Humanitarian of the Week: Celeste Holm

The lovely Celeste Holm has shared the stage and screen with some of the most scintillating performers in recent history: Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra, Olivia de Havilland, Gary Merrill, Anne Baxter, Gene Kelly, Jane Wyman, and many others.


Holm’s theatrical career began in the late 1930’s when she starred in a stage production of Hamlet opposite Leslie Howard. Her Broadway debut would soon follow, and she quickly became a highly sought-after stage actress, acting with Gene Kelly in The Time of Your Life, and in 1943 creating the role of Ado Annie in the premiere of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma.

By 1946, she’d been signed to a contract with Twentieth Century Fox, making such pictures as Gentleman’s Agreement (for which she won an Academy Award), The Snake Pit, Chicken Every Sunday, and Road House. The film that would define her career was 1950’s All About Eve in which she played the too-generous and loyal wife of a playwright.

Despite her success in pictures, Holm found that she preferred the stage and soon began accepting fewer film roles in favor of theatrical work. Throughout this time, Holm also offered her time and talents to causes such as The Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center for which she served as president.

Holm has also had a long association with UNICEF, working with the organization since 1951. Her passion for UNICEF is so great that she’s been known to request that autograph seekers donate fifty cents to the organization in exchange for her signature. Miss Holm, always looking for ways to help people in need, has served on the governing board of the Mental Health Association, and is the chairperson of Arts Horizon—an organization which brings the arts and music to children across the Eastern United States. In addition to these other activities, Miss Holm is a board member of The Actors’ Fund and has served as Chairperson of the New Jersey Film Commission.

Whether you are familiar with Celeste Holm from her classic film work (a career which continues to this day) or her work on television shows such as Loving or Falcon Crest, you can’t help but be struck by the tremendous sense of warmth that she shows. This is the natural glow of a generous spirit. For this reason, Celeste Holm is our Humanitarian of the Week.