Broadway Vet Polly Bergen Dies at 84

BroadwayWorld.com has confirmed the sad news that actress, singer and stage veteran Polly Bergen died today at her home in Connecticut, at 84 of natural causes. The star was surrounded by friends and family at the time of her passing.

A Columbia recording artist in the 1950s, Bergen appeared on Broadway in SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS, FOLLIES, (for which she received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical), CABARET, LOVE LETTERS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS, CHAMPAGNE COMPLEX and JOHN MURRY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC.

Her film credits include the original Cape Fear (1962) opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, three Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy films in the early 1950s including At War with the Army, That's My Boy and The Stooge; Cry-Baby and Move Over, Darling.

On the small screen, Bergen appeared in The Sopranos, Desperate Housewives (Emmy nomination), and Commander-In-Chief. She won an Emmy award for her role as singer Helen Morgan in an episode of the 1950s television series Playhouse 90 and earned an additiona nomination for her role as Rhoda Henry in the ABC miniseries, The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance. She also played Geena Davis' mother in ABC's short-lived 2005 drama "Commander in Chief." Bergen was a regular panelist on the CBS television game show To Tell the Truth during its debut run.

She recorded more than a dozen albums as well, including Little Girl Blue, Polly Bergen, Bergen Sings Morgan, The Party's Over, Polly and Her Pop, First Impressions, All Alone by the Telephone, Four Seasons of Love, 'Do Re Mi' and 'Annie Get Your Gun' Act One-Sing, Too, My Heart Sings Special Edition, Bob Crosby's Orchestra and
Bergen Sings Morgan/The Party's Over.