ELIZABETH WHO?

     In a recent article about Ian Holm, I posited that he's the guy you don't know until you see him on the screen and say, "Oh, yeah, that guy." And the possible flip side of that phrase is the late Elizabeth Wilson, who died recently at 94. Same deal- you can't place her, but when you see her on the screen you'll immediately recognize the face.

     Well, she certainly wasn't afraid of working. She played the feisty and somewhat obnoxious mother of FDR in Hyde Park On The Hudson (2012). In a heavily fictionalized account, Robin Williams is the President and Laura Linney is Daisy Suckley (one of the Prez's supposed paramours). The plot involves the visit (true enough) of King George VI,
who wanted to encourage America to enter World War II. As Sara Delano, Mrs. Wilson is everything we would expect from the character. By the way, she was 91 when this film was made!

     Let's go way back to 1967 to the classic The Graduate. Dustin Hoffman is recent college grad Benjamin Braddock. His mom is ably played by Elizabeth Wilson. The more famous movie mom is, of course, Mrs. Robinson (cue up Simon & Garfunkel) played by the sultry Anne Bancroft. She's also the mother of Elaine (Katherine Ross), Ben's true love.

     The underrated Quiz Show (1994) is about the 1950's scandal involving patrician Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) and the quiz show 21. He was the son of poet Mark Van Doren (Paul Scofield) and novelist Dorothy Van Doren (yep, Elizabeth Wilson). While Van Doren was knocking them dead with improbable correct answers, it turned out he was being coached through his headset. The pivotal character is actually Herb Stempel, played quite well by John Turturo. He was forced to lose to Van Doren by the producers and blew the whistle on the cheating. I remember the real Charles as much more likeable than Herb and I remember my Dad saying there was something not quite right about the quiz shows. (Yeah, I'm that old.)

     There are three characters to like in 9 To 5 (1980): Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlin, all office victims of the hateful boss Dabney Coleman. The other character to hate is his nosey, officious secretary Roz, played with verve by Elizabeth Wilson. The revenge of the secretarial pool is hilarious.

     Elizabeth Wilson can be glanced in fairly minor roles in Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975) and Catch-22 (1970). 

     All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. Adults only, please.