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Study Guide : Cat On a Hot Tin Roof: Film : Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

A guide to assist in the study of the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams - providing background information and additional resources

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof : Film

After Brick Pollitt (Paul Newman) injures himself while drunkenly revisiting his high school sports-star days, he and his tempestuous wife, Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor), visit his family's Mississippi plantation for the 65th birthday of his hot-tempered father, Big Daddy (Burl Ives). Cantankerous even with declining health, Big Daddy demands to know why Brick and Maggie haven't yet given him a grandchild, unlike Brick's brother Gooper (Jack Carson) and his wife, Mae (Madeleine Sherwood).
 
Initial release: 18 September 1958 (New York)
Director: Richard Brooks
Story by: Tennessee Williams
Nominations: Academy Award for Best Actor
Screenplay: Richard Brooks, James Poe

To access Cinema poster click on http://www.movienewsletters.net/photos/009126R1.jpg

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof : Character List (Film)

Elizabeth Taylor : (Maggie Pollitt)

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor DBE was a British-American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s, and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. More

Paul Newman : (Brick)

Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, producer, race car driver, IndyCar owner, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. More

Burl Ives : (Big Daddy)

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American singer and actor of stage, screen, radio and television. Ives began as an itinerant singer and banjoist, and launched his own radio show, The Wayfaring Stranger, which popularized traditional folk songs. More

Madeleine Sherwood : Mae Pollitt

Madeleine Sherwood was a Canadian actress of stage, film and television. She was widely known for her portrayals of Mae/Sister Woman and Miss Lucy in both the Broadway and film versions of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth. Wikipedia

Judith Anderson : Big Momma

Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, AC, DBE, known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A preeminent stage actress in her era, she won two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award and was also nominated for a Grammy Award and an Academy Award. Wikipedia

Jack Carson : Gooper Pollitt

John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born, American film actor. Though he was primarily used in supporting roles for comic relief, his work in films such as Mildred Pierce and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof displayed his mastery of "straight" dramatic actor roles as well. Wikipedia

Lawrence Gates : Dr Baugh

Lawrence Wheaton Gates was an American actor. His notable roles include H.B. Lewis on daytime's Guiding Light and Doc Baugh in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He played the role of Lewis from 1983 to 1996 and won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor at the 1985 awards. Wikipedia

Vaughn Taylor : Deacon Davis

Vaughn Everett Taylor was an American actor. He became known for his roles in many anthology series, including Kraft Television Theatre and Robert Montgomery Presents. He also appeared in films such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Psycho. Wikipedia

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