Versatile, award-winning character actress Eileen Heckart, with the lean, horsey face and assured, fervent gait, was born Anna Eileen Stark on March 29, 1919, in Columbus, Ohio. An only child, she lived with her mother after her parents separated at age 2. Her childhood was an acutely unhappy one. Her mother, an alcoholic, was married five times, and her stern grandmother, whom Eileen was often shuttled off to stay with, was physically abusive. To survive, Eileen escaped into the joy and imaginary world of movies as an adolescent.
