Born
Lyova Haskall Rosenthal on October 31, 1927 in
New York City.
Academy Award winner Lee Grant debuted on stage at the age of four in the
Metropolitian Opera's production of "
L'Orocolo". After high school, Lee was given a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater where she studied alongside
Sanford Meisner.
Even in her teens Grant demonstrated talent when she won
The Critics' Circle Award for her role as the shoplifter in "
Detective Story". She went on to portray the same role in the film version which won her the
Cannes Film Festival Citation for Best Actress as well as the first of many Academy Award Nominations. Unfortunately, not long after her big screen debut Grant's career was put on hold by the
McCarthy blacklists. At the time she was married to a known
communist, screenwriter
Arnold Manoff, and with the exception of a small role every so often she would not work again for 12 years.
By 1966 Grant had started working again in the television series "
Peyton Place" which won her an
Emmy Award. In 1975 she won her first
Oscar for her role in "
Shampoo" alongside
Warren Beatty and
Goldie Hawn. Lee also received Oscar nominations for "
Landlord" (1970) and "
Voyage of the Dammed" (1976).
Since 1980 Ms. Grant has concentrated on her directing career which began at the
American Film Institute (AFI). 1986 brought Grant her first Emmy for directing "
Nobody's Child" and in 1987 she received the first Oscar ever awarded to a made for
cable movie for "
Down and Out in America".
Lee Grant's directing filmography is as follows:
1980 "
The Wilmar 8" (Documentary)
1980 "
Tell Me a Riddle"
1984 "
A Matter of Sex" (Documentary)
1985 "
Cindy Eller, A Modern Fairy Tale"
1985 "
What Sex Am I?" (Documentary)
1986 "
Nobody's Child"
1986 "
Down and Out in America" (Documentary)
1989 "
No Place Like Home"
1989 "
Staying Together"
1994 "
Seasons of the Heart"
1994 "
Following Her Heart"
1997 "
Say It! Fight It! Cure It!" (Documentary)
(filmography compiled with help from the internet movie database)