---
name: "Eleanor Parker"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/eleanor-parker"
fi1m_id: "eleanor-parker"
imdb_id: "nm0662223"
tmdb_id: 7331
wikidata_id: "Q237399"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "26 June 1922"
died: "9 December 2013"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-25T07:09:36.855243+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Eleanor Parker

## Identity

Eleanor Parker

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/eleanor-parker
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** eleanor-parker
- **IMDb ID:** nm0662223
- **TMDB ID:** 7331
- **Wikidata ID:** Q237399
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Parker, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q237399, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0662223/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7331

Actor. Born 26 June 1922 in Cedarville, Ohio, USA. Died 9 December 2013.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 26 June 1922, Cedarville, Ohio, USA
- **Died:** 9 December 2013
- **Active:** 1955–1965
- **Also known as:** Элинор Паркер, エリノア・パーカー, النور پارکر, Eleanor Jean Parker
- **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 78 (1), 1960s 86 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Parker, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q237399, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0662223/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7331

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Sound of Music*](https://film.one/film/the-sound-of-music.md) (86)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Man with the Golden Arm*](https://film.one/film/the-man-with-the-golden-arm.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Eleanor Parker

> Eleanor Parker could change her voice and appearance to suit a part, but we particularly value her restraint. Her Baroness in *The Sound of Music* makes us wish the screenplay trusted its actors a little more.

When the adults in *The Sound of Music* (1965) start explaining their feelings, Eleanor Parker gives us something to watch besides the explanation. As the Baroness, she suggests more than Ernest Lehman's dialogue needs to spell out. We felt relief at her restraint because the romantic passages were beginning to repeat what the actors had already made clear. Robert Wise's musical is an easy recommendation, and Parker is one reason its considerable sentimentality does not wear us down.

She began with small and ingénue roles in the 1940s, before the substantial dramatic leads of the 1950s. Those include the prisoner Marie Allen in *Caged* (1950) and Marjorie Lawrence in *Interrupted Melody* (1955), with wigs, make-up and accents among the tools she used across her work. By the mid-1960s, her career was shifting towards supporting parts and television. That makes the Baroness a tempting shorthand for the later Parker, though it is a poor guide to everything that preceded her.

Her later casting often favoured sophisticated, chilly women, and she is more widely remembered for the Baroness than for those dramatic leads. A performer who changes her appearance and manner so readily can leave audiences with no fixed personality to recognise; Parker's reputation has suffered from that. We would be careful about calling it a shortcoming in the acting, since it tells us little about how well any individual part is played. The Baroness gives us something more specific to judge.

She is Maria's sophisticated rival, a part that could easily be played only for the obstruction she presents. Parker gives us room to consider her feelings without requiring another speech about them. She cannot cure the screenplay's tendency to prolong its adult conversations, and our praise should not pretend otherwise. Watch *The Sound of Music* for Andrews and the songs, certainly, but pay attention when Parker is there; then make *Caged* the next Parker film.

## Biography

Eleanor Parker was an American actress. Born in Cedarville, Ohio, she trained at the Pasadena Playhouse and made her film debut in the early 1940s. She appeared in supporting roles before gaining prominence in the 1950s.

She received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her performances in *Caged* (1950), *Detective Story* (1951) and *Interrupted Melody* (1955), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for the first of these. Other notable film roles include those in *Of Human Bondage* (1946), *Scaramouche* (1952), *The Naked Jungle* (1954) and *The Man with the Golden Arm* (1955).

Parker played the Baroness Elsa Schraeder in *The Sound of Music* (1965). She worked increasingly in television from the 1960s onwards, with appearances in series such as *Murder, She Wrote* and *The Love Boat*, and continued acting until the early 1990s.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, theguardian.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Sound of Music* (1965), Fi1m 86, as The Baroness — [page](https://film.one/film/the-sound-of-music.md)
- *The Man with the Golden Arm* (1955), Fi1m 78, as Zosh Machine — [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-with-the-golden-arm.md)

