Beverly Hope Atkinson
Beverly Hope Atkinson (December 9, 1935 – December 11, 2001) was an American stage, film, and television actress from 1968 until 1991, known for her work playing women down-on-their-luck or caught up in drug addiction.[1]
Beverly Hope Atkinson | |
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Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | December 9, 1935
Died | December 11, 2001 66) Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1968–1991 |
Career
Atkinson studied under Lee Strasberg in the 1960s and later became a member of the Actors Studio. After attending City College of New York, she began her career on the New York stage with the Café LaMama Theater troupe and Theater West in Los Angeles,[1] touring in such productions as The Skin of Our Teeth, Lysistrata and The Blacks.
Atkinson relocated to Hollywood in the early 1970s. She impressed in her very first film role as a streetwise hooker in The New Centurions (1972) with George C. Scott. She had a role in the 1973 animated drama film Heavy Traffic as a black bartender named Carole who enters into a relationship with the struggling white cartoonist son of a Mafioso. The film features live-action segments in which Atkinson also played her live-action counterpart, in addition to voicing the animated character. She began her television career with minor roles, but found steadier work as her character career continued in the same flashy vein, playing angry women down-on-their-luck or whose lives were caught in drugs and addiction, most notably in a recurring role on Hill Street Blues from 1984 to 1986.[1]
Atkinson died of cancer in Los Angeles, California, two days after her 66th birthday.[1][2]
Filmography
- Television
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- Film
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References
- Buchanan, Jason. "Beverly Hope Atkinson". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- Willis, John (2004). Theater World 2001–2002. 58 (illustrated ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 278. ISBN 1-55783-625-6. Retrieved July 3, 2010.