Verna biography
Verna Bloom
American actress (1938–2019)
Verna Bloom | |
|---|---|
| Born | Verna Frances Bloom (1938-08-07)August 7, 1938 Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 9, 2019(2019-01-09) (aged 80) Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1967–2003 |
| Spouse(s) | Richard Collier (divorced) Jay Cocks (m. 1972) |
Verna Frances Bloom (August 7, 1938 – January 9, 2019) was an American actress.
Early Life
Verna Frances Bloom, born on August 7, 1938, in Lynn, Massachusetts, grew up in a Russian Jewish family[1] where her father, Milton, operated a grocery store. Her mother, Sara (Damsky) Bloom, initially focused on managing their household. After Milton and Sara divorced, Sara took charge of the family grocery business and later transitioned to bookkeeping for a trucking company.[2] She graduated from Boston University and later studied at the Herbert Berghof Studio for actors in New York.[1]
Career
On Broadway, Bloom portrayed Charlotte Corday in The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (1967) and Blanche Morton in Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983).[3] She made her film debut in Medium Cool, and then co-starred in Clint Eastwood's 1973 film, High Plains Drifter and in the 1974 made-for-TV movie Where Have All The People Gone? with Peter Graves and Kathleen Quinlan. Bloom also had roles in more than 30 films and television episodes beginning the 1960s, including playing Mary, mother of Jesus, in The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988 and Marion Wormer in Animal House in 1978.
Personal life and death
Bloom was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and attended the School of Fine Arts at Boston University, graduating with a BFA in 1959.[4] She also studied at the HB Studio in New York City.[5][6]
Bloom married Richard Collier, but they separated by 1969. They began the Trident Theater in Denver Colorado, which operated from 1963 to 1965.[7] In 1972 she married film critic Jay Cocks. They had a son, Sam, born in 1981. The couple remained married until her death.[2]
Bloom died aged 80 on January 9, 2019, in Bar Harbor, Maine, from complications of dementia.[8]
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | N.Y.P.D. | Barbara Laney | Season 1, episode 3 |
| 1969 | Bonanza | Ellen Masters | Season 10, episode 29 |
| 1969 | The David Frost Show | Herself | 1 episode |
| 1973 | Doc Elliot | Mary Beth Hickey | Season 1, episode 1 |
| 1973–1976 | Police Story | Marge Connor / Elizabeth Shaner | 2 episodes |
| 1975 | The Blue Knight | Moody Larkin | Season 1, episode 1 |
| 1976 | Kojak | Carrie Zachary | Season 3, episode 17 |
| 1977 | Visions | Nancy Doucette | Season 2, episode 4 |
| 1977 | Lou Grant | Emily | Season 1, episode 13 |
| 1977 | Gibbsville | Season 1, episode 10 | |
| 1987 | Cagney & Lacey | Joan Torvec | Season 7, episode 1 |
| 1988–1989 | The Equalizer | Ellen / Marian Grey | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Maude Bray | Season 1, episode 1 |
| 2003 | The West Wing | Molly Lapham | Season 4, episode 13 |
References
- ^ abDarvell, Michael (January 10, 2019). "Verna Bloom". Film Review Daily. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^ abSandomir, Richard (January 11, 2019). "Verna Bloom, 80, Amorous Dean's Wife in 'Animal House,' Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^"Verna Bloom". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^Barnes, Mike (January 10, 2019). "Verna Bloom, Actress in Animal House and Medium Cool, Dies at 80". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
- ^"Verna Bloom biography". Yahoo! Movies. AEC One Stop Group, Inc. Baseline. Yahoo! Inc. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
- ^Cullen, Jim (2001). Restless in the Promised Land: Catholics and the American Dream. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 129. ISBN .
- ^Adams, Marjory (September 23, 1969). "Verna Bloom: 'Medium Cool' heroine". The Boston Globe. p. 26. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^Yang, Rachel (10 January 2019). "Verna Bloom, Actress in 'Animal House,' 'High Plains Drifter,' Dies at 80". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 11 April 2019.