Movies 1967-75, curated by film critic and historian J. Hoberman. The series, which will be accompanied by a new monograph written by Hoberman, includes nineteen films, and will be presented by Museum of the Moving Image from August 10 through September 1. The films include established classics such as Rosemary's Baby, The French Connection, Midnight Cowboy, and Dog Day Afternoon, as well as lesser known films such as The Angel Levine, Bye Bye Braverman, and Cotton Comes to Harlem.

Moving Image to Screen FUN CITY: NEW YORK IN THE MOVIES 1967-75, 8/10-9/1


Movies filmed in New York City that tapped into the turmoil, chaos, and social and cultural energies of the late 1960s and early 1970s are the subject of the screening series Fun City: New York in the Movies 1967-75, curated by film critic and historian J. Hoberman. The series, which will be accompanied by a new monograph written by Hoberman, includes nineteen films, and will be presented by Museum of the Moving Image from August 10 through September 1. The films include established classics such as Rosemary's Baby, The French Connection, Midnight Cowboy, and Dog Day Afternoon, as well as lesser known films such as The Angel Levine, Bye Bye Braverman, and Cotton Comes to Harlem.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company Ends Run of JULIUS CAESAR, 4/11


Tennessee Shakespeare Company, the Mid-South's professional classical theatre, will end its unique production of William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar on April 11 in Germantown.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company Presents JULIUS CAESAR, 3/23-4/11


Tennessee Shakespeare Company, the Mid-South's professional classical theatre, continues its Second Stage Season this spring with a unique production of William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar playing March 23 - April 11 in Germantown for nine public performances only.

DUET FOR SOLO VOICE Closes at Theatre for the New City, 2/14


Theater for the New City's special production of 'Duet for Solo Voice' by David Scott Milton will close on February 14, 2010.

Paula Prentiss FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many Broadway shows has Paula Prentiss been in?

Paula Prentiss has appeared on Broadway in 3 shows.

How many West End shows has Paula Prentiss been in?

Paula Prentiss has not appeared in the West End.

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