From the Vault 439: Marian Seldes

This week on From the Vault we remember the actress Marian Seldes, who passed away October 6, 2014 at the age of eighty-six. Ms. Seldes was a phenomenal presence both on the stage and on the big screen. Her career on the Broadway stage spanned 60 years, in which she appeared in over 24 plays including Tennessee William's "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" (1964), three plays by Edward Albee ("Tiny Alice," (1964), "A Delicate Balance," (1966) and "Three Tall Women" (1993)), and Terrence McNally's "Deuce" (2007) alongside Angela Lansbury. She was nominated for five Tony Awards (winning twice) and was the recipient of a 2010 Antoinette Perry Lifetime Achievement Award.

We pay homage to Ms. Seldes by sharing with you a 1974 interview conducted by Bruce Kenyon at Pacifica station WBAI in New York City. Ms. Seldes begins by reading a poem, and then touches on virtually every facet of her craft, in addition to sharing memories of such coworkers as Judith Anderson, John Gielgud, Colleen Dewhurst, and shows such as "Medea," "Tiny Alice," and "Equus."

This interview with Marian Seldes was recently digitized as part of the project American Women Making History and Culture: 1963-1982, funded in part by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives. At a recent reception for the project held at the Feminist Majority world headquarters in Beverly Hills, California, we recorded comments from guests who had just heard newly restored recordings of anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead, comedian Lily Tomlin, and author Anais Nin, among others. We proudly share these inspiring comments with you as well.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the GRAMMY Foundation and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives and Records Administration, and past grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners. We also thank our partners and collaborators at the Pop-Up Archive, Amara, Other Minds Archives, George Blood Audio, and the California Audio Visual Preservation Project.