## Complete filmography (74)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker* (1991), as Zosch Machine (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *Dead on the Money* (1991), as Catherine Blake
- *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Maggie Tarrow
- *Finder of Lost Loves* (1984), series, as Nora Spencer
- *Hotel* (1982), series, as Leslie DeVere
- *Madame X* (1981), as Katherine Richardson
- *Once Upon a Spy* (1980), as The Lady
- *She's Dressed to Kill* (1979), as Regine Danton
- *Sunburn* (1979), as Mrs. Thoren
- *Vega$* (1978), series, Actor
- *The Bastard* (1978), series, as Lady Amberly
- *The Love Boat* (1977), series, as Alicia Fairchild Bradbury, Rosie Strickland
- *Fantasy Island* (1977), as Eunice Hollander Baines
- *Home for the Holidays* (1974), as Alexandra Morgan
- *The Great American Beauty Contest* (1973), as Peggy Lowery
- *Ghost Story* (1972), series, as Paula Burgess
- *Vanished* (1971), series, as Sue Greer
- *Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring* (1971), as Claire Miller
- *Hans Brinker* (1969), as Dame Brinker
- *Bracken's World* (1969), series, as Sylvia Caldwell
- *Eye of the Cat* (1969), as Aunt Danny
- *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), series, as Constance Kincaid
- *How to Steal the World* (1968), as Margitta Kingsley
- *The Tiger and the Pussycat* (1967), as Mme Vincenzini
- *Warning Shot* (1967), as Mrs. Doris Ruston, Doris Ruston
- *An American Dream* (1966), as Deborah Kelly Rojack
- *The Oscar* (1966), as Sophie Cantaro
- *The Sound of Music* (1965), as The Baroness — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-sound-of-music.md)
- *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Margitta Kingsley
- *Panic Button* (1964), as Louise
- *Kraft Suspense Theatre* (1963), series, as Dorian Smith
- *Return to Peyton Place* (1961), as Connie Rossi
- *Madison Avenue* (1961), as Anne Tremaine
- *Checkmate* (1960), series, as Marion Bannion/Gussie Hill
- *Home from the Hill* (1960), as Hannah Hunnicutt
- *A Hole in the Head* (1959), as Eloise Rogers
- *The Seventh Sin* (1957), as Carol Carwin
- *Lizzie* (1957), as Elizabeth Richmond
- *The King and Four Queens* (1956), as Sabina McDade
- *The Man with the Golden Arm* (1955), as Zosh Machine — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-with-the-golden-arm.md)
- *Interrupted Melody* (1955), as Marjorie Lawrence
- *Many Rivers to Cross* (1955), as Mary Stuart Cherne
- *Valley of the Kings* (1954), as Ann Barclay Mercedes
- *The Naked Jungle* (1954), as Joanna Leiningen
- *Escape from Fort Bravo* (1953), as Carla Forester
- *Above and Beyond* (1953), as Lucey Tibbets
- *Scaramouche* (1952), as Lenore
- *Detective Story* (1951), as Mary McLeod
- *A Millionaire for Christy* (1951), as Christabel 'Christy' Sloane
- *Valentino* (1951), as Joan Carlisle / Sarah Gray
- *Three Secrets* (1950), as Susan Chase
- *Caged* (1950), as Marie Allen
- *Chain Lightning* (1950), as Joan "Jo" Holloway
- *It's a Great Feeling* (1949), as Eleanor Parker (uncredited)
- *The Woman in White* (1948), as Laura Fairlie / Ann Catherick
- *The Voice of the Turtle* (1947), as Sally Middleton
- *Always Together* (1947), as Eleanor Parker (uncredited)
- *Escape Me Never* (1947), as Fenella MacLean
- *Never Say Goodbye* (1946), as Ellen Gayley
- *Of Human Bondage* (1946), as Mildred Rogers
- *Pride of the Marines* (1945), as Ruth Hartley
- *The Very Thought of You* (1944), as Janet Wheeler
- *The Last Ride* (1944), as Kitty Kelly
- *Atlantic City* (1944), as Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
- *Crime by Night* (1944), as Irene Carr
- *Between Two Worlds* (1944), as Ann Bergner
- *Destination Tokyo* (1943), as Mike's Wife on Record (voice) (uncredited)
- *Mission to Moscow* (1943), as Emlen Davies
- *The Mysterious Doctor* (1943), as Letty Carstairs
- *Vaudeville Days* (1942), as Colleen (song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling")
- *Busses Roar* (1942), as Norma
- *Men of the Sky* (1942), as Mrs. Frank Bickley
- *The Big Shot* (1942), as Telephone Operator (voice)
- *Soldiers in White* (1942), as Nurse Ryan

## Gallery

- ![Baseline Drive-In theater advertisement for the American adventure film The Naked Jungle (1954). From the 5 April 1954 San Bernardino Sun.](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-c2c21b55ad83.jpg) Baseline Drive-In theater advertisement for the American adventure film The Naked Jungle (1954). From the 5 April 1954 San Bernardino Sun. — Paramount Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Baseline_Drive-in_Ad_-_5_April_1954%2C_Highland%2C_CA.jpg/1280px-Baseline_Drive-in_Ad_-_5_April_1954%2C_Highland%2C_CA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Theater advertisement for the film, Caged. 8 June, 1950.](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-8d2917702bf3.png) Theater advertisement for the film, Caged. 8 June, 1950. — Warner Bros., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Caged_-_Theatre_ad_-_8_June%2C_1950.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Publicity photo of Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-1826660ff52a.jpg) Publicity photo of Eleanor Parker — Studio Publicity, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/ELEANORParker.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Eleanor Parker's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2010)](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-8a0a4ca750e6.jpg) Eleanor Parker's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2010) — JGKlein, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Eleanor_Park_star_HWF.JPG/1280px-Eleanor_Park_star_HWF.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-c6d6e23faabc.jpg) Eleanor Parker — Image via TMDB
- ![Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-d12c9f278f5e.jpg) Eleanor Parker — Image via TMDB
- ![Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-340c8465d9f8.jpg) Eleanor Parker — Image via TMDB
- ![Eleanor Parker in 1948](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-ff3212d5f984.jpg) Eleanor Parker in 1948 — Warner Bros, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Eleanor_Parker_1948.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![American actress Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-fc5c1aec6733.jpg) American actress Eleanor Parker — Whitey Schafer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Eleanor_Parker_by_A._L._Whitey_Schafer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-8f504a9efbae.jpg) Eleanor Parker — Image via TMDB
- ![Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-9973c207af12.jpg) Eleanor Parker — Image via TMDB
- ![Eleanor Parker](https://film.one/media/person/105558/gallery-fe6e32167945.jpg) Eleanor Parker — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 3 nominated

- 1956: Best Actress (nominated), for *Interrupted Melody*
- 1952: Best Actress (nominated), for *Detective Story*
- 1951: Best Actress (nominated), for *Caged*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/eleanor-parker