Madeleine Sherwood
Birth Name:
Madeleine Louise Helene Thornton
Birth Place:
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Profession
Actress
Fast Facts
- Receiving a grant from the American Film Institute, she wrote, directed and acted in her film, "Good Night Sweet Prince," which received excellent reviews
- In the 1970s, after meeting with activists at the First Women's Sexual Conference, she started consciousness-raising groups and counseling workshops for Women and Incest
- Was a member of Congress on Racial Equality during the Civil Rights Movement
- Was an avid supporter of civil rights and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr
- Perhaps best known for her role as Reverend Mother Placido in "The Flying Nun" and Mae Pollitt in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof․"
- During the McCarthy era, she was put on the Hollywood blacklist because of her alleged sympathy with the American Communist Party
- One of the first women to direct a short film for the American Film Institute
- Was jailed and sentenced to hard labor after participating in a Freedom Walk, and her lawyer, Fred Grey, was the first African American to represent a Caucasian woman south of the Mason-Dixon Line